Nova Books

N.F. Bugai (Bougai is unfortunately one of the many spelling errors in this work) is the foremost experts in the world on Stalin's deportations. Bugai has done more than any other individual to make the formerly hidden information on this subject available. He has used his access to the Soviet archives, particularly those of the NKVD (Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs) and MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) to great effect in this cause. This is Bugai's only work in English and it greatly resembles his Russian classic *L. Beria - I. Stalinu: "Soglasno vashemu ukazaniiu.." (Moscow: "AIRO XX", 1995). It is a very detailed collection of narratives dealing with the series of mass deportations conducted by the Soviet regime from the 1920s through the 1940s. Most of the chapters describe Stalin's wholesale deportation of a single nationality such as the Koreans, Kalmyks, Karachays, or Balkars. Each of these chapters provides a wealth of statistical and qualitative information on the conduct of the deportations and the conditions these nationalities experienced while exiled to Siberia and Central Asia. Unfortunately, unlike *Soglasno,* this work has no chapter on the Crimean Tatars. Nor does it extensively cover the Soviet Germans as *Soglasno* does. Instead it only has a brief chapter on the mobilization of ethnic Germans in the Soviet Far East into the labor army (forced labor brigades). The hundreds of thousands of Soviet Germans living outside the Far East sent to the labor army are not covered in this book. Neither are the more than 1.2 million Soviet Germans sent to special settlements. It does, however, include a whole chapter on the Ingrian Finns which is not found in *Soglasno.* The information in this chapter greatly enhanced my understanding of this particular operation. The information on the Finns in *Soglasno* is so fragmentary that it is easy to draw very different conclusions from the two works. The grammer and spelling are also quite poor. One suspects that the work was translated from Russian to English by somebody who is not a professional translator. The book does not identify any translator. Regardless of of this flaw, the book is one of the very few works of its kind in English. It provides much of the very detailed information recently discovered by Bugai in the Soviet archives. Even if you can read Russian, the information in this book not found in *Soglasno* makes it well worth owning for those interested in the subject.

In this wide-ranging survey of development trends and approaches in the so-called Third World, and particularly Africa, Agunga emphasises the pivotal role of communication. He moves from an introductory chapter on understanding development to a systems approach to development, then argues a case for communication in support of developmental projects, and finally proposes a communication strategy for poverty alleviation. According to the information leaflet, the study is particularly aimed at the need of development agencies for a strategy to effectively mobilise the poor majority for participatory development. The controversial term "Third World" is specifically preferred because the developing countries are still united by their "commonwealth of poverty" (p. 3). Communication for development (or DC, as the abbreviation will be used here, although Agunga prefers to use it for referring to the "old paradigm") has emerged as a discipline and strategy for empowering communities to become the architects of their own development.

Other influential DC publications of the 'nineties (Servaes, Jacobson and White, 1996; White, Nair and Ascroft, 1994; Melkote, 1991) tend to focus on DC in relative isolation, with summaries of the "old" forms of development initiatives and the unsuccessful diffusion theories and efforts as a backdrop. This book is unique in its wide coverage of essential elements of development - development history, initiatives, statistics, theories, etc. - before the focus narrows down to the Development Support Communication (DSC) paradigm.

Agunga therefore offers students, development practitioners, policymakers and scholars comprehensive information on development experience over the last 50 years of this century, identifying the pitfalls and suggesting ways they could be overcome. He argues that often development funds are wasted and sound policies abandoned largely due to poor implementation. Limited capability of field workers in dealing with the dynamics and complexities of the development process poses a major hindrance to sustainable development.

To a large extent the book's value lies in the grand historical and theoretical tour of theory and praxis that is offered to the reader. The lesson has long been learned that only a holistic and comprehensive approach can make sense of the much-maligned concept of "development", or "maldevelopment" (Amin, 1990). In spite of the critique of older approaches to development, in the final instance Agunga seems to accept that development in its fairly standardised form of an agency-directed process is not only a given fact, but even desirable. Although he discusses the many shortcomings of the history of development in Africa, the book takes the position that "development is possible and it offers a strategy for realizing this goal" (p. 9). He does not fully engage with the rigorous critique of development as a concept and practice controlled by outside agencies and directed at the "Third World" (by Escobar, 1995, Amin, 1990. and many others), and the most important critics are not included in the bibliography. This neglect still leaves him open to attack by critics such as Sonderling (1997).

The book specifically addresses the human capacity issue in developing countries, regarded as the key to successful development. Agunga believes that many of today's development concerns --empowerment, leadership, building effective teams, collaboration and managing -- centre on communication and can best be addressed with a social scientific approach to communication in development.

The author therefore has a clear and well-developed agenda. At various stages he takes off his "scientist" hat and urges governmental, non-governmental and other development organisations to provide development communication skills training for their employees as the basis for enhancing their capacities so that they, in turn, can enable beneficiary participation in decision-making. When he resorts to advocacy Agunga is of course at his most vulnerable, as Sonderling's (1997) critique of DSC shows. Sonderling frequently singles out Agunga's emphasis on agency functions in order to "unmask" DSC as a "double agent of deception".

On the other hand the author's subjective commitment and passionate arguments could have far more impact on decision-makers than the usual "subjective" listing of facts. He does not allow the reader to forget that in 1996 eight of the world's ten poorest countries were in Africa, a continent that has paid dearly for its reliance on Western development promises and short-term handouts. It is regrettable that Sonderling did not have this book available when he wrote his critique of DSC. His attack is largely based on the assumption that DSC proponents are actually collaborating with agency-driven development manipulators who need the DSC facilitator to convey messages aimed at coercion and "passive enslavement".

Agunga systematically exposes the grand schemes of hegemonic power groups who furthered their own financial and other interests in the name of development. In fact, he devotes a chapter (4) to the "blame assignment syndrome" and analyses the blame that many role players have to share - industrialised countries, donor agencies, multinational corporations, NGOs, scientists, etc. He then concludes "the key to successful development is to avoid apportioning blame and to look for ways to build development teams that achieve results" (p. 109).

Agunga certainly has the credentials needed to generalise about the development and the DSC situation in the "Third World", in relation to the developed countries. He takes the reader on a tour of his career, which is mostly informative, but also tends to become self-centred. Born in Ghana, he embarked on a career as agricultural extension officer and communication consultant in Africa before moving to the United States for further studies in 1979. Together with Joseph Ascroft he participated in pioneering DSC theories at the University of Iowa in the early '80s before becoming Associate Professor at the Ohio State University. In 1992 he, Ascroft and Stanford Mukasa were the driving forces behind the DSC for Southern Africa Project, which focused on six SADC countries surrounding (but excluding) South Africa. Since then he and Mukasa continued to play a leading role in merging "First" and "Third" World perspectives on DC in Southern Africa by contributing papers, planning documents and discussions for the region at major fora (see Agunga, 1996 and 1997).

Agunga gives numerous illustrations of the basic role of culture and indigenous knowledge systems in DSC. He stresses that the DSC professional has to know the local socio-cultural conditions and possess a high degree of creativity (p. 263). Still, very little of the attention that e.g. Warren, Likkerveer and Brokensha (1995) gives to this area can be found in the book and "culture" is not even included in the index.

It is also curious that DSC as a "discipline" (Agunga's term) is not fully defined and its features not discussed in an introductory section. Instead, the reader has to search through the book (without assistance from the index with its single page listing on DSC) for aspects such as some conceptual components (pp. 253-255), the lack of recognition of DSC (pp. 11-14), its historical roots (pp. 13, 251-253), its role in the Third World (p. 17), a southern African DSC project (pp. 289-297), etc. When a DSC model is discussed (pp. 242-245) it is not related to the systematic attention that the model receives from Melkote (1991) and Jayaweera and Amunugama (1987). In fact, in this section Agunga does not engage these sources and misses the opportunity to refine the model and theory.

Unfortunately Agunga's narrative about the DSC for Southern Africa Project (pp. 269-298) was concluded before he was in the position to discuss one of the major outcomes of the project: the establishment of the SADC Centre of Communication for Development in Harare. This centre produced some state of the art curricula and courses that have already been "imported" into South Africa. The author also could not discuss why little has resulted so far from the conceptual strategy proposed for the SADC region, i.e. establishing national DSC centres and training a new generation of DSC professionals. The end results should be further researched and documented, hopefully by Agunga himself.

It is part of the author's up-front agenda that he sees the DSC agent as a professional and DSC as a specific agency-related discipline. Crucial to his proposed strategy is the establishment of the regional and national DSC centres. Certainly the ideal of solid, curriculum-directed DSC training cannot be faulted. The main problem with this model is that it excludes (or fails to accommodate) many other forms of DSC facilitation by e.g. community workers, volunteers, ICT experts, librarians and others. The f

This book is the unedited diary of socialite Sarah Apthorpe Cunningham Clinch. Everything she wrote is presented as-is, with no changes made by the editor (spelling errors and all!).

Because of this, the reader gets an authentic sense of life in Canada (seen through the eyes of a "Yankee", no less) during the 19th century. Photographs, footnotes, and other similar extras unobtrusively add to the allure of this beautiful book. Coloured pages and illustrations abound.

Wonderful to read slowly over a few weeks.

Presented with Adobe Acrobat Reader and assorted forms on an accompanying CD, Divorce Agreements Simplified by Attorney-at-Law Daniel Sitarz is a step-by-step, legal guide for divorcing couples on speaking terms offering how-to divorce instructions that are easy to understand and follow. With explanations of divorce laws in all 50 states and Washington DC, as well as guides for handling such matters as property division, child support and custody, tax issues, alimony and more, Divorce Agreements Simplified is an excellent resource (and legally valid in all 50 states) with which to familiarize oneself of the divorce process and issues before visiting an expensive attorney.

If you can get your hands on this book, buy it and read Donald Judd's writings on art, architecture and art criticism among other topics. his often diadactic writings and acute insights are relevant now as they were 20 years ago. his strong opinions are a refreshing surprise and add additional insight into a master sculptor.

This is the book that I have wanted, for it had been out of print for a long time.
For students majoring contemporary art, this book is a must, that is the original source of contemporary art during the 1960s, including "Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology" ed. by Gregory Battcock.

This is an important book because it critiques a glaring problem in higher education in general, and specifically in the massive University of California system. Ever since proposition 209 was passed in California, effectively outlawing affirmative action, the black student population in the UC system has dropped to absurdly small numbers. In schools like UC Berkeley, which were once centers of the Black and Civil Rights movements, Blacks are now almost invisible outside of a few courageous and well-executed protests. Along with the drop in the student population comes a hollowing-out of Black Studies departments. These departments were formed in the '60's with a mission of community outreach and action. The idea was to have at least one department in the academy that reflected and worked with the communities that the universities were geographically close to, instead of keeping the Ivory Tower locked and isolated. But since then, Black Studies departments have lost that mission; they have become much more focused on the global African Diaspora than on African Americans. Although the African Diaspora is certainly worth studying, it should not overshadow the importance of African Americans in our own society and culture. Brown discusses the cultural import of Hip-Hop and its impact on the academy.

Cecil Brown discusses all this with the voice of experience: he has been in and out of the UC system for much of his life, and experienced shocking racism and exclusion from the system.

This is a book that the right people need to read. Anybody who is in higher education (especially administrators) should spend time with this book, and think about these issues. In a time when racial diversity has become a catch-phrase, what are we doing to create a truly more equitable society?

This book deals with the reception of works by Offenbach in Lisbon in the 19th century such as it is reflected in the literary works by the Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós (or Queiroz)(1845-1901). The strategies of communication in both authors (the composer and the novelist) are compared, and it is shown, how Queiroz' approach is different from Zola's Realism or Naturalism and similar to Offenbach's theatre. Sarcasm, irony, mediated by the narrator, generate in Queiroz (like in Offenbach) a caricature of real life. Hidden or explicit quotations (intertextuality)by Queiroz of Offenbach's operettes make still clearer this relationship between music theatre and literature. On the contrary, Zola was a severe critic of Offenbach.

Do not buy this audio recording unless you get parts 1-4 and listen to them first. We love Tom Bodett, so much so that when we were in Alaska, we went to "the end of the road" aka Homer, just to see the place he writes about. I got the "Freefall of Webster Cummings"(the first tape) at the library along with 2 other volumns, not knowing that it was one huge story. We only had parts 1,2 and 5- my husband refused to let us listen to 5 until we got parts 3 and 4. The library did not have them all, so I went to the bookstore (the days before Amazon) and bought the entire set for him as a gift. The American Odyssey is wonderful, truly a classic. You have to listen to it on cassette as no one can spin a yarn like Tom, but beware, if you get the fifth volumn without listening to 1-4, you will have cheated yourself beyond measure. We buy lots of audio books, and once we listen to them, we give them away, but not this one! We bought it when it came out, listened to it on a trip - loaned it out, with my husband threatening to kill anyone who did not return it. We got it back, and on a trip out west this summer, we listened to all 5 volumns again. It was just as wonderful the second time around. Each volumn is good, but the story as a whole, told in all 5 is exceptional. Tom has outdone himself. You keep wondering how he is going to weave all of these story lines together, but he does it. If you can't afford the entire set, go to the library and get them (I know Amazon won't like that) Don't miss this book. It is quintissential Bodett. Not only a soul searching American Odyssey, but truly an American classic that will have you laughing and crying. This book truly touched our hearts!

To me this book appears to be "the best of all" about Jazz. Complete, easy to read, logic, etc. Is in Spanish but should be translated in english .Success garanteed.