Columbia Books

This book contains a lot of insight into a problem that has felt overwhelming for me to accept for a long time.

The best parts of the book for me were:

#. The Object-Relations Theory - which was new to me, but beautifully explained in easy to understand words, with lots of examples to illustrate his point. Also with author's regret that it's a shame to be named "Oject-Relations Theory" when dealing with humans (Mother-child).

#. Staying Home chapter - various examples of how the dynamics between parent/child work and how he helped them move on to the next stage. It was helpful to learn of the "control drama" - which I had seen play out in my own life; basically meaning that once you decide to move on in life, leave home, the normally abusive parent will suddenly change their behavior to get you to stay. And how being in therapy, and having the therapist change you will most likely be met with disapproval from the abusive parent. But in order to "make the change" you need to stay committed and strong in your own choices.

#. I don't feel comfortable sharing too much about my personal life, but I do hope that this book will reach a lot of young people out there, who are in a difficult relationship with their parents. One of the wisest advices or comments I have found in this book was :

"Another defensive path that many of my patients take is to try to understand WHY they were not loved or cared for. (p.113) ... The question as to why we were abused is a continuation of our defenses, in that it assumes there is an inherent logic in life, and that we could have done something differently to please our parents. The ultimate "answer" to the question of why we wer rejected, undernurtured, or punished unfairly is simply bad luck - the same bad luck that allows innocent people to be maimed or killed by drunk drivers every year.(p.115)"

This is what I meant by accepting the hardest part was for me. I'd already learned to make my choices and be myself, move on, leave home; but the final and most important curiosity was that "Why Question." It's like the idea of opening that pandora's box story... If I understand WHY they behaved that way towards me when I was younger, I could get on with my life. That motivation was what drove me stay for prolonged abusive relationship. Just reading that passage - helped me let go of the Why Question with ease and more acceptance. I may NEVER really get it; but it's no use blinding myself to Why's and Because's - I'd rather feel secure in knowing that I can make choices for myself, and just choose to educate myself how to be a better person who knows how to create lasting loving relationships. (For this, I recommend the book "How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It")

For those who would like to read a more personal accout of growing up in an abusive household, I would like to recommend the book "Fresh Out of Hell" by Alyson Kay (although I wish I had borrowed this book from a library instead of buying it).

Overall, I do believe that Leaving Home is a very comprehensive and reliable book to have for those who imagine what it'd be like to finally leave the beloved yet horrifying family and home. It is full of compassion and quite realistic, and supportive; it will help you to stop that Love/Hate(Anger) cycle in the second chapter - "How Our Defenses Play 'Hide and Seek' with Reality".

#. I almost forgot but there was another excellent excerpt(p.28-32), which I couldn't find in any other recovery or Narcissistic Personality Disorder infos, or self-help books that explained WHY the abused child ends up staying close to the abusive parent! This is the same type of reasoning that goes for battered women, who stay with their physically abusive husbands. I found it VERY satisfying to finally see WHY I was feeling so connected when there was so much pain to endure.

"Harrison's example illustrates that neglect has a counterintuitive effect on the development of the human personality. Amazingly, neglect of a child's normal developmental needs makes that child *increasingly attached* to her (faulty) parents as compared to a child who has been reared by nurturing and loving parents. At first glance, this seems to be completely backwards. It seems logical that a child who had very few developmental needs satisfied by her parents would end up being less dependent on others. One might assume that the chronically neglected child would give up the battle to get her developmental needs met and move on in life, but as I have noted, the individual cannot move on without the cooperation of the parent. (p.29) ...

This critical development reality can be illustrated with the use of numbers. Let us assume that each day in a healthy family results in one unit of emotional nurturance within the child, toward the many thousands of units required for the development of a healthy personality. Thus, a child from a functional, loving family will probably end up with 350 units of nurturance per year. Why not 365 units? Simply because even healthy loving families have some disruptive strife that prevents the child from getting his daily minimum requirement. Thus, each year the loved and emotionally supported child adds 350 units to the required number needed for mature personality functioning. Second, let us assume that it takes 7,000 units of emotional support in total, over a period of twenty years, to allow the child to develop into an adult with a fully mature personality. After ten years of supportive parenting the child has acquired 3,500 units, and after twenty years, 7,000 units, which allows this lucky young adult to achieve emotional maturity. Once achieved, the young adult no longer needs the frequency or intensity of support that was necessary during her devlopment because she carries the thousands of events of emotional support in her memory. She can now separate from her family and eventually begin the process of nurturin the next generation of children.(p.30)"

Celani goes on to explain how the under-nurtured child will not have enough support or care stored in them to meet that 7,000 mark; and although it defies conventional logic, the child cannot make equal friendship with the peers, and therefore, have no option but to cling to the abusive parent.

Thank you Mr. Celani for sharing your professional expertise and overall warm compassion apparent in your work. God bless your soul.

I devoured this book in one sitting. My situation seems to be exactly what he is addressing (although I do not physically live with my parents). If your parents have somehow refused to give you equal stature with them, and you are trying to work through how to be an adult, this book will help you alot. There are 2 children warring inside you. The first thinks it will all get better, and one day they will love you. (This is the same sort of thinking that sends abused women back to their abusers, the woman saying, "It will all be better now.") The other child in you is hurt and angry, and recalls quite clearly everything they ever did to hurt you. It wants revenge. Have you ever heard an adult child throwing verbal barbs at their parent? That's what was going on. It's ugly, and it will keep you tied to them, and stunted, until you can let go of it. Read the book.

I've been in therapy for 4 years and it takes a long time to come to terms with things you never knew existed in your life until now. My whole life I've been pretty much either sad or depressed. Had overwhelming feelings of inferiority and never feeling loved. Except I could never identify the feelings or understand where they were coming from.

My therapist recommended this book, telling me that this book is really good at explaining neglect (emotional) and its affects. For me its done what 4 years of therapy could not do and that is really make me face and realize why I am the way I am. Its because of therapy that I can read this book and understand, but this book is kind of like the icing on the cake, just pulling everything together and making it very clear.

I think I'm still trying to understand the part in the book the previous reviewer was talking about which is the hopeful self and the wounded self, the hopeful self which needs to give up trying to get love from a parent that never was able to give love to you your whole life.

One thing I have to say is that although he does acknowledge that this book is not just about people physically living at home, but also using at a metaphor for people who are still emotionally tied or poeple who maybe have no contact w/ family but recreate this family w/ new relationships. I'm in the last category having felt that I had limited my relationship w/ my parent as much as possible and I don't harbor too much hope for love from her, but I feel as if I have recreated that relationship w/ other people. I wish he had talked more about this and not so much about people who are are tied to the home in more blatant, obvious ways such as living there or calling home everyday.

All I can say is that I read this book within one day. I've reread it twice. Its one of those books that you just need. Its clear and to the point. He doesn't make anything pretty for you and tells everything to you in a way that is like you are your own therapist and doctor.

Its a book that you will probably have the rest of your life.

I love how the previous reviewer said Just Get The Book.

I back her up 100 percent. Get it. It's like I can't even explain it, you just have to get the book and see for yourself and then you'll understand.

I found Leaving Home to be a very clear and helpful exploration of how difficult but necessary it is for adult children to separate from unhealthy family relationships. The book is relatively short and to the point without a lot of therapist/client conversations which I liked.

As a judge, a lawyer and an historian I had heard about the Leo Frank case but did not know the details. Leonard Dinnerstein does an excellent job of relating the story of Leo Frank in a fair and unbiased manner. He also puts the entire affair in a historical context. This would be an excellent read for any student of racism in America and of the New South. It is easy to read and has an excellent bibliography.

I got interested in this case after reading a large write up in the local paper, the Atlanta Journal constitution, which is quoted many times in the book. I like historical books and was really amazed at the semitic overtones in the south during the civil war. As stated by reveiwer C. Ellen, it was written well and put into context with other goings on in that period. Being from Atlanta myself, I could very easily relate to the narative and it held my facination throughout. It told what I beleive to be the complete story and facts as well as being updated for NEW release in 1987 by adding an additional preface. Anyone who is interested in civil war reads, the laws of the time , or who lives in or around Atlanta , will be interested in this book. Over 50 pages of it are dedicated to the bibliography and all facts are well documented. It is a story that is all to reminiscent of famous cases that have arrisen in the past few years. It's a sad commentary on just how far the attitudes of this nation have come in the past 100 years or so. If interested in further information after reading this book, then I suggest trying to contact the Atlanta Journal Constitution for their brilliant account of the incident in the June 11, 2000 addition of their paper. It also gives a partial list of the lynching mob, held in secretcy until this time. A great book to own for any historical book collection.

The circumstances and attitudes that coincided in the trial of Leo Frank, had very little to do with the accused or the victim. They were both surrogates for a larger battle; Leo Frank was proxy for Northern industrialists and "Little Mary Phagan" stood in for the victimized South who had been taken advantage of by Northern opportunists.

The fact is that the case of Leo Frank acted as a steam valve, in many respects, to the buildup of Southern frustration and anger that had grown since the Civil War, then through Reconstruction and its aftermath. Southern Pride took a near-mortal blow when Lee surrendered to Sherman at Appomattox, humiliating the survivors of hundreds of thousands of dead. Reconstruction brought in Northern carpetbaggers who participated in the governments of the states that they had just defeated. Southern anger accumulated, especially as attempts to overturn it were thwarted until the contested election of 1876, in which Rutherford B. Hayes won on the condition of agreeing to end Reconstruction.

Reconstruction allowed Southern states to exact a measure of revenge on black populations, although resentment toward the North remained unavenged. In an honor-bound society such as the South, it is very difficult to imagine that wrong to one's family would go without settling the score. Such is the larger metaphor of the South as a whole to the North. Southern society and culture prided itself on being a distinct and cultured entity from the slavish industrialists of the North.

Thus, when a stereotypical Northern carpetbagger, a Jew no less, found himself in connection with the violent death of a Southern belle, vengeance became a powerful a prevailing force. Upon Leo Frank was heaped all of the indignation from Southern loss to the North - the industrialization, forcing young girls to work in factories; the ownership of capital; the imposition of Reconstruction; Lincoln marching into Richmond - all Southern rage at the North was embodied in the trial of Leo Frank. (Ironically, a Northern newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst, fed the flames through his acquisition of the Atlanta Georgian, which led the pack in sensationalizing the trial.)

All of this is to say that the forces which demanded that Leo Frank be the sacrificial lamb for the North's crimes against the South were too powerful for rational legal procedures. If the governor had reversed the conviction or the commuted the sentence, he would have been denying the mob the satisfaction of revenge. The lynching of Frank did give rise to the Klu Klux Klan, however the immediate reaction of Georgia (and the South) was a demand for justice, even though it was at the end of a rope.

It is telling that Frank did not receive a pardon of his conviction until 1986, and even that was amid controversy in the South. Those eighty years had to pass before rational analysis of a crime could be carried out and a form of justice could be executed, which lends perspective to the heft of the event in the history of the South. Tom Watson's remark was an astute reflection of the prevailing sentiment of the day and offers a glimpse into larger, unresolved tensions of the day.

Dinnerstein does a beautiful job in eloquently presenting the facts of the famous Leo Frank case. All angles of the case are examined in a thorough, impartial manner. A must read for anyone familiar with the Frank case, and well worth looking into for anyone who loves a good murder mystery.

The original version of this book, published in 1972 by Alfred A Knopf, reflects the thinking of historian Roy A Medvedev in the period of August 1962 to August 1968. The revised and expanded 1989 version must first be examined in light of the original.

The original was translated by Colleen Taylor and edited by David Joravsky of Northwestern University. Medvedev couldn't get published in the USSR, and this work thus first appeared in the West. It was written primarily during the transition from Khrushev's anti-Stalinist reforms to Brezhnev's immanent social-imperialism.

August 1968 is also the month of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslavakia and the defeat of Dubcek's "socialism with a human face." This is also the period of Mao's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

Stalin was as evil as Hitler, yet he rose to power in the first Socialist state. The Second World War played itself out as one totalitarian dictatorship in a death struggle with another, yet Stalin ended up through the course of events as an ally of the democratic and capitalist Anglo-American West in its life-or-death struggle against fascism.

Totalitarianism turns out to have been the big infatuation of the twentieth century intelligentsia. Medvedev represents Russia's awakening from this plague. He is wrong about so much, yet for his age he was so far ahead of his times.

This book is a classic, and I believe the original should be the preferred version. Stalin's terror is nearly beyond belief. It is tragic in a different way than Nazism; perhaps with consequences more evil.

If Leninism ever revives, this will be a classic, just as it is now in the wake of the Cold War defeat of Communism.

This book is a very thorough and well-written biography of Josef Stalin. It was one of the few books I read in college that I didn't mind reading. The information on Stalin's political and personal life gives the reader an opportunity to make informed judgements about Stalin's actions.

This book was the first in the Soviet Union to treat Stalin in an objective way. Prior to its release Stalin had been the great hero of the patriotic war the father of the country and so forth. Whilst the secret speech by Krushev had distanced the country from his system scholarship had not taken the step of subjecting his rule to objective analysis.

The author was a person who was an opponent of Stalin and prior to the fall of the regime was active in its criticism. The book goes through the issues associated with Stalin such as the decision to collectivize agriculture, the forced industrialization, the terror and the handling of the war. The author forms the view that Stalin was an unmitigated disaster. That is the country would have progressed economically better without him, and his handling of the war was catastrophic.

It is a good book to read with other western accounts such as Bullocks.

The late 1990's saw the publication of numerous scatterbrained, and ill-intentioned, attempts to descredit Vladimir Lenin, Nikolai Bukharin, Leon Trotsky, and Karl Marx, by associating their actions, and ideas, with those of Joseph Stalin. One must ask, "were these attempts in any way successful?" Luckily, the answer is an emphatic, no. The individuals who bought into the "Marx and Lenin created Stalinism" theory, alluded to in works such as 'The Black Book of Communism', by Mister Courtois (or Miss), 'The Passing of an Illusion', by Mister Furet, and 'The Soviet Tragedy', by Mister Malia, already harbored such fantastic illusions. Most of the population has no interest in Sovietology, so attempts at descrediting Lenin, Marx, Bukharin, and Trotsky, were, and are, virtually fruitless (I took a Public Speaking course at a local community college, and most of the students hadn't even heard of Lenin, Marx, or Trotsky!.)

To find true objectivity, on the subject of Sovietology, one must reach back into the distant past, and read Roy Medvedev's incredible, 'Let History Judge'. One could refer to Medvedev's writings, as "Solzhenitsyn, without the racism and bitterness"(a spew of biographies show that Solzhenitsyn is without question anti-semitic; however, this fact doesn't mean he's no longer one of the elite writers of the twentieth century). 'Let History Judge', is not so much a history of Stalin, but a history of Russia from 1917-1953. Described, with minute detail, is Lenin's seizure of power, Lenin's benevolent feelings toward Stalin (which ended effectively after the Eleventh All-Congress of the Bolsheviks), Trotsky's role as leader of the Red Army, Trotsky's complete ineptness in regard to the left-opposition, and Stalin's remarkable, almost super-human, political abilites. In addition, one will never discover a finer description of collectivization anywhere (although I must admit Conquest's 'Harvest of Sorrow', is pretty excellent). Russia's grain production in 1930-1933, were almost certainly below pre-WWI levels, apparently, but Stalin wanted Russia to appear forceful, so he sold grain internationally, as if it were "business as usual", which resulted in the death of millions of non-guilty peasants (however, one can not deny George Carlin's classic quote, "there are no innocent people, once you're born, you're guilty as charged").The description of the horrible Gulag system is not quite as great as Solzhenitsyn's, but it's pretty darn close. Unlike Solzhenitsyn, Medvedev doesn't slander the dead, or embark on anti-semitic diatribes (thankfully, for the population at large, Medvedev critiques much of what Solzhenitsyn wrote in the 'Gulag Archipelago' with absolute clarity).

The price is pretty high, but at 800+ pages, the person isn't really buying just one book, they are buying a multitude of books, which cover a variety of subjects. In addition to, 'Let History Judge', I would also strongly recommend you read Edvard Radzinsky's 'Stalin', Volkogonov's 'Autopsy of an Empire' (being a Yeltsin staffer, Volkogonov is biased, but there is some interesting anecdotes!), and Robert Tucker's magnificent two-volume biograpy of Stalin. Unlike other works on the subject of the Russian Revolution, these works actually take a "scholarly" approach!

In many of the earlier accounts of Mannerheim's life, particularly Finnish ones, Mannerheim appears on stage in 1918, fully-formed and ready to take the lead. This book focuses in on the least-known part of Field Marshal Mannerheim's life - his early years and the time he spent in the Imperial Russian Army up until the Bolshevik Revolution. His happy childhood in an aristocratic Finnish home was ended by his father's banlruptcy and his mother's death. He was sent away to a military school, which he hatedand from which he was eventually expelled. The military life itself did appeal to him however, and, like many other Finns in the nineteenth century, when Finland was a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, he entered the Russian Army where he served as a cavalry officer in both Guards and Line Regiments.

His service included fighting in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and a 2 year reconnaisance expedition through the border provinces of China in 1906-8. He fought through the First World War - at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution he was a Lieutenant-General commanding a Cavalry Corps. During WW1, he was a protege of General Brusilov (the "Brusiolc Offensive - one of the more successful offensive actions in WW1 and to date one of the battles with the most casualties of any in history). He returned to Finland as a refugee but almost overnight assumed the historic role of Commander-in-Chief of the White Army which he led to victory in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. For the rest of his life, he was one of the most controversial and important political figures in Finland.

Mannerheim's opinions and policies as a Finnish soldier and statesman were deeply influenced by his experiences in Russia. By taking a fresh look at Mannerheim's early career in Russia, this book makes his later involvment in the development of independent Finland easier to understand.

Contents
I - The Formative Years
II - Early Years in Russia
III - Across Asia
IV - Last Years in Russia
V - The Years of Preparation

At only 159 Pages, this is a short book. There's 4 B&W photos, 4 Maps and an extensive bibliography. First published 1970. It's best read immediately prior to the author's subsequent book, Mannerheim - The Finnish Year (which was only published in 2000). However, it's interesting. If you're interested in Mannerheim, it's well worth the money and quite well-written.

The author, J E O Screen, was Librarian of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at the University of London from 1972 to 1988. He's written a number of other books and articles on aspects of Finland's military history.

Was there ever a wiser statesman than Mannerheim? In every stage of his career he generally found himself the wisest man in the room. This well-researched book shows how the father of independent Finland (his weakest language) acquired his knowlege of things military and the world.

Mannerheim was of the old Swedish nobility who effortless had made the transition between loyalty to the king of Sweden to loyalty to the Tsar. This group which made up about 10% of the population and made up a large segment of the elite. Being nobility, Mannerheim had few career options particularly after his father went bankrupt. After a rather disasterous tenure in Swedish military school, he managed to make his way to St Petersburg where the combination of a military career and advantageous marriage allowed him to enjoy the high life of the waning days of Tsarist Russia.

J.E.O Screen tells Mannerheim's story succinctly and well, covering Mannerheim's career in the Russo-Japanese War, his espionage trip through Central Asia, and his career in WWI where he won the Order of St George for heroism. The book concludes with Mannerheim leaving St Petersburg for Helsinki and an uncertain future. It is this later period which showed Mannerheim in all his greatness. This book showed how he was able to reach these heights of glory.

This is an excellent, well written book which fills in many of the details of the Marshal's life which he omitted from his memoirs. His modesty and sense of privacy caused him to neglect to discuss many aspects of his life, his achievements, feelings, concerns with social reform, and a few events which he might have considered to be failures. The book presents a clear picture of a very complex and honorable man liing in turbulant times. He comes through as a very human person.

There are a great many details of his life which I have never before read. I highly recommend this book to those who hold the Marshal in high esteem and to any who enjoy reading about very accomplished MAN.

Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim is to Finnish history what George Washington is to American history. Both were soldier-statesman involved in huge political,social and military upheavals both in their younger careers and even more so in their more senior years. However unlike Washington, who was separated by 3,400 miles of ocean from his powerful foe,Mannerheim in World War2 had to contend with an enemy just over the border. Three years ago a Finnish diplomat in Canberra sent me JEO Screen's small- but excellent- book (159 pages),' Mannerheim-The Years of Preparation,' a publication that concentrates on the great Finnish Marshal's early life. From aristocratic stock, Mannerheim entered the Russian cavalry(Finland's sovereign at that stage was the Czar)and like the young Washington, and indeed the young Winston Churchill, was always involved in larger-than-life events.Whether at ceremonial functions, such as the coronation of Czar Nicholas the Second,or fighting in the Russo-Japanese War(1904-5), Mannerheim was always to the forefront, being involved in reconnaissance work in the Battle of Mudken,having his horse shot from under him on one patrol. Screen notes that Mannerheim's fearless bravery in the ill-fated Manchurian campaign would be repeated many times during and after World War 1. Indeed. Between 1906-08 Mannerheim turned into a latter-day Marco Polo with his great horseback expedition, on behalf of the Russian Army, across Asia. Ostensibly he was to accompany a French professor, Paul Pelliot, on an archaeological tour but in reality he was to gather political and military intelligence for the Russian General Staff whose interest in China stemmed from their expansionist dreams (something Mannerheim would have to confront later as Finnish C-I-C in the Winter War of 1939-40). It has to be remembered that Russo-Chinese relations were as strained in this period as they would become half a century later during the Cold War period. Screen gives the reader a brief historical context to Mannerheim's mission. This book is like an entree, it leaves you wanting more and there is so much more about the man who became the greatest Finn of all.Unfortunately Screen finishes his book with Mannerheim departing a disintegrating Russia, controlled by the Red mob, and a brief summary.Perhaps, the book could have been extended somewhat to include more about the declaration of independence period and the ensuing White-Red struggles for control of Finland's soul. Nevertheless this a fine book about the early life of a great man from a small country. _

From the length of the British coast to the feedback process between order and chaos, Keith Devlin's Mathematics provides a surprisingly non-technical tour of new developments in the field of math since 1960, revising a classic to encompass new theories of the 1980s and 1990s. Mathematician/author Devlin claims we are in a 'new golden age' of math advancements: this links math achievements to new science findings as a whole.

The phrase "Golden Age" is most often used to refer to an era when the dominant players exhibited characteristics that are later called "amateurish." For example, the fifties are often called the golden age of American television and the thirties and forties the golden age of science fiction. However, like most such glittery phrases, it can be redefined to suit ones purposes, and that is what Devlin does here. He takes as his era of consideration the years since 1960.
Some of the topics are those that have been resolved in this time span, such as the four-color problem, the classification of simple groups, Hilbert's Tenth Problem, and the Continuum Hypothesis. Others are some that have been created by the advent of computers, such as fractals, chaos, and the efficiency of algorithms. Finally, there are those where only significant progress has been made, such as Fermat's Last Theorem, factoring large numbers, and Knot Theory. All are dealt with in a manner that will allow the non-technical person to understand them. The writing is clear, concise, and direct.
With over half of the material dealing directly with work done on computers, it is clear that the author's use of the phrase is correct. However, this era will go down in history as the original golden age of the use of computers in mathematics and not as a new golden age of mathematics alone.
Strongly recommended as a primer on major mathematical accomplishments since 1960, this book can be enjoyed by amateurs and professionals alike.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission

This is the best popular math book I've ever read. The first edition of this book was responsible for rekindling my interest in pure mathematics after a long layoff (which has persisted to this day). The author covers some topics that are typically covered in popular math books (such as chaos theory and the difficulty of factoring large prime numbers). Fortunately, most of the book is devoted to topics that are rarely dealt with in such books, such as the classification of finite simple groups, the class number problem, and the Riemann hypothesis. The new edition also contains an expanded section on Fermat's last theorem (which has been proved since the first edition came out). What I like about Devlin's style is that he goes into the math to a much more significant extent than most popular science writers and yet still keeps everything easy to understand for anyone with (say) an understanding of basic calculus. The only (minor) criticism I have of the book is that Devlin often gets tantalizingly close to a major result and then begs off with the statement "the full result can only be understood by specialists". Most of the time, this makes little difference, but with the class number problem (which, among other things, explains why exp(sqrt(163)*Pi) is almost an integer), he leads you along a fascinating journey and then doesn't explain the original motivating problem (why exp(sqrt(163)*Pi) is almost an integer). However, this is a minor nit and doesn't significantly detract from a fascinating book.

This book is a comprehensive in-detail overview of a wide rage of mathematical subjects, from Fermat's Last Theorem to topology. If you are considering a mathematical career, this book is a great buy.

I concur with the other reviewers - a thorough and interesting book.

I am an avid reader of books about religion and political science, and am most concerned with the impact of religion on a nation's policies and politics. Dr. Wickham's book is the most interesting and profound book on modern Islam I have read. She has the ability to allow the reader to understand Islam from the inside out and therefore to make sense of what we Westerners often feel is not logical. The author held my attention from beginning to end with a style that was both interesting and informative. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Islam and it's impact on the United States and the world today.

Too often Islam as a comprehensive systme of life is overshadowed by the comparatively few but dangerous terroriist individuals and organizations. Though I am not a Muslim, I do think that the Western perceptions toward Islam and Islamism is excessively biased and near-sighted. And more often than not, people are hung up on analyzing the radical extremist aspects of Islamism, or the politics of the movement.

This excellent book by Rosefsky Wickham does not provide answers to the whole notion of Islam being 'opposed' to the West, or the debate about whether Islamic countries can become democratized 'like us'.

It is more focused on the deeper, underlying social movements that propel Islamism in Egypt, the people/organization/methods through which the religious movement has gained ground. She also examines how this change takes place, via what she calls "transvaluation". It's a nice departure made from the conventional obsession with the violence and the need to 'save' the Muslims under Islamic autocrats.

The narrative she provides does not use the normal political science jargon and is an enjoyable academic read. I found it quite refreshing.

This book is an excellent account of the rise of the most important opposition movement in Egypt since the 1952 revolution. While its discussion of the last 8 years is unfortunately a bit truncated, this is probably one of the best texts out there to study a major islamic political movement in its proper context. What the author successfully does is not only take the study of social movements outside of its standard western milieu, but also look at the critical role ideology plays in mobilizing particular segments of the population to support and join a (r)evolutionary movement.

While political economy explanations can show the context that leads to the creation of a potential audience for a message of social justice and transformation of society from below, it doesn't explain why people would do so when the costs of such action in an authoritarian country are so high. Usually survival is the paramount concern of most in society outside the coopted elite, unless an opportunity for change occurs. But such was not the case in Egypt in the 1970s and 80s, not one sufficiently great in and of itself anyway, to mobilize the disaffected semi elite who did join and became the backbone of the Brotherhood. What was needed also was a message of hope, social justice, and fairness, and that message was supplied by moderate political islam. The opportunity of course was facilitated by the traditional failure not only of the state's own neopopulist economic, social, and educational policies, but also of the main other opposition socialist movements. Moderate political islam provided the answer for many.

It should be noted that this book, unlike many other studies of egyptian political islam by authors like Barry Rubin and Mary Anne Weaver, does not focus on the more violent offshoots of the Brotherhood, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and Al Qaeda. Ergo this is not a book about terrorism. But that's kind of the point, this shows the fact the even now (at least before 9/11) mainstream political Islam in most Moslem nations in the Middle East and beyond are quite moderate and while wanting to create a Moslem state in the long run (i.e. over decades) are willing to do so from below. Wickham quotes a female activist in the book who says precisely that, i.e. that by teaching children about the religion, its values, and goals, as well as their mothers and fathers, that over time this will help build support for the movement until it grows to a large enough popular majority to overtake the state peacefully. This could be called revolutionary in the sense that the long term goal is change of the state and society, but it is neither a top down, not militant movement, but rather one that seeks to achieve its goals at the ballot box, in the mosques, schools, health care centers, sports clubs, newstands, in professional associations, and such rather than with weapons. It therefore very much is a study of a movement in a major Moslem nation that joins a growing list of outstanding works in English on the subject from other countries such as Jenny White's "Islamist Mobilization in Turkey" about Turkey's AK party, which recently came to power and Robert W. Hefner's "Civil Islam" about Indonesia's Nhladatul Ulama of former President Abdurahman Wahid.

If you want to understand what mainstream political islam stands for and is seeking to achieve, in the most important Arab nation at that, this is probably the most important book you could read.

Used 2 different versions of Moon Handbooks for trip to NW and both were invaluable. This series gives far more detail then a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide which I normally buy. We used it to plan trips, select accommodations that were NOT chains and found reviews to be spot on. Since the book focuses on just one place in Oregon, it is able to go into far greater detail then the more generalized travel books do.
Because of this and the Oregon Coast version, I buy the Moon Handbooks now over the others.
Well worth the price.

MOON HANDBOOKS COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE: INCLUDING COMPLETE COVERAGE OF PORTLAND is a wonderful book about northern Oregon and southern Washington, including complete coverage of the Portland-Vancouver metro area. Thus, you get information on both rural pleasures, such as hiking and white-water rafting, and urban ones, including shopping, dining, and museums. This is a book that anyone with an interest in geography must own.

I am making a long journey next year that will include the Columbia Gorge and this book really helps define the areas I wish to see. It has been really helpful in the lodging as well as the parks and hiking. I am a photographer and plan on taking numerous images on this trip, so I like to know well ahead of time what I will be seeing. I highly recommend this guidebook to those that visit this area.

We had never been to the northwest before and wanted to get the most out of our first trip. This guide was like having a local with us on the trip. We were able to get to the numerous falls, rapids, windsurfing areas and hikes without wandering around. We stayed in a great hotel that was reported on and picked from the recommended restaurants. The book was well worn when we got home. I highly recommend it.

This attractive book, with over 250 historical photographs, tells the story of a unique neighborhood in New York City. Dolkart traces its development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from a rural, undeveloped tract with an insane asylum and an orphanage into the home of some of the nation's most important educational and religious institutions (Columbia, Barnard and Teachers College, Union and Jewish Theological seminaries, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Riverside Church, and the Institute of Music and Art (later Juilliard and now Manhattan School of Music). The architectural history is meticulously documented, tracking the invovement of the major architects of the period in the neighborhood's transformation. The book also explores the involvement of New York's wealthiest families in and the rivalries that drove this neighborhood's development. Dolkart also for the first time documents the growth of Morningside Heights as the first middle-class apartment building neighborhood in New York City. His insights into this process help all those interested New York City and other urban centers in this country in understanding the fascinating ways in which important neighborhoods take shape and influence the future history of their city and the nation. This is a must for all those who love and study New York City, and urban and architectural history and development.

This book is NOT an architectural survey, per se. It does not attempt to catalogue all the historic or important structures of the neighborhood as, say, an AIA Guide does. Instead, it considers in some detail the architectural history of the neighborhood and its major institutions. We know which ones: Columbia University, Barnard College, Riverside Church, Union Theological Seminary, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and St. Luke's Hospital. As a tool for practicing architects or as a source for architectural historians, this book is about as good as they get. As a piece to enjoy for the general, curious reader it's a bit academic. Photographs are all black and white, and are technical and pragmatic rather than artistic.

One more point: The narrative seems largely absent of knee-jerk political correctness and fadish multi-culturalist rhetoric, which is refreshing. Thus, the author has stopped at nothing in order to maintain the highest academic and scholarly standards in the book. Well done, in that regard.

I bought this book because I was born and raised in Morningside Heights. I moved away years ago and now live in another state but I often feel nostalgia for my old and very unique neighborhood. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in the shadow of the Cathedral of St. John The Divine and surrounded by the three great public parks, Central, Morningside, and Riverside. Central Park is famous and Riverside is fairly known but very few outside the area know of the beauty of Morningside Park and Morningside Drive. This book is filled with photos and illustrations and tons of history. I recommend it to students of history of N.Y.C., architecture, and anyone interested in learning about the lesser known areas of New York.

Morningside Heights is one of America's greatest unknown architectural treasures. Most people who didn't go to Columbia University or one of its other institutions of learning don't even know that it exists. But this half-square-mile of Manhattan boasts classic old-fashioned streetscapes, dotted with architectural monuments, that compare to the best Europe has to offer. Mr. Dolkhart's book on how it all got built is comprehensive, flawlessly accurate, well illustrated, and informed by a cultivated urban sensibility from which we all can learn. I am the webmaster of this neighborhood's website.

I am a little behind in my reading, but I have been thinking about this text and feel that No Debate challenges the status quo, but additionally, has already influenced the shape of current debates. UTube has found a presence not seen before and multimedia will continue to reinvent modern elections. What I particularly liked about the book (I am not done) is the author's suggested action items. This book does not whine and leave us wondering "what should we do?". Instead, Farah offers intelligent alternatives and I believe we are seeing some of this put into motion already. What will be next for the this author?

George Farah writes about the current organization that orchestrates the Presidential debates, including its history and the details of how it operates. According to Farah, the Commission on Presidential Debates is not the nonpartisan organization it claims to be, but instead is a bipartisan, corporate sponsored front for the Republican and Democratic parties controlled by the campaigns of the Republican and Democratic nominees. The author points out in great detail the hypocrisies, lies, and manipulations the two parties, the Commission members, and the campaigns engage in to maintain the domination of the two major parties in the debates. He concludes his book by presenting the formation of the Citizens' Debate Commission and the principles under which this new Commission would operate. To those who are interested in how our political system operates and how we might improve it, this book not only offers insight, it offers an alternative to the current system which is a blight on a free and democratic society. The book includes two appendices. The first is a document from the 1996 presidential campaign entitled 'Memorandum of Understanding' which is the agreement reached between the Clinton and Dole campaigns as to all the particulars of how the debate will be conducted. These memorandums are rubber stamped by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The second appendix is a press release from the Democratic and Republican parties indicating the formation of the Commission on Presidential Debates. This document is replete with a lot of civic high mindedness for the formation of this organization which in reality serves the two major parties and not the interests of the American electorate.

This is a must read for anyone who has found American politics to be oddly and uncomfortably narrow. Have you ever wondered why you don't get to see some of the candidates you want see, like Perot, Nader, and Buchanan? Have you ever wondered why you don't hear about some critical issues, like free trade, government waste, immigration, child poverty, and media concentration? Have you ever wondered why you only hear a series of boring, memorized soundbites, rather than actual discussion between the candidates? In this book, No Debate, George Farah shows just how the Republican and Democratic candidates secretly collude to control, manipulate, and ultimately ruin the most important public forum for the education of the American people - the presidential debates. The presidential debates are the gatekeeper to the election, and when you keep candidates and issues out of the debates, you keep them out of American politics. Farah's book is a truly fascinating exposé of the major party candidates' behind-the-scenes manipulation of the debates, replete with stunning quotes and entertaining anecdotes. Did you know that Perot was included in the 1992 presidential debates because President Bush - who ultimately blamed Perot for costing him the election -- demanded that Perot be included? The book reads with remarkable clarity and refreshing speed, and ends with a proposal for reform that is, in fact, being pushed by leading conservative, liberal, and centrist civic leaders. If you care about democracy and you're tired of being deceived, No Debate is a must read.

Remember that totally boring debate between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000? Why so much agreeing with each other, why was there no REAL debate going on? Well this book takes that issue head on, and it's about time someone did. These debates are shown for what they truly are, which is orchestrated soundbites. The two party duopoly has monopilized this venue so that other parties/issues cannot invade their control of the subjects and issues of the election.

Mark my words: if this control of the debate continues than less and less voters will show up to the booths. And also, if John Kerry is stupid enough to agree to a protocol for the debate as was done in debates past, he will certainly lose the election because you have to catch George W. Bush off gaurd to see what he's really made of.

R.D.Lawrence's book "The North Runner" is quite simply magnificent. It tells the true story of one man's friendship with a savage dog/wolf hybrid that sees man as his natural enemy, especially as he has been ill-treated since puppyhood.

When Lawrence takes the Hybrid into his home he finds that he has true savage on his hands, and that it will take all his skills as a naturalist to tame an animal that was more wolf than it was dog. This is not a sentimental book though Lawrence and the hybrid he names Yukon do become friends, rather it is a story about two creatures getting to know one another, in an unforgiving world.

Yukon is testament to man's inability to understand the mind and soul of a wolf. Lawrence eventually realizes that Yukon will never be a "people" dog and that the remainder of his life must be spent in the wild with wolves. And so Lawrence makes the ultimate sacrifice, he lets Yukon go, giving him the freedom that should have been his from birth.

This a poignant, funny, humorous and often sad book about a man and a hybrid and how they learnt to respect and love one another, yet never loose sight of which side of the fence that each belonged. For all nature lovers, especially those with a passion for dogs, wolves and hybrids.

Since I wrote this review in 2002, this book is now back in print which I am really pleased about.

I am also sad to say that R.D. Lawrence passed away in November 2003 aged 82 so for all you nature lovers out there, this is the time to stock up on his books before they go out of print again.

I happened across this book at a swap shelf and had never heard of Lawrence before. But after the first paragraph I was hooked; I just had to find out what all happened to his dog Yukon in the three years they were together.

Lawrence had a great attention to detail without ever mentioning anything trivial. His focus was on Yukon, not himself. And the way the story unfolded, dealing with other animal encounters and the weather (as is inevitable in the Canadian wilderness) there is not a page of this book that falls into the mundane. Every animal, every person, every event in this story comes to life.

I could see my own dog in this story. I've often felt my dog Sammy was part something wild, be it Grey wolf or coyote, as Sammy shows so many similiar traits to Yukon.

Although I "recycle" my books at book swaps, this is one book I'm holding on to. If you love dogs, the wilderness, Canada or the outdoors and the environment, this book is a must-read.

This is one of the most heart-warming books I've ever read. Similar to R.D. Lawrence, I owned a wolf/dog hybrid in the wilderness of Alaska. We had many great adventures together. I eventually had to leave Alaska, and my best friend. This is one of my favorite books. I highly recommend reading it.

AS ALWAYS AS I AM A FAVORITE READER OF R.D. LAWRENCE HE BEFRIENDS A WILD WOLF DOG AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH THIS ANIMAL WHO RELATES SO MUCH TO HIM. MR. LAWRENCE IN HIS MOST DISCRIPTIVE WAYS AS ALWAYS TELLS THE STORY OF HOW HE TAKES THIS WILD ANIMAL FROM AN NATIVE INDIAN WHO BEATS THIS ANIMAL SHORT OF DEATH AND SHOWS HIM PASSION AND IN TURN IN TIME THIS DOG RETURNS THE FAVOR IN SAVING HIS LIFE. A TRUE BOOK AND A MUST TO READ A DOG LOVERS AND A NATURE LOVERS BEST STORY EVER