Social Studies Books

The Ten Grandmothers, required reading for a course in anthropology, inspired a lifelong interest in and appreciation of Plains Indian culture. It is romantic without romanticism, sentimental without bathos, realistic and uplifting.

I stumbled on this book years ago, and I joyfully re-read it each year. It is a wonderful, engrossing look at a long-ago time, beautifully captured through the words of Spear Woman, Hunting Horse, and their families and friends.

Although not a novel, it sure reads like one!

My favorite parts? The chapter where Spear Girl and Hunting Horse elope, the poignant journey of Apiatan and the piece where the grandmother and granddaughter go to visit the buffalo. Truly a wonderful read!

This should be required reading for anybody interested in Indian culture, lifestyles, history. Heck, for anybody who's a student of human nature.

i loved this book. as did everyone in my family. i borrowed this book from my mom three years ago to check it out and i ended up keeping it and reading it all the time. as a matter-of-fact, i'm currently re-reading it.

for me, this was a great look into the past and at the old ways. it proved to me that the Kiowa are some of the strongest people on the plains. and i am proud to be one.

Having grown up in Kiowa/Comanche country for all my child and adolescent life and having been immersed in the attendant legends, though from a white perspective, I began to research Southern Plains Indian culture much later in life. During my early investigations I came upon Alice Marriott's "The Ten Grandmothers". This was the book I was looking for but didn't know it. Other research had served up books "about" the Kiowas. This was as close to a book "by" the Kiowas as could be expected given that the Kiowas had no written language. Ms. Marriott has done a superb job of not only recording these stories of the old ways, but has let the Kiowa voice come through loud and clear. As you read these stories you feel yourself sitting around the fire in an 1800s Kiowa camp listening to these stories being told first hand.

One of my favorite chapters was about the day the children made a play camp and built a defensive earthen berm and ditch (I believe the Kiowas were about the only plains tribe to employ such a defensive tactic). Later that night White Bear began blowing his "liberated" cavalry bugle as he led the victorious raiding party back to camp. The women in the camp, awakened and thinking they were under attack by the cavalry, began tearing down the camp as the men mounted and rode out to meet the enemy and cover the escape of the women and children. Not knowing about the children's ditch, both incoming and outgoing parties of mounted warriors careened into this obstacle in the darkness. Those within earshot of the melee were in a panic thinking their worst fears were being visited upon them. The next day, a rule was announced by White Bear that, while play camps are good, children were not to make play camps with ditches; only the men could make ditches.

We owe Ms. Marriott a huge debt of gratitude for preserving these treasures that might otherwise have been lost.

This is an absolutely superb book. It's the story of the Kiowa people, a native American tribe of the southwestern plains & Wichita Mountains, told from the point of view of individual Kiowas. The "Ten Grandmothers" are sacred bundles with special powers which are important to the spiritualism of the Kiowa.

The stories in this book are marvelously crafted, and full of life and sensation, and they spread new light on old ways. The chapters feel mythological, yet they help the reader to understand the shared culture behind the daily life of the Kiowa people.

This book was first published in 1945, when there yet remained some very old people who remembered the old-time buffalo days. Historically, the book reads very true. The events of each chapter are fixed within historical times-lines which appear in the back of the book.

The author, a woman, has gifted us with wonderful portrayals of the life experience of female Native Americans. So often, women's roles and labors go unmentioned in other accounts of the old days. Alice Marriot wrote an account of the Kiowa that includes the experiences and interactions of people of both genders.

Notable chapters include one in which a young woman of seventeen - about to be forced by her relatives to marry a man she doesn't care for - runs off during the annual Sun Dance with a young man her own age. The exacting ritual of the Sun Dance is interspersed with the tribulations of this personal love story.

Later, when their first baby is small, Spear Woman struggles unsuccessfully to fulfill all her home-making responsilibities. Her unhappiness leads to conflict between the couple, until eventually, he realizes that she has too much work to do and needs female help and companionship. Such a moving story, for people of any era.

And the author brings us forward in time with the Kiowa tribe, from nomadic life into settled agriculture. And, by knowing what has gone before, the reader can perceive how their shared cultural history and mythology has colored and formed the Kiowa response to this sweeping change in lifestyle.

I can't recommend this stunning book highly enough. What a good read. Definitely a remarkable book for those interested in Native American culture. Do read it if you are interested in the old ways of the plains tribes. An excellent book.

We really like this book because it has a section in the back for "older" readers. We also enjoyed the front part for "children"

Great book for little ones about the Vietnamese New Year. The embroidered illustrations are phenomenal.

My 2 yo loves this book, on the 1 Mouse plans a party page we talk about all the people she will invite to our party and by the end she cheers Happy New Year (in Vietnamese) with me. She was enchanted by Lunar New Year this year, and this book has been a wonderful way to help keep it alive for her. We are not Vietnamese and we love this book.

this book is simple but filled with information. one mouse plans a party, two mice go to market, 3 mice paint and polish, 4 mice prepare a feast, 5 mice learn their fortunes, 6 mice open presents...etc. The last two pages of the book give further information on each activity - what it is and why it is an important tradition. I like it because most books do not focus on the vietnamese tradition of Chinese New Year. Our family is of Vietnamese heritage, so this book is best for us.

This is a great book for preschoolers to teach about some of the activities related to the Vietnamese New Year and its celebration. The embroidered illustrations are quite intricate. I highly recommend this simple, yet informative book.

Human beings are very complex individuals -- we are all driven to make a place in the world, yet we have different means to achieve this place...different behaviors that allow us to "survive."

In the book, "The Tending Instinct," the author shows how men and women differ in their responses in times of need. According to the author, women are born with a "nurturing" quality and tend to seek support from others during times of stress. During these times, women will also reach out to help others. This natural "tending instinct" that women have, is vital in a society and also beneficial to children who are exposed to this instinctive behavior at an early age.

MyParenTime.com highly recommends the book, "The Tending Instinct" -- this book is wonderful! It is clearly written and very interesting. Readers will find it greatly informative!

If you have ever wondered about how the other half of the sky copes with stress! If you have ever given any thought to the science of anthropology & how it has neglected the study of how women look at life. If you have had this needling question that "What if society is a lie?" & couldn't find any answers...then this book's for you, because Shelley E. Taylor asked a seemingly innocuous question which unearthed a fascinating idea!

THE TENDING INSTINCT is a powerful, transformative read. It deals with both old & new ideas about community, society, morality & how women & men think about their lives, how we interact & cope with stress.

Very good stuff! Well written, well-researched, informative & everso interesting. You will find yourself nodding & saying "Of course! I knew that!"

When Darwin wrote that man attains "a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can woman - whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or merely the use of the senses and hands," he was echoing what had been known to be true since the time of Aristotle. Taylor explains clearly and with compelling authority why this traditional viewpoint is so wide of the mark.

In marketing, the discipline in which I work it is quite evident that the world of consumer commerce revolves around the tending and befriending instincts of woman. Taylor grasps the fundamental principles of marketing better than all the commonly used textbooks. The reason is they all start out from the Darwinian perspective that humans are at core selfish. If the human brain was a computer that was programmed by evolution then the dog-eat-dog perspective might be tenable. However mammals tend their young - they have to, so the urge to nurture is a necessary part of human nature. Taylor makes it abundantly clear that it is a feminine trait - not masculine.

This book is excellent at explaining the connection between befriending and stress. It makes an excellent companion book to Hrdy's book "Mother Nature," an anthropologist, also from UCLA, that explains more details about lactation and mothering.

For woman readers this book should be inspiring and validating. For men... well it is sobering and in spots embarassing.

Thank you Shelley!

The Tending Instinct is a seminal work, tying together ideas and data from difficult-to-quantify areas such as the psychology of stress, the emotional and physical aspects of the act of nuturing, and its [especially long-term] effects, and the biochemistry of stress response in humans and other primates, in both the long and short term. She also discusses tending in society as a whole -- that is, the nurturing infrastructure of a society, those elements of day-to-day life that make it easy to tend or be tended. Ease of access to trusted caregivers for working parents, or medical care, educational or mentorship opportunities, for example.

Taylor is synthesizing, spanning disciplines to draw together different strands of research in biochemistry, psychology, and other arenas, to propose they demonstrate human beings are overridingly a tending species, a nurturing species. Success, for h. sapiens, is existing in a strong network of support, giving and taking as one's needs require. Our most successful humans are those who inspire, those who persuade, those who build coalitions to achieve a good for the entire group.

Fascinating stuff.

Shelley Taylor has pulled off a coup, integrating scientific research with anecdotes from her own life and translating academic jargon into readable prose.

Men and women differ in the way they respond to stress. After a hard day's work, men want to be alone; women spend more time with the children. And it is this tending instinct that keeps a society together and makes individuals healthier.

Men and women differ in other ways that influence social interaction, says Taylor. Men's groups are more hierarchical, women's more informational. Married men live longer than single men, and women fare better during times of major crisis, such as the dissolution of the Communist bloc.

Another key theme: Nurturing is essential to well-being. A nurturant parent can override genes that would predispose a child toward aggression, depression or other disorders.

Much of what Taylor writes will not seem radically new, but cumulatively, chapter to chapter, she builds a case for recognizing the importance of nurturing and the style of interaction known as traditionally female.

Because Taylor is a psychologist, rather than sociologist, it's not surprising that she omits suggestions and implications. Many well-educated citizens, for instance, resent payments to welfare mothers, yet Taylor's findings emphasize that paying women to nurture their children can save millions of dollars by keeping those children out of the criminal justice system.

A sociologist could point out that in fact tending seems to be punished by society. "Nurturant" occupations, such as teaching and social work, typically pay less than more aggressive occupations, such as policing. In medicine, surgeons make the most while pediatricians and psychiatrists earn the least, on average.

Taylor also ignores outliers -- the non-nurturing female and the nurturing male. -- who occupy ambivalent roles in many societies. And while she says that friends will become the most important social relationship, as we move farther from families, I find that friendship bonds often are formed based on family status. A married but childless woman says, "People my age are having babies!" and I say, "Women my age are getting visits from the grandchildren!"

As an academic, Taylor herself anticipates comments on what's working and what's missing, and she has made an exceptionally strong contribution here. I am recommending this book to readers who want to learn more about stress as well as those who are fascinated by the eternal "how men differ from women" puzzle.

First published in 1987, "Tending The Heart Of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken A Child's Moral Imagination" by Vigen Guroian (Professor of Theology and Ethics, Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland) illustrated and illuminates how fair tales and fantasies educate the moral imagination throughout childhood. Now in a new edition from Oxford University Press, a new generation of parents and teachers can benefit from what Professor Guroian has to say about the beneficial ethical and moral implications and embedded teachings in such literary classics as Pinocchio; The Velveteen Rabbit; The Little Mermaid; The Wind in the Willows; Charlotte's Web; Bambi; The Snow Queen; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Princess and the Goblin; and Prince Caspian. Of special note is Professor Guroian's bibliography essay that concludes this seminally informed and informative literary inquiry and study. "Tending The Heart Of Virtue" is a welcome and highly recommended addition to academic and community library reference collections and supplemental reading lists in the fields of Literary Studies, as well as Philosophy & Ethics.

The themes of classic stories have not been improved upon over the years. As well as awaken a child's moral imagination, they also reinforce character traits with biblical origin and timeless application. I also recommend Storybook Mentors, Grown-up wisdom from children's classics for families, teachers and counselors, and all who love classic literature.

This book is a classic "must read" for all parents who want to instill solid character into their children. Guroian reviews many of the "classic" fairy tales and reveals the unbelievable distortion that has occurred with modern day translations, abridged versions, and animated movies. Time after time, Guroian traces the same awful conversion from the original Christian virtues and values to the quicksand-like obsessions with physical beauty, romantic love, and self. Reading his book gives parent's the truth about why fairy tales are so important for "tending the heart of virtue" in their children. For children reading the original fairy tales, they will see themselves and the deeper reality of things, complete with good and evil components, in a framework of an interesting and powerfully written story. In subsequently reading the original Pinocchio (covered in the book) to my two boys (8 and 10); we were all absolutely "stunned" by Collodi's brilliance, his language, and the truth that this great classic reveals about ourselves.

Don't miss this one. You and your children will benefit immensely.

Professor Guroian's latest work provides the reader with a challenging prescription for developing moral excellence. The framework of the Aristotleian notions of intellectual and moral virtue give an ancient and yet ever so modern perspective to his understanding of the practical science of ethics illuminated by fairy tales and modern children's literature. Those who are responsible for the young will do well to make frequent reference to this book.

I stumbled across this book a few years ago when browsing through the various sections on Amazon's web site (it was in the National Public Radio section). The reviews sounded interesting, so I took a chance. I am so glad I did.

Like most people, I have been bombarded with the "Disney-fied" versions of most of our children's classics, where all the characters are cute and there are several shades of gray when it comes to the moral or point of the story. I had forgotten how dark the original fairy tales were and how clear they were about good and evil. The part of the book about Guroian's college class and a fourth grade class' reading of Pinochio reminded me just how much children really understand and how clearly and, sometimes, simply they view the world.

Reading this book has prompted me to find copies of the original stories. What an interesting discussion it would be to compare adults' and children's understanding of the how the original versions of the stories differ from the more recent or animated versions.

A fascinating look at the near-dysfunctional founding of the city of Houston, which took root just as the dust was settling over the Texas War for Independence. It's an eye-popping revelation of the dawn of the first Texas capital, it's Dickensian characters, social order and bizarre caste system, not to mention its intolerable climate and general state of filth. Stephen Hardin, author of the seminal Texian Iliad: A Military History of the Texas Revolution, does what historians ought to do by transporting us to a different time and place and giving us a feel for what it was like to live there. Suffice to say that we would be as out of place in early Houston as we would be on Mars.

The story revolves around the hanging of David James Jones, one of thousands of furloughed Texan soldiers, who found themselves with little opportunity when their new country no longer had need of them. Mobs of them headed for Houston, where they remained idle and unemployable and became an embarrassment to the self-styled gentry and stiff-necked moralists who wanted rid of them. Although murder and mayhem and the daily slashing of one another with Bowie knives was common among this lower class, Jones found out that "rowdy loafers" like him paid a much higher price when the mayhem was directed at the gentry.

In telling the story of Houston's founding and its first efforts to make something of itself, Hardin also shows how the new Texas government abandoned its war veterans, many of them recent arrivals from the United States who had volunteered to fight for the fledgling republic. Jones was a particularly tragic case. He was among a handful of Texans who escaped the Mexican slaughter of the Goliad defenders and later fought at San Jacinto, where Texas won its independence. When the fighting ended, the government had little to offer its veterans other than huge tracts of land, which few chose to cultivate and, in any case, lacked start-up funds for ranches or farms. Instead, many sold the land to speculators and, like Jones, quickly squandered the proceeds in Houston.

Hardin introduces us to an assortment of truly odd characters, both rich and poor, including several ghoulish "medical" men, a self-righteous Yankee publisher and politician (an unbeatable combination), and ladies both of culture and of the night. The latter include Susannah Dickinson and her daughter, both Alamo survivors, who became prostitutes, although Susannah eventually found both happiness and respectability after marrying five times. Their story indicates the limited options women had at the time, which included little beyond marrying up or whoring. Like the abandoned veterans, they were victims of a society that closed most doors to them.

Regardless of what we may think of these early Houstonians, Hardin is right in cautioning against putting our thoughts into the heads of those who lived so long ago or applying our 21st century standards to them. Readers can't help but admire the considerable grit these people must have had to stick it out in such a place and their persistence in trying to make something of it and themselves.

Hardin writes like a polished novelist and he is a superb storyteller, but there's no mistaking his first-rate historical research (don't miss the fascinating endnotes). Throw in Gary Zaboly's superb illustrations and you have a truly unique look at the characters who populated Texas at the time of its birth.

AW

Texian Macabre is not just the story of one man's death, but of an entire generation of war veterans and their role in the new nation of Texas. Hardin paints a picture of David James Jones as the footstool upon which others stand to create American Texas. Jones and others like him won the Texas Revolution, but were robbed of their rightful share of what they helped to build and were thus relegated to being the backwash of society. Hardin does an amazing job realizing the inevitability of Jones' death.

Texian Macabre is a wonderful non-fiction story about the Texas Revolution and the early days of Houston. Hardin has found a character in history that had a part in every aspect of the Revolution from the Goliad Massacre to the win at San Jacinto. It is so amazing that one person saw so much, and he experienced everything from hero to villain. Hardin is an amazing historian and storyteller as well and makes the whole picture come to life. As you read, you can watch as the city of Houston is built before your eyes, every rat scurrying across the road, every rowdy loafer causing havoc in the streets. It truly is an amazing story of a fallen hero and the city of Houston.

A wild ride indeed. A taskfully interwoven tale that takes the reader on an incredible journey. Mr. Hardin paints a most interesting picture of how two men went from respected war heros to "rowdy loafers" who paid the ultimate price in order to make Houston a respectable city. I highly recommend this book on the basis that you can not beat getting a little education while being entertained.

Texian Macabre is a fascinating narrative of the early days of Houston Texas.

The book tells the tale of the dynamics of the beginings of Houston, and the actions of the leading citizens to prove that Houston is a civilized place.

I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in Texas history, or crime and punishement in early Texas.

This is a well-written narrative that doesn't go far enough. In particular, there's a very untold story about Hispanics in the suburbs that one documentary (Farmingville) brought to light at its worst -- and that was only touched upon in this book...the clash of race and class is being played out in the suburbs and Jose's brief stint in Porchester felt like an aside. That said, this book is moving, well-written, and compassionate, particularly the road trip to Mexico...a terrific story in itself. CBock

Thompson writes a fact filled account of the life of his friend Enrique, a Mexican immigrant living in Brooklyn, and the people around him. The author meets Enrique as a tenant struggling with housing issues. Later in the book Thompson travels to Mexico with Enrique and members of his family. The many experiences are described with conversations and impressions but little editorializing by the author. And that is not needed because the stories speak for themselves. This book fills an incredible gap.

Thompson's book goes where few others have gone before; inside the lives of undocumented workers from New York to Mexico. It's a human story of family, survival, and love. This book should give pause to anyone who tries to argue that undocumented workers do not bring value to our country. Thompson writes clearly and allows those he meets to speak for themselves, something that is too rare in our public debate about immigration.

The truth about Mexican immigration

Gabriel Thompson hits the heart of immigration problem. People tend to oppose to migration blindly without analyzing the factors that propel all these poor people to work outside of their homeland, being humiliated, underpaid, and overworked for a few dollars. Also all these "Minuteman" and other racists would not do the work that a Mexican does; yet they want to throw out the people who give this country their work so that those racists could live in the land of plenty. People that oppose this migration are also the descendants of other immigrants that came to this country for the same reasons as these new migrants. Mexican migrants and all migrants in general are the backbone of our industry and our economy, we should be thankful that there are people like these poor Mexicans and migrants from other countries that do so much work in exchange of very little. I'm grateful that amid this sea of racism and ignorance there are a few people like Gabriel Thompson that expose the truth as it is.

The best work of non-fiction narrative I have read in years. It reminds me of Jimmy Breslin's down-to-earth journalistic style. Sorry Lou Dobbs, there is no political spin here; you can get this book for your racist uncle or for your socialist aunt because this book speaks to the heart and helps you realize that Enrique could have been either an Irish, Norwegian, or German immigrant in a different time and a different place. Still, Enrique's journey is fascinating and knowing that people of his stature still come to our shores makes me feel optimistic about the future of this country.

I "stumbled" across this book at the library. The title caught my attention--it captures my vision AND I was 55 years old at the time. I like another reviewer am taking my time reading/"listening" to Ella and Henry as they share what we get so little of in our culture: a real, deep and truely satisfying basis for marriage to another and to the world--true love.

As more of a taoist than a christian, my experience with Ella and Henry is a bright light as I continue to re-frame the "how and why" of connections with others, signals that have long term promise. They demonstrate how we can create love each day in our actions. Thank you for giving voice to my hopes for the future.

How refreshing in a culture that touts Gone With the Wind as a wonderful love story.

This book is absolutely wonderful. It is such a wonderful encourager for married couples. I 've been reading this book since September 2001 and have not finished it yet (now April 2002). This is by choice because I try to savor every bit. In addition to the bible, this book was the only book I was able to read as I was going through the loss of my unborn child. It lifted my spirits, comforted me and encouraged me oh so much as a wife and a mother. This will be the first book that my marriage group will read.

I recommend this book for both spouses to read and reflect.

Praying for a Part II.

Henry and Ella Mitchell have given us a beautiful gift: their love story. This book, chronicling their fascinating lives in New York, California, and Atlanta, is a testament to their love of each other, their love of family and friends, and their love of God. It is a tribute to their talents and tenacity in the face of considerable challenges. The format of the book keeps the reader engaged by alternating perspectives from chapter to chapter. Henry and Ella take turns providing their unique perspectives on the adventures they experienced in fifty five years of marriage. Each voice provides a slightly different interpretation of events. Their personalities, different but complementary, are revealed through their words. If you relish love stories and biographies of living saints, this book will thrill you. It provides a testimony to the enduring potential of a relationship grounded in mutual respect, trust, affection, and spirituality.

In a day when so many social institutions have lost their luster, "Together For Good" provides a sterling testament of the enduring virtue and value of a "vibrant" lifelong commitment. The Mitchell's unique recollection of their more than half century journey together holds forth a hopeful note amidst our hi-tech concerns of alienated households, fragmented families and ruptured relationships (in every regard). It is a highly recommended reading for those who would contemplate the gift of mutual companionship at it's very best!

Thank you Dr's. Ella & Henry Mitchell for this timeless treasure!

The Mitchells speak straight from their hearts to ours and provide practical help and open honest means for healing the hurts of those of us who are in new or long term relationships. The book is a tender dialogue between them spanning a half century of changes, crises and challenges; reminding us that all of life is indeed dialogue and that something mystical and magical happens in relationships when we truly see, hear and tenaciously embrace the other. Their story is a special gift.

Book Review

Through five chapters and 125 pages, this is oneof a handful of books I've read where I'd be hard pressed to find evenone thing to take issue with.

This paperback is written by a Canadian wife and husband team, he a sergeant with the Victoria Police Department, and she, the manager and co-instructor of their company, Personal Protection Systems. It offers down-to-earth, practical advise running the gamut from who may attack you, when, where, and how, to what to do if attacked, and how possibly to prevent it, plus a plethora of wide ranging safty strategies for seemingly every location and situation.

Although about 5% of the information is specific to the legal system of Canada, the rest is a laundry list of everything the concerned woman, or man for that matter, needs to know about enhancing their safety, and some of the tools to assist this endeavor. While they do not specifically mention guns, knives or Persuaders, which is not too surprising considering Canadian laws, they do cover pepper spray, and TOYS, Tools Of Your Surroundings. This Book does NOT tell you how to defend yourself, wisely leaving that to your attending actual hands-on study. Rather, it shows you how to be aware, how to analyze, and what your options may be.

Open minded and practical, they cover home invasions, date and sexual assault, road rage, ATM's and travel (hotels,taxis and airports). The book reads quickly and easily, once you realize that Canadians spell defense with a "c". A bargain, IT SHOULD BE PART OF YOUR LIBRARY, AND COPIES SENT TO THOSE YOU LOVE.

Robert Lanny Contributing Editor Women&Guns Magazine

We live in dangerous times, and women in particular, must learn to safeguard themselves. Much of personal safety is common sense, but as Canadian authors Darren and Beth Laur will tell you in their book "Toatal Awareness: A Woman's Safety Book", the awareness level of many women is woefully inadequate. According to the Laurs, a person's awareness level becomes heightened or decreased, depending on the situation and surroundings, Generally, though, the Laurs suggest that women should be a lot more vigilant aout their level of preparedness.

As a police officer with the Victoria Police Department and a specialist in safety awareness and self-defence strategies, Darren Laur knows what he's talking about when it comes to crime, crime prevention and the consequences of crime. In "Total Awareness: A Women's Safety Book", laur covers the obvious things like street safety, home safety, how to be safe in your car, in elevators, using ATMs, public transit, and when travelling. He also talks about how to protect yourself in cyberspace, and how to avoid or defend yourself during sexual assault. He delves into the process of reporting a crime and what to expect in the aftermath of a crime. His approach is REALISTIC, rather than alarmist

Shelley Civkin Bestseller "The Review" Richmond Public Library

I am writting to express my support for Darren and Beth's book, Total Awareness, A Woman's Safety Book, and to let you know that our department's R.A.D. ( Rape Aggression Defense-Women's Self Defence Course) Instructors are highly recommending it to the women who partake in the R.A.D. courses as a great resource for personal safety information. having read the book myself, I found it very interesting and informative and would recommend it highly to any individual who would like to learn more about ways to keep safe. The authors write in a style that captures the reader's interest and provides real life examples that help make the information applicable to everyday life. In our department's role on campus, we are often requested to provide information to the campus community on crime prevention and personal safety and I feel this book is another excellent tool we can use to educate our clints.

Allison Eddy Personal Safety Coordinator University of Victoria Campus Security Services

Some books you read for pleasure, some to gain knowledge or inspiration, and others to help you cook a decent meal. There are relatively few out there which could save your life! Total Awareness: A Woman's Safety Book is one that just might. Not designed as a self-defence primer ( though the book does tell you how to find a good self-defence class), Total Awareness arms you with information-about road rage, home invasions, physical and sexual assault (including sexual assault drugs), identity theft and more. Police officer Darren Laur and his wife, Beth, cover the bases thoroughly and pull no punches when it comes to dealing with the criminal element. Nearly every page offers some practical and useful piece of advice I could acctually see myself using under the right (wrong?) circumstances. Put on your anti-paranoia shiled before you crack the spine on this one. By the time I was half-way through the book I seriously wondered whether I'd ever be safe leaving my house again! Of course, paranoia is not the intended outcome of this little volume, though healthy caution is. Like anything, the book is no use if you buy it and then stick it in a drawer somewhere. Commit this book to memory! Read it every time you change the batteries in your smoke detector!

Lavender Rhinocerus Book Reviewer Victoria, BC

Darren and Beth Laur have produced the most comprehensive book on woman's safety that I have ever seen or read in over thirty years as a martial artist. Not just another book of pictures showing self-defence techniques, they have put together a plethora of tactics, strategies and techniques that enable women to use their most potent weapon: their mind. Their in depth discussion of potential dangers that women of the millenium are faced with such as: sexual assault drugs, home invasions, carjackings, and tactics employed by predators, provided women with a battle plan on how they can prepare and survive if they find themselves in these scenerios.

Perry William Kelly B.A. LL.B Lawyer, Martial Arts Instructor, and Author of The Thinking Officer's Guide To Police Defensive Tactics

This is a must have for anyone interested in learning more about the traditions and cultures of Native Americans. Thoroughly researched, well written, beautiful color photos, respectful.

This book is very well researched, and it makes one want to spend time traveling and learning more about Native American culture.

This book is worthwhile for readers new to Arizona as well as for those who may already live there.

I lived in Arizona for 28 years and traveled to many of the sites in the book, yet I still discovered a lot of new things reading it. I particularly enjoyed the sidebar stories about people, places and events that presented anecdotes and little-known facts about Indian Arizona.

In fact, in reading the book, I actually became a little nostalgic for many of the prehistoric sites I personally visited and explored over the years. This includes a moving experience that I had while visiting the Heard Museum In Phoenix.

One final note, the writing style is very clear and easy to read.

When you launch your own discovery of Arizona's Indian cultures..., I suggest you begin by reading a comprehensive new book, "Traveling Indian Arizona," by Anne O'Brien... Anne is an experienced hand in the Southwest, working with museums in Denver, Flagstaff, and Phoenix. She has assembled something much more than an instructive travel book; this is a small encyclopedia of the many native peoples that continue their customs, and their arts and crafts, in Arizona. The many color photographs and the essays by elders and by anthropologists provide an additional dimension. --Richard Sims, PhD, Director, Sharlot Hall Museum, Prescott, AZ

This is a very well written guide for anyone traveling through the Southwest. The author provides excellent historical information as well as suggestions for routes, places to stay and nearby places of interest. On a recent trip to Canyon de Chelly, we used the book to plan our route, stops along the way, and as a reference for the history of the area. The author obviously feels strong ties to the native people of the Southwest..

Just as in his first book Paul Steward takes you into the deepest and most terrifying underground passages, however, the twist this time around is that all of the stories are real and not made up in Paul's demented yet talented mind.

If you have ever been caving or are thinking about caving then this book is a must read to get your mind working overtime about the creepy and strange things that you might come across in the dark underground world that Paul Steward chooses to reside in.

In True Tales of Terror in the Caves of the World, Paul Steward takes us once again on a heart-pounding excursion into one gruesome and creepy subterranean lair after another....This book is both frightening and exciting, and evokes a sense of mystery that many have experienced in deep places under the Earth.

Cavers and arm-chair adventurers alike will enjoy this book. It's a terrific read! But read with plenty of bright lights around--or plenty of carbide for your headlamp!

Before we proceed, I must tell you that countless people have died in
this cave and many believe it to be haunted. Having said that, are
there any of you unwilling to continue?
Paul Jay Steward's latest book, "True Tales of Terror in the Caves of
the World," could provide the above disclaimer for many of the worlds
most notorious caves and be justified in doing so. Mr. Steward deals in
facts, which makes these chilling accounts all the more disturbing. His
book takes you around the globe and deep into the passageways of time
to bring you mystery, murder, war stories, catastrophes, the arcane,
and shadowy world history. The author's obvious caving experience adds
detailed credibility to his documentary style. Whether you are a
contemporary caver, an armchair spelunker, or just casually interested
in the macabre, you will enjoy this tour of the mystifying world
beneath your own feet.

As someone interested in folklore and mythology and those things "hidden" in our collective psyche this book by Paul Steward is a welcome addition. There are 60 tales of murder, mayhem and spookiness encompassing caves from New Mexico and Minnesota to Israel, China and Africa and everywhere in between. For those of us not comfortable with crawling on our bellies in the dark and, sometimes, terrifying interior of the earth this book will satisfy your curiosity. To those of you who do relish caving this book will reinforce the reasons that you enjoy traveling in the underworld. A fast read and one that will enthrall you.

The stories are short but not sweet. I had no idea of the mayhem that took place in caves that would seem like a sanctuary to some. Well written and factual. An enjoyable read.