Social Studies Books

Reading MY NAME IS ESTHER CLARA was like listening to a woman in an old folk's home tell you about her life. The only difference is that you never want to make an excuse to leave the room. I read this wonderful book in one sitting. The stories are well thought out and researched and it is so easy to forget they are being told by one of Esther's granddaughters and not Esther herself. What a loving tribute to a woman who shows grit and a resilience that is enabled by her great sense of humor.

Laurel Johnson has managed to capture my heart once again with her newest book. Each of this author's books are distinct, original, and captivating. I was not sure what to expect before reading MY NAME IS ESTHER CLARA. I ended up with a narrative that I could not put down. When I finished reading it, I couldn't stop thinking of this marvelous woman, Esther Clara.

Esther is a non-fictional character. Her loving granddaughter tells her story from material collected over the years. And what a story this is! Esther's life spans almost a century and the tales she reminisces about will strike a chord with all readers. You will be taken back to years gone by when running water and electricity were not available. You will feel her pain when she suffers loses and silently cheer for her sheer determination while attacking life.

I truly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. The pages seemed to melt away as the years of Esther's life flew by and her family started to feel like my own. This book will certainly become a welcome addition to my home library to be read again and again.

This is a will written story of the life of a woman as it evolved across almost the entire 20th century. Her childhood antics and accomplishments on an Iowa farm will make you laugh outloud. Her strength, dedication, & love of her family will bring joy to your heart and tears to your eyes. It is a story of the spirit of American women & a life modern women will never experience but can learn from.

Laurel Johnson's ability to captivate a voice from memory and paint it for the rest of the world to hear is an irreplaceable gift. Reading the family tales and yarns of Johnson's grandmother in My Name Is Esther Clara is to come to know and love Esther. Her voice with its deep dialect can be heard jumping off the page through Johnson's talent and first hand knowledge.

The freshness of the frolicking years of child's play through the graying of maturity with the hard lessons of life are woven through Esther's personal dialogue. Heartwarming and charming, it is like standing at a neighbor's fence with ease and down-home familiarity.

Antics that will split the reader's rib cage for laughter and hillarity tell of historic perspectives of much simpler lifestyles and the priorities that had to match for survival. Esther's journey will give social awareness to an agriculturally oriented lifestyle in the plains of America. Character is built and personal strength must evolve from determination in the face of hardship and loss. And yet, always Esther has a yarn to tell and a country idiom to explain.

Laurel Johnson simply radiates her talent in her tribute to her grandmother Esther Clara. This is a book I will pick up again and again for fun and the value inside. I will give it in abundance to friends, and recommend it not just to readers, but to students as well. It will give anyone the reason to pause and think of the value of heritage.

Stephanie S. Sawyer, reviewer and author

Laurel Johnson speaks for her grandmother, Esther Clara Sanow Ford, with this - what the author refers to as creative nonfiction - first-person tale of a woman's journey through life. The reader relives history through the eyes of Esther, who experienced the hardships of World Wars I and II and the Korean War, the discord of the Vietnam War, and the worst depression this country has experienced to date. Esther's life evolved from one extreme to the other, from having to cook on a wooden stove, read by kerosene lantern and use an outhouse to one with all the luxuries electricity and running water have to offer; and from riding in horse-drawn carriages to traveling by automobile. How delightful to read about her antics as a child and terribly sad to learn of the death of a beloved child during her marriage.

Esther was a forward-thinking woman who lived during an exciting, progressive time in our nation's history. Her love and devotion to her family, especially her husband Herb, was her number one priority. It is through Esther one is reminded of the basics of life: enduring hardships with bravery and positive thoughts, loving with all one's heart, showing kindness toward others, and above all, being true to one's self.

It's a rarity when a book of this quality crosses my desk. It seemed as if Esther sat across from me, talking directly to me. I didn't want to put the book down, nor did I want it to end. Although Esther may not have had a documented impact on the history of America, she certainly made an impact on this reader and, I imagine, many others.

Thomas Bleier and Eric Steinert's Net.People covers the personalities behind the web sites, from how ideas are translated into Web sites to problems of webmastering and how individuals succeeded in web ventures. A "must read" for cyber buffs and web history enthusiasts!

I found the stories inspiring and was even motivated to start writing my first novel after reading about one of the sites (wordmuseum.com) and the owner of that site. I emailed her and she was extremely nice and helpful with resources to get me started.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in what inspires others to become great.

net.people was such an interesting book for those interested in the personalities behind some of these web sites. It's good reading and I highly recommend it!

Not since college have I read a book overnight, and that was under duress. net.people on the other hand is a delight; a candid, insightful look into the lives and sites that are fueling the web's explosive growth. Bleier and Steinert capture the essense of how some people and sites have taken great advantage of the web's awesome entrepreneurial opportunities. net.people is useful for both the net savvy seeking insights for making their sites more successful and the general public interested in a fascinating glimpse of the internet's grass roots, pioneers and web celebs.

Thomas Bleier and Eric Steinert have brought together in net.people the people, the content, and the work that has gone into a sampling of Websites representative of average people like you and me. The book profiles the lives of men and women who offer a variety of informational services that include budget living, comic books, electronic gaming, horse riding, humor, medical advice, misheard song lyrics, B-movies, movie reviews, software reviews, sports, unusual tourist attractions, writer resources, Website reviews, and even celebrity grave sites - honest!

Readers will learn how the ideas of these people were turned into successful Websites and about the amount of time, labor, expense, and strategies involved in launching them. How did they design their Websites? How did they find financing for their sites? How do they draw increased traffic to them? What were the successes and failures they experienced? How have their lives been changed? The answers to these and other questions are here for all to read and learn from.

Just who are these people? They are people just like you and me. They have real interest in sharing certain information with others for fun, and in some cases, for profit of one kind or another. They have knowledge, skill, talent, ideas, and opinions just like anyone else. What makes them different is they have gone online with their offerings. They have experienced the good times and the bad. Readers may be able to identify with them as they read this highly personal and revealing book.

This book will inspire readers to take their own thoughts and ideas online as well. It will help them to further develop their own ideas, to design their own Websites, and come up with their own marketing strategies. It's highly recommended reading for anyone wanting to go online. Readers will have fewer excuses not to do so after reading this book!

Night Flying Woman is a marvelous little book that captures the essence of the Ojibway way of life. The story speaks about reverence of all - the earth, the animals, the trees, and our fellow women and men. We are all intertwined in a reality that encompasses all. Although this is a major lesson in the Judeo-Christian heritage as well, we Christians have forgotten this lesson from the story of creation. Night Flying Woman helps to reconnect with this web of life of which we are all a part.

In addition to the wonderful story, the book contains evocative and moving artwork. It also contains something that is missing from too many books - a glossary of words that are unfamiliar to the average reader. This was a GREAT help.

It was a great read. The more I read about the Ojibway the more I wish I had been born sooner so that I could have lived with my ancestors the way we were meant to. I cried when I was done reading it. I would recommend this book to anyone whether you care about the people or not!

In "Night Flying Woman, An Ojibway Narrative," Ignatia Broker tells the story of the forest people, the Ojibway. She shows how the white man's ways desecrated the rituals, laws and beliefs of the Native People, all but erasing their long culture. Classed as caricatures in a land that once honored them, Broker shows how the Native People "faced bias, prejudice and active discrimination." The Ojibway philosophy for living, that of keeping in balance the purity of man and nature, is revived through Broker's telling of Oona's story, the story of many as seen through the "eyes cast down" of one. An insightful story that continues the Ojibway circle and gives us all the hope of the past for the future.

I sat and read this in one sitting. It was that good. An excellent lesson in not needing all the gadgetry this world offers in order to be happy. A great reminder for all of us that we need to care for each other in order we all can survive.

In "Night Flying Woman, An Ojibway Narrative," Ignatia Broker tells the story of the forest people, the Ojibway. She shows how the white man's ways desecrated the rituals, laws and beliefs of the Native People, all but erasing their long culture. Classed as caricatures in a land that once honord them, Brokers shows how the Native People "faced bias, prejudice and active discrimination." The Ojibway philosophy for living, that of keeping in balance the purity of man and nature, is revived through Broker's telling of Oona's story, the story of many as seen through the "eyes cast down" of one. An insightful story that continues the Ojibway circle and gives us all the hope of the past for the future.

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!

No Place Left to Bury the Dead is one of the best books that I have ever read. The author, Nicole Itano, beautifully tells the story how HIV/AIDS affects the lives of three families in three different African counties. The author also brilliantly weaves in the history of the pandemic and its spread not only in Africa but throughout the world. The book explores several cultural,social and public health aspects of AIDS in Africa that I feel are often overlook in our Western view of the world. This book made me smile, it made me angry and it made me cry. It refined my view of the AIDS pandemic and opened my heart with a new found compassion. I could not put the book down. I true MUST read.No Place Left to Bury the Dead: Denial, Despair and Hope in the African AIDS Pandemic

Ms. Itano's work makes the complex challenge that HIV/AIDS poses to southern Africa and the world at large understandable to the lay reader. She blends personal stories with lessons on history, culture, and medicine, making AIDS personal for her readers. Her characters are compelling, and her personal relationship to and concern for them is evident. I'm looking forward to her next book.

I visited South Africa in 2006 so I feel this book is very relevant to my experiences there. If you want to learn about truth and suffering, and step back into reality, this is the book that will help you do that. There is truly no place left to bury the dead in South Africa.

I am amazed I haven't heard more buzz about this book ... it's a great book and I'm so happy I read it. But it's not the happiest of subject matters obviously.

Despite the No Place Left to Bury the Dead title, this book details the struggles people, particularly women, LIVING with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa experience.

HIV/AIDS in Africa is no longer an automatic death sentence but there are too few people getting HIV/AIDS tests, too much stigma and far too many people are not getting the treatment they need due to a number of issues including money, lack of knowledge, stigma and most importantly lack of a proper health care infrastructure.

It may frustrate the reader that the book doesn't have an official ending or happy notes on the book's main characters ... but I guess that's reality unfortunately.

Buy this book!

Pamela Appea

Itano's extraordinarily personal reporting and the powerful narrative it produced makes this book seem like a movie on paper. You have the sense that one day you'll see characters like Rich Uncle Isaacs, Adeline, and Bongy come to life on the silver screen. It packs a powerful emotional wallop and brings Africa to life in all its amazing colors. Could easily be the next Constant Gardener.

Whatever your opinion of the leather life style, this book will be an assist in understanding it. Witty and accurate, Davolt does what ever writer is told to do: Write about what you know. He does and eloquently. This is a subculture that is wider than may be thought and one of the more prominent in the gay community.

Beyond that, it's a text book on how to run committees, events and contests. That he focuses on leather does not hinder his advice from being very applicable to every confused organizer everywhere. If only for his suggestions on how to fire volunteers, it's worth the cost. His dissection of what can-and probably will-go wrong and how to avoid the myriad pitfalls is spot on.

The leather community should welcome this as a sorting out of the various factions within their ranks and the general community will welcome it as a bridge between what they've, perhaps erroneously perceived, and reality.

Robert Davolt may be a crank, but he's my kind of crank. That Davolt's a sharp wit with as much affection as bite, and you'll find plenty to like.

In "Painfully Obvious," Davolt gathers 40 essays and runs the topical gamut from why leather matters to how to be a better citizen while still wearing cowhide. While Davolt's credentials are obvious (he turned the lights out at the legendary Drummer Magazine), it is his knowledge of history and literature outside the leather world that make this a better than average read. In fact, one of the best columns of the book is Davolt articulating his thoughts on the demise of Drummer, with thoughtfulness and nary a trace of bitterness.

A couple words of warning. If you're looking for hard handed reading, this is NOT a book of fiction. "Painfully Obvious" certainly is preaching to the perverted, and I suspect some of the essays may be tough going for the uninitiated. The number of Davolt's essays on contests is a little top-heavy, but for good reason: his background in the contest world, putting them on and competing in a couple for the better part of a decade. If you already know a little about the community and its participants (or way too much for your own good), "Painfully Obvious" will achieve one of Davolt's stated goals: it will make you smile.

Sadly, we lost Robert to Cancer in the Spring of 2005.

Painfully Obvious is a priceless collection of life experiences. Each essay helps to broaden our perspective of what it means to be a Leatherman. With his off the cuff humor and insight he has managed reach us all at a personal level. Even though you know you should not take his words to seriously secretly you can't help but not to.

Great resource filled with common sense information about the dos and don'ts about being a member of the gay subculture known as the leather community. Robert has a way of critiqing the leather community and the ways and mores and yet not criticizing (at least, not too harshly) but still staying true to the relationships with the people that he is inherantly talking about. As someone who has an idea of the various situations of which he speaks I'm amazed and disarmed by his tact, his font of information and yet his brutal honesty.

This is definitely a book for those people who are interested in what goes on with gay leather men but don't want to wade through an esoteric tome that reduces human sexuality to theory and endless analysis. The tone is direct, factual, funny and warm.

Bravo!

An uproariously true to life take on the leather scene, with equal doses of cynicism, humor and heart. Akin to what would come out if you ran the Marquis De Sade and Erma Bombeck through a meat grinder. LOVED IT!

This is one of the BEST books on networking out there. Donna Fisher's book is also one of the only books on this subject that helps us to develop our 7-9 second introduction and/or our 30 second elevator speech. These tips are especially helpful in a career transition situation. Thank you, Donna.

If you have ever been to a meeting where their are say, 100's of people, all whom you don't know, it's not easy to stand up and give a 30 second "commmercial" about yourself, as you pan you audience.

You might tend to say, "Who are these people? What do they want from me? I don't want to be here, doing this."

Well, with the help of reading this easy to follow book, you will learn to enjoy writing your own 30 second commercial, and knowing that commercial so well, that each time you are invited to a meeting, it will take you only 10 seconds to adjust your commercial according to the type of meeting, whose there, and how you relate to them.

Then you will dazzle them in 30 seconds.

Read this book to introduce the best of yourself to yourself, and to others - it will mark another milestone in your life's journey.

Donna's principles provide a simplistic approach to building an effective network that can enrich your life in many ways. The step-by-step process is easy to integrate into your daily activities and it doesn't force you out of your comfort zone.

Thank you, Donna, for showing me the way to a much more fulfilling and rewarding life!

I have begun to use just a few of Donna's principles and already am noticing a change in myself when talking with others. The power of interdependence and support is awesome.

I recommend People Power wholeheartedly to anyone who is tired of going it alone and wants a shift in the way they interact with others.

I am constantly reading books of a wide variety and it is easy to see when someone really knows their stuff. It is also easy to see when someone knows how their stuff applies in the real world and Donna Fisher clearly does! Many of the principles Donna speaks of I had heard before but she gave them a real world perspective I had not heard before and made them applicable to me and my business. The principles I had not heard ... WOW! I have tools now I didn't have before reading this powerhouse book! An absolute must for anyone wanting to be of service to others!

I ordered and read this book without total confidence, since it was written in 1999, and--as we will probably never stop hearing--things have changed considerably since 2001 (not for the better in the prison-industrial complex or in the sphere of social services).

But even 7 years after its publication, it holds up VERY well. And--sadly--the argument is not LESS cogent or the concerns less pressing.

Journalist Joel Dyer creates an informative, critical, and iconoclastic survey of the United States' criminal justice system in The Perpetual Prisoner Machine: How America Profits From Crime. Dyer persuasively argues that contemporary criminal "justice" is disastrously impacted by violent media content, a push for privatization; an increasing dependence of politicians upon public opinion polling and campaign finance. This has all resulted in an explosion in the American prison population. The rapidly increasing numbers of prisoners, parolees and probationers is not the result of increasing crime rates, but because sectors of the American economy and political power structure find mass incarcerations to be profitable. The Perpetual Prisoner Machine is very strongly recommended reading for students of the American criminal justice system, prisoner reform movement supporters, sociologists, cultural anthropologists, and political science students.

Dyer's well-researched expose reveals the inner workings of the nation's prison-industrial complex, the funding of which depends on the maintenance of a respectable, beneficent public image. He explains that real-world crime statistics do not support the war on crime's claimed need for massive increases in prison construction so, to justify the diversion of public funds into prison and jail expansion, politicians are relying on public opinion polls which reflect the pervasive societal effects of media-generated crime anxiety. Law makers, primarily right-wing, have responded to the public's media-hyped fears with reassurances in the form of hard-on-crime adjustments to the sentencing structure and consequent increases in law enforcement and prison spending, all financed by the angst-ridden taxpayers. Voters have been refusing to approve traditional general-obligation bond issues for increasing prison construction, so politicians are shrewdly using Wall Street intermediaries to divert tax revenues from public education and crime-preventive social programs into prison and jail construction by means of lease-revenue or lease-payment bonds, which are tax-exempt, high-interest debt-investment instruments issued without voter approval. These lucrative prison bonds reward the investor class with sizable profits from imprisonment, provide public-debt financing for construction of corporate-owned prisons, and they require taxpayers to repay more money than general-obligation bonds, which require voter approval. As major political campaign contributors, well-funded, right-wing special-interest groups such as police and prison-guard unions, and the NRA, back politicians who agree to promote hard-on-crime sentencing policies such as "three strikes," "mandatory sentencing" and "truth in sentencing," which substantially increase the prison population and sustain the widely held perception of increasing need for prison and police funding. As a result, the number of prisons and police have grown rapidly, and police and prison guard pay has increased substantially. In California, for example, a prison guard is paid more than a tenured college professor in the state's university system which, like those in other states, has been decimated by the diversion of public funds into the prison-industrial complex. By 1994, prison spending had begun to exceed education spending for the first time in America's history. I think Dyer presents a well-articulated argument, backed with well-researched facts and figures, supporting the assertion that the prison-industrial complex is a self-serving, socially and economically destructive part of an officially sanctioned assault on the poor and people of color.

Joel Dyer has done an excellent job of nailing how Congress has abused the issue of crime in America and why we allow it. He's also provided an excellent argument for abandoning the private prison industrial complex and ceasing the attack on urban America and the mentally ill. As someone who works in business and in finance, it bugged my eyeballs when I realized what government is doing, allowing prisoners for profit. I've worked 32 years in a profit driven capacity and doing this with human beings, given what I know about shareholder driven environments, is unconscionable in my mind. To intentionally profit from another's pain and misfortune is heinous. America has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the worlds prisoners. We have over 1,000 prisons and 7 million people under penal control (2004). Over half of them non-violent offenders whose crime involves consenting adults (ie: life in prison for introducing a buyer to a seller of home grown pot in Indiana) or petty thievery (ie: stealing vitamins in California).

This is one of the most important books in many years that tells the truth about our prison system. We have over 2,000,000 citizens in prison in the land of the free. Most of these citizens are non-violent and about 15% are mentally ill in need medical care. With the tax dollars that we pay we treat some non-violent prisoners in ways that are just horrible. It is done by politicians who want to get reelected and understand a terrible fact that the uninformed citizens vote for politicians who advocate building more prisons and filling them to overcrowded capacity with more prisoners. Only a small percentage of the citizenship understand the terrible cost to our society with this practice. It is a cost in billions of dollars and much more. It is also a cost in respect, common sense, decency and the goodness of the American people.

On top of this, studies indicate that about 10 -15% of prisoners are completely innocent and had absolutely nothing to do with the crime that they were put in prison for. This is because juries do not understand and respect the bedrock of the system which is "proof beyond a reasonable doubt." The large amount of reasonable doubt that is ignored by juries is shocking to the conscious of any good person.

What can be said more, other than 'simply the best'?

This book is a scientific explanation of how nature works. It is not a book about how to write poetry, but how to explain and explore the world in which we live. The material is presented so that even the abstract poet can understand the concrete universe.

When I first read Robert March's `Physics for Poets', it reminded me much of the sense of science one gets from popular programming such as Carl Sagan's `Cosmos' - it presents the science theory and progress in elegant, poetic and non-mathematical terms. I have never been afraid of the mathematics (indeed, I studied mathematics to a good level at university) but have always been impressed with those who could describe for the numerically-challenged the intricacies of subjects such as physics and astronomy.

March covers topics in physics from the earliest investigations in the ancient world (back when the line dividing science from philosophy was not so distinct - as history repeats, there is a growing blurring of the line in modern physics once again). However, March does not spend inordinate time on ancient subjects or ideas such as classical mechanics (save to introduce later topics for which such concepts will be necessary). He gets to the heart of modern physics rather quickly.

March has an interesting development of various topics. For example, his discussion of the theory of relativity is very different from the typical `hard-science' physics books from which I studied. He develops intuitive descriptions, shying away from technical discussions of Lorentz transformations or frames of reference (I think this is a concept that students could grasp more readily than perhaps March believes). Despite this, March uses the traditional `frames of reference' model of travelers on a train, seeing thing in relative states as they are traveling against the more static countryside, which is itself traveling as the earth revolves on its axis, and orbits the sun, as the sun moves about the galaxy, as the galaxy spins around the local group, etc. Frames of reference can actually be fun!

Quantum mechanics is also an area of modern physics that leads to much confusion, and March confesses that there are limitations to the discussion possible without mathematical equations and models. There are simply no `real-world' analogies that can be drawn that make sense for some of the concepts. However, he does introduce key ideas such as the Bohr theory and Schrodinger's wave in ways generally accessible.

March does introduce the occasional equation - calculus is not required for understanding, but elementary algebra is needed to follow some of the discussions. March describes each equation as introduced `in English', in words that are generally comprehensible. He includes more technical mathematics in an appendix for those who desire more.

As this is a textbook, there are questions in the appendix for each of the chapters. There are also suggestions for further reading and a topically-arranged bibliography. Some of the readings are now out of print or out of date, but many of the titles still remain relevant. This is a very good book for those who know physics or mathematics and want a quick conceptual introduction or review, and for those who are not trained in physics and mathematics, humanities and social science majors, who want to gain insight into this interesting and demanding field in a non-intimidating way.

March gets it just right by employing the soft to understand the hard. I read this book during my sophomore (after having finished my ABET accredited physics) Christmas vacation. It started me on a path that lead to a very powerful and useful understanding of physics.

When I looked at the title of this book, I thought that the contents would be much different than they are. It is a popular summary of the major ideas of modern physics and a short history of how those ideas were developed. I did not see where the poetry reference could be applied. While there are a few references to earlier people and times, the discussion starts with Galileo and his exploration of the laws of physics. One interesting point was that March describes a bit of the personality of Galileo, calling him " often boorish, pugnacious and petty." To most modern scientists, Galileo was a martyred hero, forced to recant under pressure from the church. The picture painted by March makes him seem more human, which I found refreshing.
The next step is to Isaac Newton and his development of the three laws of motion, his explanations of the behavior of gravity and calculus. Energy in all its' forms is the next point of discussion, followed by the famous Michelson-Morley experiment that "proved" that the Earth does not move. This leads to relativity and the role of Albert Einstein. The final section covers atoms, quantum mechanics and quarks.
The writing is very well done, all textual explanations are easy to follow and March spends the appropriate amount of time in describing the personalities of the people who made the discoveries. He also places each of them in their appropriate historical context, describing the current state of the scientific world when they made their discoveries. However, unlike some other popular writers of physics books, March includes equations in his explanations. I applaud him for this; I consider science books without the appropriate equations to be the ultimate in dumbing down for commercial advantage.

Having borrowed this book from our public library I wanted a copy of my own to use as a resource for children's programming at our local historical society. It gives so much information and the illustrations are wonderful.

There are times when history books written for the younger set are wonderful sources of information that most 'adult' (or mature) history books do not touch upon. And "A Pioneer Sampler" is one of those books.
It is written in storyform about the daily lives of the Robertson family, pioneers living on a backwoods farm in the 1840's. Throughout this 237 page book we learn, in a fun and interesting way, how this family dealt with the everyday living that a typical family of the time might have lived: their chores, crafts, eating habits, their spare time. Tools used, how to milk a cow, making maple sugar, harvest time, visiting a general store, building a house...so much interesting historical living written in a very simplistic manner.
Interspersed throughout are sidelines of information pertaining to the subject being written. For instance, there is a chapter about a peddler's visit to the family and the families reaction to this traveling salesman. But, at the end of the chapter, there are a few pages thrown in speaking of individual peddler's trades and how they do their crafts.
Most of the chapters are set up in this way, which adds greatly to understanding more fully the chapters.
I would love to see more books in this form for other era's in American history, as this style or history writing can entertain and teach all - kids as well as adults - who have an interest.
Highly recommended.

The Pioneer Sampler

The Pioneer Sampler is a fun and fascinating book. It tells about a pioneer family. Can Nekeek and Willy catch fish by hand? You'll find out. This is a fun book.
I'd give this book a five *...

I loved this book. I read it before I gave it to my daughter. It is a fictional family, but all the information is true to life. Interspersed with the story of the Robertsons, you can learn how to make your own cheese, dip a candle, or learn to tell the time from the sun.
This book will add to your library, and is a nice complement to Laura Ingalls Wilders books. Homeschooling familys will enjoy it, I know we did.

Barbara Greenwood has written a wonderful book that is as much fun for adults to read to children as it is for the children to read themselves. She doesn't just 'tell' about the Robertson's, she 'shows', drawing the reader into their lives...a pleasant place to be. I especially love Granny's story about how she came to America,on a ship, from Scotland.

The book is beautifully illustrated...all the way through...by Heather Collins. The pictures are so well done that, even as an adult, I would like to step into the scene!

There are instructions for simple, fun activities such as growing a potato plant, dyeing fabric using an onion, or making a cardboard jumping jack; pioneer games that will even entertain today's children for hours such as shadow shapes or knucklebones; and recipes that are easy for children.

Reading this book to a child is a great 'stress releaver'...it's like a little escape from the treadmill of life!!!