Berg Books

Deftly handling a subject as sticky as it is diverse, this "How To" book really tells it well. With comedic presentation and careful illustration, this should be on everyone's "Halloween How To" shelf.

Careful, it's hard to put down, as is the book!!

This book is not only the most creative effort of the Duct Tape Guys (by far), it's colorful (full color throughout), funny, and actually useful as a year around costume idea book. Their sixth book, "Duct Tape Halloween" definitely sets the new standard for duct tape books! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I used this book in my business French class and I thought that is was a good choice for people with notions of basic French.

It covers the business vocabulary through texts and exercises. That for me was the most helpful part as it gave me a quick overview of the business vocabulary. I was able to incorpate this into my knowledge of French and fake my way through business conversations.

It also gives readers an overview of French traditions, habits, and other quirks, which is both amusing and informative :-)

During the course of a French business class, we used this book as the central text. After that semester, I was sincerely impressed by the cogent and clear explanation given by Berg in this book. It is divided into sections (modules) that facilitate comprehension both at the undegaduate and graduate levels. It is easily divisible, providing lenency concerning curriculum planning and course structure. Perhaps the most striking of Parlons Affaires! is format; it was designed as a prepatory text for the Diplome de francais d'affaires (DFA) administered by the Chamber of Commernce and Industry of Paris (CCIP). In this fashion, the book is indispensable for 1) an introduction into the french business world and lexicon; 2) those who wish to prepare for the DFA; 3) any person desiring a better understanding of french business operations. Finally, I recommend, without reservation, this text. Choose it and you will not be disappointed! Il vaut la peine!

Fredrik Barth's Political Leadership Among Swat Pathans is one of the most beautiful ethnographies I have ever read. He presents a unique and interesting case about the ways in which 'khans' of the Pakhtun lineage play(ed) their roles as the leaders in the Swat valley (now in Pakistan). Barth carefully examins the relationships between the leaders and their subjects who jointly participate in the defence of their resources (the land). The book also gives us a vivid picuture of the adaptive strategies followed by Pathans, which are embedded with their kinship stuructures and occupational divisions.
Unlike the prevalent anthropological tradition of the time, Barth has emphasized the consequences of individual decisions for the larger social structure of the Usufzai Pathans. He touches every aspect of the Pathan society -from family structure to the social history -while explaining the contexts in which power is excercised by the 'khans'through both coercion and consensus.
Barth has focused more on description which eliminates possible humor one would expect on such kind of writing. The description of so many interesting events and incidents are sometimes bogged down by too much 'information'. On the whole, the book is a landmark in the history of social anthropology, and deserves the minds and shelves of those who are interested in the discipline of anthropology and/or political science.

Fredrik Barth's Political Leadership Among Swat Pathans is one of the most beautiful ethnographies I have read. He presents us a unique and interesting case example about the ways in which 'khans' of the Pakhtoun lineage play(ed) their roles as the leaders in the Swat valley (now in Pakistan). Barth carefully shows how do the leaders and their subjects participate in the defence of their resources (the land). Unlike the prevalent anthropological tradition of the time, Barth has emphasized the consequences of individual decisions for the larger social structure of the Usufzai Pathans. He touches every aspect of the Pathan society -from family structure to the social history -while explaining the contexts in which power is excercised by some leaders through both coercion and consensus.
But it is important to note that Barth focuses more on description rather than art of writing. The description of so many interesting events and incidents are sometimes bogged down by too much 'facts' and details. On the whole, the book is a landmark in the history of social anthropology.

There really is no other Christian program like this... it thoroughly and intensively works with people who have anxiety attacks, eating disorders, depression, or other disorders. It guides them through 24 sessions where they learn about God and who He is, letting that knowledge reshape their approach to their problems. But I went through it (didn't have any of the above problems) and it was such a blessing. The principles he talks about are principles that would help anyone reorient themselves to God's truth.

Berg pounds in to the viewer over and over: "Track your thinking, not your feelings." This becomes one of the cornerstones for diagnosing your condition and the soul noise generating those problems. But his directions and principles are so clear and easy to understand that a child could grasp what he's teaching.

There's also a website ( [...] ) that goes along with the set and it has videos and MP3s that deal with specific problems (panic attacks, anorexia, etc.).

If you are giving up on how life is working, or feel plagued with fears, then this is a program you should consider. This is not a program that you can pop in the DVD and walk away and 'poof' you're changed, it takes work (but it's worth the work!!) This kit may not be for you... maybe your issues aren't as complex as these, but you may know someone who does and you just don't know how to help them. God has used this program to help me delve into the root of my issues, AND given me hope by giving me tools that are at hand and for the first time I am seeing lasting changes. I believe this is written by a man who has a heart for God and for people who struggle. Being one of those very people, I can wholeheartedly recommend it, because in it, you can find True Hope.

Resisting the Holocaust is the last work of Ruby Rohrlich, a feminist foremother who died in December 1999. The book comprises 12 essays about resistance during the Holocaust by Jews and non-Jews that gave this non-Jewish newcomer to the topic a broad introduction to the discussion of what did and still does make for resistance to Hitler's genocidal scheme. Adding to the richness of topics covered is the range of fields the contributors cover: anthropology, communications, government, history, humanities, literature and sociology.

Rohrlich's introduction stresses that the "key concept" of her book is "'resistance'"--whether it is resistance termed "active" or "passive" and regardless of what form resistance may take. Equally absorbed by the themes of armed resistance by Jews, assimilation and intermarriage, individual acts of resistance and national acts such as the grand-scale rescue of Jews in Denmark, I found many connections within this collection and to events beyond its scope. These pieces gave me insight not only into the Holocaust but also into the genocide committed against my own Armenian ancestors during and before World War I.

The story of the armed fighting in the Vilna Ghetto (chapter 4) highlights the tensions that can arise within an oppressed group when some members struggle to fight while others have no faith anyone will survive. The "Parachutists' Mission" of three Jewish women from Eastern Europe (chapter 6) raises questions about the creation of national symbols at the expense of certain truths about the motives and sacrifices these national symbols make and the collective, rather than solitary, nature of their actions. One of the three women--Hannah Senesz--was made a national symbol in Israel of Jews saving Jews from Nazis. Senesz's real life story is more complex than the myth. A less discussed kind of story involves kinship groups that women formed in concentration camps, where, the author writes, "Forming a family in Auschwitz was an act of resistance at the personal level, because it gave life meaning and offered support and hope" (chapter 8).

If it is true, as Martin Cohen states (chapter 2). that "[t]here has been, and remains, both organizational and scholarly avoidance of the issue of resistance," then the publication of Resisting the Holocaust helps break this silence. Indeed, good books keep readers thinking after their last page. Resistance to the Holocaust--to all genocides--continues in the actions people take. Publication of Resisting the Holocaust can be seen as one such action, because it tells and retells pertinent stories and thus encourages the continual discovery of connections among them.

--30--

Resisting the Holocaust Ruby Rohrlich, editor Oxford and New York: Berg Publishers, 1998. 264 pp. Notes, bibliography, and index.

It is the contention of the editor and some of the contributors to this fine collection that "resistance" to the Holocaust is a topic that has been severely neglected. This contention is hard to contradict at a time when it is reported that one of the few older works on the subject, Reuben Ainsztain's _Encyclopedia of the Jewish Resistance_, has been deaccessioned by the Cleveland public libraries. So, let it be said up front that this is an important work, one that will help considerably in countering that historical neglect--or will if it is added to library collections. Like any collection of works by a variety of authors and with a wide range of foci, the parts of this book vary significantly in both quality and interest. But, the quality is mostly high and the topics are generally of compelling interest.

Ruby Rohrlich introduces the book with a consideration of the concept of "resistance," which she reports has been defined in various ways to cover everything from armed struggle against the Nazis to anything done by Jews to survive--and even to any humane actions by non-Jews towards Jews. While never explicitly resolving the definition to be used for this volume, her introductory remarks and the substance of the following essays clearly come down towards the active resistance end of the spectrum. Rohrlich is particularly concerned to counter the assumption that resistance to the Holocaust was a male activity, which she does effectively through brief descriptions of the heroic activities of "little Wanda" Teitelboim, Mala Zimetbaum, and Germaine Ribiere. She points out that resistance was often collective, and in the cases of the Bulgarians, the Italians, and the Danes the collectivity apparently involved the majority of their populations. Having laid out the parameters of the problem, Rohrlich briefly summarizes each chapter and lets the reader get on with the essays.

· Copyright © 1999 by H-Net

Reviewer: Stan Nadel is an Associate Professor of History in the Social Sciences Department at Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Science is Fiction was amazing! If you like Painleve you'll like the book. It's filled with so many interesting essays, and I found the interview with Painleve to be particularly interesting and entertaining.

Science is Fiction: The Films of Jean Painleve, edited by Andy Masaki Bellows and Marina McDougall with Brigitte Berg, exposes the reader to the odd and beautiful films of Jean Painlevé (1902-1989), who was both an artist and a scientist. These professions do not often mix, but in Painlevé's case, his scientific side made his film work stronger and stranger. He was the first to photograph sea creatures underwater, and he was also involved with surrealist artists like André Breton, Antonin Artaud, and film giant Georges Franju, in addition to his racecar driving pursuits. The images in his films are a combination of classroom science instruction and dance.

Painlevé was focused on aesthetics as well as scientific commentary in his films. According to this book, his two masterpieces are L'Hippocampe ("The Seahorse") and Le Vampire ("The Vampire"). L'Hippocampe (1934) is about the mating process between the male and female seahorse: The viewer sees a female laying eggs into the abdomen of a male, where he fertilizes them. To Painlevé, this represented the perfect relationship between the sexes. On a darker note, Le Vampire (1945) is a film that lends a political flavor to the behavior of vampire bats. The film stills displayed in the book are quite creepy. In one scene, as a bat falls asleep, it extends one of its wings in a Nazi-like salute.

Painlevé didn't believe that there was a separation between science and art. Throughout his life he founded a series of movie clubs as well as film schools. This lavishly designed book by designer Jean Wilcox is a perfect complement to the aesthetics of Painlevé. It is a book fetishist's dream date. Very rarely in this business does one see such a perfect combination of content, text, and design. Imagine the film viewer who went to see one of Painlevé's films expecting a dry documentary, but instead encountering a strange and poetic way of looking at the world.

This book goes a long way toward redirecting the history of anthropology away from the blindspots inflicted on us by George W. Stocking Jr. and his mob. Patterson's marxist approach stresses political and economic factors that anthropology's historical gatekeepers have tried to shield us from noticing. A great book that shoul be read by all anthropologists.

This book did exactly what I wanted it to do! I received an overview of the history of American anthropology in less than two hundred pages. The book is broken down into historical periods such as the New Republic, Liberal Age, Postwar Era, and the Neoliberal Era. I came to this book , because I had read a bio on FRanz Boas during my studies of Northwest native cultures. It was interesting to learn in what ways science, politics, and education impacted anthropology and to see how the separate disciplines evolved. The bibliography is EXTENSIVE, so if you want to know more about any one social scientist or a particular historical movement the biblio points in the right direction. Although scholarly, this book is not difficult to follow for the average reader that is interested in the subject. I highly recommend it if you are looking for an excellent overview of American anthropology.

SOUTH MOON UNDER is a page flipper and hard to set aside. Definitely 5 Star Quality.

True, it's a tale of the demeaned and marginalized Florida Cracker, who ekes a living from the Scrub, avoiding unnecessary contact with civilization; but Rawlings' anthropology is soaked with death. Her book is a lament for the death of Old Florida.

Civilization destroys the land and the critters and the people.

South Moon Under is beautifully written with fascinating detail and plenty of suspense. Rawlings wrote this story of subsistence living in the Florida scrub country after living with a moonshiner family for several weeks. The picture of their struggle to eke a living in this marginal land makes for fascinating reading.

But the more important aspect of this novel is the revelation of what government laws and power mean in the every day lives of people living only a hair's breath away from starvation. We see how immoral and corrupt laws and those who enforce them destroyed the delicate balance of survival for the people of the scrub. I don't know if she intended it to be, but this is an anti government, libertarian novel and an important contribution to the historical record. Every liberty lover would gain much from reading this book.

This is a wonderful book about Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), an approach to helping troubled people which might revolutionize psychotherapy. SFBT helps clients change by helping them to construct solutions rather instead of dwelling on problems. It is a highly respectful and highly effective approach .... This well written book shows many examples of what SFBT can do.

Insoo Kim Berg and Yvonne Dolan have taken the yarns of solution- focused brief therapists throughout the world, added a few threads of their own, and ingeniously illuminated the heart and soul of "Brief Therapy". This is the first book I would recommend to anyone interested in the pioneering work of Insoo Kim Berg and Steven deShazer.

What is artfully communicated in this sparse volume shakes the traditional notions of our most commonly held beliefs of how we approach and treat mental disorders no matter how severe. The good news is that the linguistic assumptions, philosophy, and approach are readily teachable. Dolan and Berg should be inducted into the Mental Health Hall of Fame for giving us these lasting, golden memories deeply, imbedded in rich stories. Read, try this respectful approach, and expect to be moved.

Instead of buying the hardback copy advertised very cheaply with marks and missing jacket covers, I opted for the pristine, new paperback version at $[...]! That is how much I wanted this book! It did not disappoint. I was cleaning out some British magazines last month (years old) when I came across the review for this book. Mesmerized, I immediately set out to find it. And, as always, I found it on amazon.com.

I read it in one sitting as it is a thin volume. Her writing is magical. Words have new meaning when you read this book. Thoughts you never thought come to the surface of your mind and into the sunlight. Perhaps they were always there in the back of your mind wanting to escape, but it took her book to release them.

It is impossible for me to accept that the woman who wrote this incredibly sensitive and lovely book for her slain lover is the same woman who kills animals for a living! It doesn't make sense in my mind. Hunter. She has always been one. I am sure she can accept this duality in her persona, but I find it difficult to. Buy this book. You will want to read it and re-read it for years to come. Just stunning.

What a beautiful book. She has a tremendous command of the language and a very flowery style. To be honest there were times I was temporarily lost-wondering if she was being literal or figurative. But it always became clear. A story of a truly adventurous spirit who opens her heart up to a lover who is unexpectedly killed, and the trama that engulfs her.
Living in a pop culture of monosylabic dumbed-down dialogue, one forgets how beautiful english can be. What a pleasant gaze through a window into another world this book gives us.