Eastern University Books

Hoofprint of the Ox is by far the best-written and presented systematic book on Chinese, especially Chan, Buddhism out there. Master Sheng-yen's words are so clear and specific. His voice combines the insight of an experienced Chan meditation retreat master and a knowledgeable Buddhist scholar.

This book stands out as a rare jewel in the mountain of books on Buddhism. For example, master Sheng-yen's presentation of meditation techniques from "five points of stilling the mind" (shamata) and contemplative meditation (vipashyana) to gong'an and silent illumination is the best that I have ever read. This book is for the serious practitioner of Chan or Buddhism in general.

Most of the books out there present Buddhism as a "packaged product." For example, most books on Zen or Chan presents it as some isolated, idealized spiritual practice free from religiosity (rituals, faith, and so on), as if it can be adapted to anything. Most times these books are watered down. Hoofprint of the Ox presents Buddhism as it is, without being apologetic or "fundamentalist."

The book covers issue of: buddhist doctrine (clarifying the misconception of buddhist emptiness, selflessness, correct views, etc), path (Chan and classical path: precepts, different types of meditation methods, etc.), and various levels and types of experience (experiences of enlightenment and delusion). Most importantly, master Sheng-yen also delineates what it means to be a Chan master. This is a revealing chapter of the book. It dispels many romantic ideas we may have as a practitioner in the West.

Enjoy the book!

This is a book I believe will help me with my Chan meditation practice. I've found a few lately which seem like they do or will help: I need to stop reading now so much and start meditating more.

It is fortunate that there are some books on Chan meditation which seem helpful. This is the most thorough. Others I have found recently are:
1) Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism, also by Sheng Yen. Not as thorough but arguably sufficient and better focused.
2) The Chan Handbook: Talks About Meditation by Hsuan Hua, also not as thorough but also arguably sufficient and seemed more intimate than "Attaining the Way"
3) Chan Buddhism (Dimensions of Asian Spirituality) by Peter Hershock, which covers both Chan history and the spirit of Chan meditation but not technical details.

Reading all these books may risk "overdosing", as I may have done, but probably can't hurt. If I had to pick only one to learn the practice of Chan meditation, I'd pick this book ("Hoofprint of the Ox"). If I had to pick only one to learn either the history or spirit of Chan Buddhism, I'd pick Herchock "Chan Buddhism". At the moment, all these books seem relatively affordable so you may be able to "avoid picking and choosing!"

Besides teachings of substance to be found in this book, a few relatively minor lessons from this book that helped me are:

1) even if not ideal, it is okay to sit in a chair when doing silent illumination.
2) to minimize distractions, restraining oneself from much talking and socializing helps at all times. Is that obvious?
3) modern life being as complex as it is will, almost certainly, make it more difficult to quiet oneself. Sheng Yen details methods for calming oneself.
4) exercises and self-massage before meditation can help. For exercise, I'm considering doing chi gong again regularly for which I recommend Master Lam Kam-Chuen's The Way of Energy: A Gaia Original
5) Chan Buddhism historically was actually associated with the production of much literature and the many of early Chan masters were well-versed in Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts
6) Sheng Yen recognizes the difficulty in finding and identifying a suitable Chan teacher, as well how difficult it can be to trust any teacher one may consider.
7) practice with a huatou (meditation subject) may be more suitable than silent illumination practice, one needs to try and find out. Silent illumination is recommends to try first.

I suspect I will not find a more thorough guide to Chan meditation. Nevertheless, I did not feel lost in the details although I will certainly need to reread this book, in whole or parts, in order to truly benefit from it. Given all the reading I've done lately on Chan meditation, I am well overdue for such rereading and to focus more on my meditation practice itself.

Master Sheng Yen has spent a lifetime devoted to understanding, mastering and teaching Ch'an. This book explicates as much as it outlines. Any Sheng Yen book tends to be an absolute find. I'd have to say that this book has impressed me most thus far, out of all the Ch'an books I own...(I own a LOT).

Expect to learn very nearly everything you ever wanted to know about Ch'an and the subtleties of samadhi and practice. American Ch'an/Zen practictioners, you simply have to have this book. If you're shikantaza'd out, welcome to an intelligent Ch'an book to set you straight again and make sense of non-sectarian Ch'an. It's a worthwhile meditation, even if you intellectually "know" everything contained (Which would likely mean you are already ordained or well on the way or the equivalent). Sheng Yen is a great teacher, and sometimes it's not what's said, but how the teacher says it that makes the overwhelming difference. Sheng Yen has much to say on emphases and overlooked aspects in Rinzai and Soto differentiated Zen practice, illustrating how Zen is not intellectualism, not cold "emptiness," not "just sitting," but rather a full sweeping life-transforming experience that entails everything one does, and is not owned by any one practice, faith, school, sect or tradition. This is also perhaps something of a cure for those who are brainwashed into thinking that there is no such thing as bad/wrong zen or that one spiritual path is automatically equivalent to another.

The quality of attention and straightforwardness that Sheng Yen puts into every chapter and subject in this book is somewhat impressive. Historical and schematic overview lends great depth of understanding to whatever one already knows of any of the various forms of Buddhist and Ch'an practices.

What if we all bowed to each other when we passed on the street, instead of playing games relating to our appearance and presumed cultural cache or gender roles? What if we all looked on each other with the warm glow of enlightenment, rather than cool, smug competitiveness as the auto-default style of interaction nowadays? If you have ever asked yourself this question in a sincere state of mind, then Sheng Yen's Ch'an is also yours. This is a skillfully-written technical manual of sorts on how the engine of Ch'an practice really works, written by a trained and aged monk who has entirely devoted his life to perfecting, teaching and articulating Ch'an practice.

This is a book I think I will probably come back to again and again.

This is the second in a series of 2 books on the Sugarloaf Mountain region in Barnesville, Maryland. A must-have for any local resident to Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia, you will literally feel like you are up on the mountain in the pages of this book, whose gorgeous illustrations and writing bring the mountain to life in any reader's mind as vividly as the real thing! More importantly, the beauty throughout the pages of this book will drive you out Hwy 70 right over to and up the mountain to see it first hand. One of the North-east's best kept treasures, Sugarloaf Mountain was once the runner-up for what became Camp David, this field guide provides readers with a truely tangible appreciation for why it was also among FDR's favorite resting spots! Make it yours too, beginning with this book!

This book is far more detailed than any other wildflower guides I've seen but is written in simple language that I can understand. The illustrations are beautiful and so detailed that it makes it easy to identify wildflowers I find on Sugarloaf Mountain and in walks along the Potomac River. I like learning about medicinal uses of native plants and the book is filled with herbal lore. It's a friendly book that is scientifically accurate and detailed but also contains personal anecdotes in which the author's love of trees and wildflowers comes through. I carry both this book and the companion volume--Sugarloaf: The Mountain's History, Geology and Natural Lore on my hikes.

One of my favorite things about the book is that the plants are organized according to families, with information about each plant family. It's fun to find members of the lily family and the rose family growing in the woods. The book helps you understand relationships between plants in a meaningful way. I like thinking about how this onion that I'm eating is related to the trout lily that grows along Sugarloaf Mountain's streams! Plus, its illustrated glossary is an extremely helpful learning tool.

I recommend this field guide to everyone, from novice to experienced botanists.

This is from the July issue of Pomegranate Seeds
pomegranateseeds@comcast.net

THE GOOD WORD:
A New Field Guide to Eastern
Wildflowers, Trees and Shrubs
by Jeri Metz

I just purchased the most authoritative and readable field guide to wildflowers, herbs, shrubs, vines and trees for the Mid-Eastern United States. An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees by Melanie Choukas-Bradley, illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown, is eminently readable and includes all the local native and naturalized species that grow abundantly here without any help from us. This is the perfect book for anyone who is interested in gardening with Mother Nature, creating a water-wise native plant garden, or just identifying the local plants while out walking and hiking. The author describes the plants with expert plant taxonomy, humor, and personal anecdotes, throwing in folklore and history where appropriate. She includes specifics on habitat and range, as well as bloom time and where the plants can be found when walking the trails of Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland. The illustrations, drawn from life, are simple and beautiful, appropriately delicate when describing fragile spring wildflowers, richly detailed and imposing when capturing the hardier species. They compliment every page they are on.

The book is a love letter from two naturalists to their adored Sugarloaf Mountain, where they spent ten years hiking and painstakingly identifying the plants. They view the mountain as a rare gift and "a learning laboratory." But this guide is so much more than the plants on Sugarloaf Mountain. It covers every plant I could think to look up. It includes a very readable botanical key and a comprehensive illustrated glossary. There are suggested readings. But what makes it unique and exceptional in my library of field guides, is the personal touch in both the writings and drawings. The love that Choukas-Bradley and Brown feel for these plants jumps from the pages and I can feel and see how wondrous and magical each plant is for them. By sharing their reverence and respect for all these plants, they inspire while they educate.

An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees; 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland, by Melanie Choukas-Bradley. Illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown. University of Virginia Press. $39.95 through the Audubon Naturalist Society and bookstores and on www.amazon.com.

Into The Fire: A Post - 9/11 American In Tel Aviv is the memoir of Charles T. Salmon, an American who immersed himself in Israeli culture. He arrived on a Fullbright fellowship, speaking no Hebrew, and largely unfamiliar with Judaism and Israeli customs. As time passed, Salmon closely observed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations; Palestinian terrorist events and Israeli responses; the differences between university studies in Tel Aviv and America, and a great deal more replete with insight, wit, and candid openness. Into The Fire offers contemporary readers a revealing, informative, and highly recommended presentation.

This book was well-written, funny and easy-to-read. I read the entire book in two sittings because it was so interesting -- I was just engrossed in it. This book is good for someone interested in politics, foreign countries, and academia. Salmon's interest in wanting to make a difference and learn about many different cultures makes me want to take a class from him. I also liked how he used humor and candor in admitting his own shortcomings and what he missed about America. I would highly recommend this book to anyone over the age of 15. Wonderful! Keep writing and I will keep reading, Charles T. Salmon!

Reading the book, you feel like you are alongside Salmon as he experiences the sites and people of Israel. Salmon's writing blends descriptions of his experiences with insightful perspectives on how life in Israel differs from the US in a way that entrances the reader. As an American living in our post-9/11 society, I found Salmon's descriptions of those who live world that constantly deals with terrorism, and how they deal with their environment, fascinating. It has made me think of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a new enlightened perspective. This book is a must read!

This book is perfectly calculated to be read in the street on a hot day, holding the place lightly with a finger as one walks from one superb building to the next. Effortless learning and prose shine on them like a torch. The book has the humility to accept historical Islam on its own terms, uniquely explaining the Arabic texts written on walls already saturated with religious and political meaning. Is there any other guide quite like it and quite as good?

Caroline Williams and her predecessors have put together a marvelous guide to most of the Islamic monuments, large and small, in Cairo. The book is divided by sections of the city and Williams suggests several "tours" visitors can give themeselves. I found it a valuable "tour guide" when I was exploring the city and an important reference when cataloging my slides after returning home. With detailed information about the history and finer architectural points of some two hundred monuments, as well as tips for getting around Cairo, this book (or its paperback version, ISBN 977-424-316-2) is a must-have for every Cairo-bound traveller!

Cairo is one of the great cities in the world, and a walk through its Islamic areas transports you back hundreds, even thousands of years. This guide has been my bible as I've walked and walked and walked on many visits over the years. It illuminates what you see. Almost every block has something of interest, and it is invariably described lucidly in this guidebook.

Enough said -- if you want to walk through Islamic Cairo, you need this book. And if you don't want to walk, the book will make you want to!

Beasley is really trying to say something to the academic world about imperialism but one would hardly notice it in a book which gives a careful overview of the history of Japanese imperialism in Asia. He covers most of the main issues objectively and interestingly, especially when it comes to setting up the background in which Japanese imperialsim developed.

Beasley does a superb job of explaining the multi-faceted nature of Japanese modernization and empire-buliding from the Meji Restoration to the Pacific War. He discusses the creation of an intellectual justification for expansion as the liberation of asian peoples from european colonialism, while exploring the changes in the Japanese elite's perceptions of its political goals, economic exploitation, and national security requirements. Neither an apology for not a treatise against this phenomenon, the author focuses on some much neglected issues while not being distracted by dwelling on Japanese "culture" as an explanation for everything.

There's more to this book than its title might suggest. In little more than 250 pages, Beasley has managed a remarkably clear overview of the development of Japan's entire external policy from the beginning of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War. In the process, he pays careful attention to the internal political and economic dynamics that propelled policy, and thus lays out a great deal of the story of the development of modern Japan up through 1945. While always making his own views (and the bases for them) quite clear, he gives alternative interpretations their due. Although more recent work has extended the story in certain respects (e.g., Frederick R. Dickinson's fine War and National Reinvention), Beasley's work still stands the test of time. Remarkably, for a so brief a book treating so broad a topic, Beasley manages to organize and present his story in a way that should be easy to follow even for those who do not have much background in Japanese history. An especially good book, strongly recommended.

I've lived in Korea for 3 years, and recently read this book as part of my exploration of the culture here. I consider this one of the better books I've read for this purpose.

Everyday I see these old people, and my Korean isn't good enough to have a conversation of any substance with them. I can communicate well enough to know that they have fascinating stories of another world, one I can barely imagine. And then, I can't understand any of the details!

Well, this is one of the stories they'd have to tell me.

As another reviewer pointed out, it's a biography, not an exploration of Korean shamanism; Kendall has written a good book on that topic, however.

The subject, called "Youngsu's Mother," was a young girl at the time of the war, so her memories are quite fascinating. Her perspectives of the family dynamics, jealousies among siblings, relationships between first and second wives, and between a new wife and her in-laws are quite revealing.

A Korean friend told me about her mother, whose mother secretly threw her school books to her over a fence so that the grandfather wouldn't know the girl was going to school. Youngsu's Mother tells a similar story.

In other ways as well I sense that Youngu's Mother's story is not too remarkable for women of her generation. But it's not a summary of Korean history or anything, just one woman's story. And it's a good one, thanks to the story-telling talents of Youngsu's Mother and Laurel Kendall.

This is an exhiliarating account of the life of a Korean Shaman, and her interesting life in modern Korea. It is fun to read just for pleasure and it's interesting. Because it is a case study, it does not necessarily purport to be representative of all Korean Shamans, but nevertheless it teaches a lot about Korea in this century.

The story of "Yongsu's Mother" is compelling, informative, and thought-provoking at the same time. Yongsu's Mother clearly enjoys telling her stories, and has developed a flair for the dramatic (at the expense of accuracy from time to time it appears). I read this book for a class on East Asian folklore, and while I realize Yongsu's Mother is not the archetypal shaman, her experiences shed light on not only Korean shamans, but Koreans in general.

The most interesting part of the book, besides the stories, is Kendall's struggle to ascertain the accuracy of Yongsu's Mother's stories. Yongsu's Mother is presumably not deliberately lying to Kendall, but instead exhibiting a fundamental human paradox: the past, presumably done with and set in stone, is made fluid by the human mind and memory. The point is not that Yongsu's Mother's variations destroy her credibility, but rather that the variations give insight into her, and presumably her culture's, psyche.

This was a wonderful book ... don't be scared off by the title: this is not a book specifically about religion, but a biography about a woman who happens to be a shaman. 5 out of 5 stars.

Living Icons brings to life the work, theology, commitment ment to Christian unity and holiness of ten of Orthodox Christianity's persons of faith. Maria Skobtsova, Gregory Krug, and Alexander Men are three of the profiled persons in this remarkable work. All are representatives of Russian Orthodoxy forced to emigrate from their homelands and develop their faith in a western environment. This transplanting resulted in a group of people who challenged the lethargy of their own church and opened the road of dialogue with their sister churches in the west.
Through the witnesses of these living saints of the twentieth century you can see the seeds of hope for a reunited church of all believers endowed with their diversity but united as one in Christ. I found the book fascinating as it discussed the challenges and struggles that these individuals faced. Many were rediculed for their views within Orthodoxy and declared heretical while others were murdered for their witness.
This work is a great primer for introducing you to some of the significant persons in Orthodoxy who have impacted the church in both Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox circles through their theology, iconography, academics, pastoral care and lay witness. Although not an exhaustive work, Living Icons, makes you hungry to know more about Orthodoxy as well as its profiled living witnesses. This is a "must" have book for all Christians who desire to know more about the gifts and graces of the Orthodox church as embodied in these individuals.

Living Icons: Persons Of Faith In The Eastern Church by ordained Orthodox priest Michael Plekon (Professor, Department of Sociology/Anthropology, religion and culture, Baruch College, City University of New York) is a close look at the lives of ten Eastern Orthodox Christian faithful, each of whom lived in the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. Fascinating, uplifting, and evenhanded in its study of characters, foibles, and faith, as well as highly recommended for students of Orthodox Christian History, Living Icons is a profound testimony to the path set by just a few among many amidst constantly changing and conflicting headwaters of religious belief worldwide.

Plekon has done a very good job in making available to american readers the lives and thoughts of several 20th century Eastern Orthodox theologians and "lovers of mankind". Each essay examines the main currents of thought for each person and their influnece upon the world in this century. Included are essays about St. Seraphim of Sarov, Sergius Bulgakov, MAria Skobtsova, Fr. Lev Gillet, Paul Evdokimov, Fr. Gregory Krug, Nicholas Afanasiev, Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Fr. Jean Meyendorff, and Fr. Alexander Men. With many first-hand accounts of their lives, the author gives keen insights into their personalities, the context of their actions and writings, and their continuing relevance for the 21st century.

I would also recommend "Light From The East" by Aidan Nichols for an intro to some other Orthodox thinkers. It is out of print, but available from time to time. Enjoy!

I say this is the most powerful poetry I have read in my life. I cannot read it for more than a few minutes. The poetic images are so intense, the emotions are so powerful. I love this book.

This is the best book on Arabic poetry in the United States.

This book touched my soul so much that I shared it with all my friends and family. They cried with me at the intense emotion expressed by the great poet Bayati and his masterful translator, Bassam Frangieh. Frangieh succeeds in doing so much more than translating: he unveils the meaning of the text and presents it faithfully and smoothly in English verse. This book is the essence of loneliness, love and homeland. No one has ever translated Bayati into English before. Frangieh's work is unique and immensely valuable.

The main purpose of this volume is "to explore the nature and construction of the Slavic ethnic identity in the light of the current anthropological research on ethnicity". The author proposes an innovative vision about the archaeological evidence, considering that the ethnic boundaries were marked by items of material culture (features of an "emblemic style" used by an ethnic group in order to be different). The `ethnie' results from the interaction of groups with different emblemic styles. Significant changes in the material culture can thus show what Curta calls "the making of the Slavs": the emergence of a new ethnie. This approach is completely new from all what was written before about the Slavic ethnogenesis.
The sources about the early Slavs are classified in three categories according to the position of their authors: eyewitness, possible contact and second-hand information. The interest of the Byzantine writers was focused on the Slavs only in some periods when they were a real danger. The sources are showing that the inroads occurred when the Danubian limes was weak because the Byzantine army was involved in other wars. A major change took place in the Slavic society around 550-560: the anarchy recorded by Procopius was replaced by war operations commanded by several chiefs whose names were preserved in the further sources. The Byzantine answer to the Slavic threat was the building of three defence lines inside the eastern Balkan provinces. The migration of the Slavs south of the Danube can be dated only since the first years of Heraclius. Only after their settlement, the Byzantine sources recorded several real tribal names, replacing the Byzantine ethnic label that was the generic name Sclavenoi.
Curta examines the Byzantine Balkan region, in order to explain how the classical urbanized society turned into a ruralized one in the period of the Slavic invasions. After a detailed archaeological overview of the main cities in the Balkan provinces, the author concludes that the economic decline occurred because they were not supplied with food from the hinterland. The fortified network established by Justinian fell because the state was not able to support the permanent garrisons of the limes with the central distribution of grain; in the same time, the few number of peasants made impossible a defence based on their service. The withdraw of the Balkan troops in the early years of Heraclius was the natural result of the interruption of the annona taken from Egypt. Therefore, the economic decline and the withdraw of the army from the Danube were not caused by the Slavic invasions; both had internal reasons, remarkably emphasized by Curta.
Objects like amber beads, bow fibulae or pots with stamped decoration are items of two well-defined `emblemic styles' developed by the Gepids and the Lombards. The ethnic identity was constructed on the basis of different types of imported objects with symbolic value bore by elite people (especially by women). The spreading of these objects in different areas matches with the territories inhabited by the Gepids and the Lombards. Aristocratic women, with their garnment, played the main role in the establishment and the transmission of the emblemic style and, as a consequence, of the ethnic identity (they were "symbolic vehicles for the construction of social identities"). The need to emphasize the emblemic style increased in periods of instability and competition between neighboring groups. In this way, Curta finally comes to the making of the early Slavic emblemic style. Like the Gepids or Lombards, the Slavs used specific types of pottery and bow fibulae to construct an emblemic style. This does not means that such objects were genuine Slavic products. Curta argues that the earliest specimens of the so-called "bow fibulae" were found in Mazuria and in Crimea. Their diffusion does not show migrations, but another kind of mobility: "gifts or women married to distant groups in forging alliances" and their function was to express a kind of heraldry displayed on the female dressing. The bow fibulae became a part of the Slavic emblemic style shortly before 600, in the same time with a wider change in the material culture which took place during the climax of the raiding activity of the Slavic rulers.
The individual houses were settled according to a pattern that implied specialized sectors for production or for ceremonies involving food consumption. Food was prepared in ceramic pots, whose shape was determined only by practical reasons. Curta points that the pottery shapes "should be interpreted in relation to food preparation, not to emblemic style". Hundreds of hand-made and wheel-made ceramic vessels belong to the same set of shapes. The pots from the sites ascribed to the Slavs have similar shapes with pieces from Gepidic cemeteries and from Danubian early Byzantine fortresses. If so, the `Prague type', which was defined as the genuine Slavic pottery, is an artificial construct of the archaeologists.
The Lower Danubian settlements are earlier than those from the Zhitomir area (the chronology was established with the aid of the metallic objects, including coins). This contradicts the usual theory of the Slavic migration. In this way, Curta comes to one of his main conclusions: "it appears that instead of a `Slavic culture' originating in a homeland and then spreading to surrounding areas, we should envisage a much broader area of common economic and cultural traditions". This means that large migrations should be replaced with short-distance movements caused by the itinerant agriculture. The population from this wide area became Slavic because acquired an identity during the second half of the 6th century. This identity was expressed through a specific emblemic style defined by bow-fibulae and pottery decorated with finger impressions.
The final chapter deals with the political organization of the early Slavs. Curta applies the anthropological theories on chiefdom, distinguishing between great-men (warriors), big-men (rich men with authority inside their community), and chiefs (rulers of organized polities with control over a group of subjects). The Slavs evolved during the 6th century from a "segmentary society" (lack of hierarchy) to a society ruled by chiefs who fought between them. The emergence of the political organization was the result of the contacts with the Byzantine state. By this military elite the Slavs came into being as a new ethnicity.
The book written by Florin Curta will be a turning point both for the Byzantine and the Slavic studies.

Since both reviewers before me made a detailed review, I would like to interpret the content of this scientificaly very well supported scholar work in a larger context. First of all, I would like to inform/remind future readers that the concept of "Slavic migrations" is a residue of the 19-th century scholarship whose conclusions were "firmly based" on the scarcity of the archaeological material and the "prima facie" interpretation of the mediveal Byzantine texts. Curta uses: much more material artefacts, his common sense and analytical approach to the written material. Consequently, it is no surprise that he comes to the conclusion that there was no "arrival of the Slavs" and there were no "massive Slavic migrations" on the Balkans in the early middle ages. The reader will find it difficult to draw a different conclusion on the basis of the presented evidence in the book.

However, the conclusions of Dr. Curta concerning the Slavic ethnogenesis are supported by at least two more independent streams of scholar work.

The first one comes in a form of recent breakthroughs in the field of genetics. The analyses of genetic founder linages on the populations in the Balkans (and eastern Europe) showed that only 10% of the extant mt DNA genetic pool (maternal ancestry)is of recent date (recent = starting from Metal ages onwards). The rest (90%)of the lineages are from Paleo-Mezo-Neolithic migrations that ceased some 5000 -6000 years before present. Similar results were found for the Y-chromosome lineages (paternal ancestry).

The second stream of scholar work that discards the idea of massive Slavic migrations in the early middle ages is the Theory of continuity of professor Mario Alinei. This theory (which is strongly corroborated by the above mentioned genetic findings)claims that the populations and languages in Europe are more or less geographically autohtonous. On several places in his two volume study ( Il Mulino editions 1996 & 2000) he points out that the idea of recent Slavic migrations is inconsistent and unsupported either by archaeological or linguistic evidence.
(I hope that this extremly important and up to date study will be published in English soon).

Those strong correlations between Curta's and Alinei's evidence and conclusions, on the one side, and the genetic evidence on the other, make a really strong case against the concept of Slavic migrations and offers a much more supported model of the prehistory and history of Balkans.

Seen in this larger context, the content of Dr. Curta's book represents a basic component of the new paradigm that emerges in the scholar work.

We cordially hope that time has come to make significant changes in the elementary school and high school history textbooks which are still based on the interpretations of the 19-th century scholar work.

This is a superb work of scholarship, putting to shame most histories of the Balkans which deal with this time period (e.g., Fine's). Curta smashes modern notions of the Slavic migrations derived mostly through (Byzantine) Roman sources, most of which are purely second hand accounts.

Curta begins with a history of the current thought on the Slavic migrations, influenced primarily by 19th century prejudices and Soviet Union "scholarship" emphasising the reigning hegemony there. He then goes on to offer a critical reading of texts, first those contemporaneous to the period under review, then the centuries immediately following. What's so important is that these readings are truly critical, as opposed to accepting or dismisive: how do these people know what they are writing? All of these texts have value, the argument goes, but they all have different value. What do these texts tell us about their authors?

Curta then reviews the archaeological evidence for the Byzantine-Roman fortifications built along the Danube. He finds Procopius' reports of these forts to be very accurate, but notes a significant absense of evidence that many were destroyed by violence; most were abandonded (and wait until you read his arguments about the coin hordes, a nerd's delight!).

Then Curta reveals the evidence for an actual Slavic culture north of the Danube. What he finds, using distributions of sites and artifacts, correspondence analyses, and cluster analyses, is a complex, well-organized and far-ranging system for the distribution of goods. His tentative conclusion is that this notion of Slav is one, while perhaps taken from a tribe somewhere along the northern border, that is projected onto a heterogeneous group of individuals that have long-ranging relationships from just east of Bavaria to east of Crimea to the Baltic seas! In short, there was no migration as such, they were always there, but had not yet formed this group identity they were given. (He does not deny raids into Byzantine-Roman territory, but who didn't raid their territory?)

What I didn't like: Curta has quite a beef with linguists and tars the entire field in his introduction. Linguists, he claims, have used spurious analyses of the Slavic lexicon to invent a purely fictional Slavic Urheimat (roughly, homeland/place of origin). While this might be true, this sort of folk etymology has little place in modern linguistics. Worse, Curta implies that he doesn't believe that Slavic languages are part of the Indo-European family! Anyone who knows a little of a Slavic language will recognize this as fantasy... Curta doesn't bother to justify his claim. It's hard to know how he would answer for this, particularly given that he doesn't seem especially up to date in linguistics.

But that's not the thrust of the book. The evidence is placed in the archaeology and a truly critical reading of the contemporaneous texts. This is a well substantiated iconoclasm that should be read by every student of European history.

I ended up reading the book, Manchurian Legacy, in one sitting even though I had a lot of other things to do. That is rare for me. The story mesmerized me as I felt like I was learning something about my roots, my mother.

My Japanese mother, to get away from the merciless firebombing of her city, at the age of 19 volunteered as a member of a repatriation team assigned to travel to Manchuria and to help in the repatriation of Japanese colonials there. After training for about a month, she flew to a city in the center of Manchuria on what happened to be the same day that the Russians invaded. She had quite an adventure hiding, being captured, incarcerated, starving, transported by rail in box cars and then force marched thru Korea, to be saved ironically by the enemy American soldiers that she was trying to escape. I am amazed at what she had to go through to get back to Japan.

Not only did this book gave me an insight to what life was like in Manchuria for the Japanese during the end of World War II, it also gave me a glimpse of post-war Japan where both my father and father-in-law were stationed as part of the occupation forces. The stories about the period during the Russian invasion and how they and the local Chinese treated the Japanese colonials was very revealing. Even though Mrs. Kuramoto's experience was not so harrowing as my mother's adventure, the description of the area and the everyday life of the colonials helped me to understand this period of history in this part of the world.

Even though the second part of the book about post-war Japan did not relate to my mother since she had a support system in place when she returned to Japan, the description of Mrs. Kuramoto's experiences with members of the American occupation force helped me to understand the situation that my father lived through during his term of duty in Japan.

Enough of how the book impacted me. Here is a synopsis of the book: The Manchurian Legacy is a story about the life of a young woman born in Manchuria to Japanese parents living there during World War II. Her father is a minor Japanese government official which gave the family trappings of luxury which were not enjoyed by the local occupied Chinese residents. Kazuko was a patriotic 17 year old and to her parent's dismay, volunteered to join the Red Cross to aid in the war effort against the corrupt capitalists and communists. When Japan surrendered, the Russians invaded and the Chinese revolted, sending the Japanese colonialists into hiding. How the colonialists fared over the next year is a testament to their entrepreneurship and tenacious desire to survive in a culture hostile to their former oppressors. The post-war portion of the book focused on how Kazuko coped in Japan after being shipped there on U.S. transport ship and after being rejected by other relatives. This is also a story of her relationship with soldiers and contractors with the American occupation forces, and her struggles in a country not so accepting of the returning colonialists.

A great read and highly recommended.

Recently I was given this book to read by a friend who is preparing to teach a university course on Japanese culture and women's narrative. I am voraciously reading the books that she is considering for her course and giving her feedback. I couldn't put this book down and cried at the end. What more can one say? I sit here now as a foreigner living in Japan and find this book offers me a window into Japanese history, culture and the voice of women that is not normally acknowledged. Everyone should read this book.

Manchurian Legacy is the book,I wished that I could have read when I was in the sixth grade.Readers of that age group could easily identify with the character of Kazuko as a young woman. It is rare to find a book that can appeal to both young and old readers. The author, Kazuko Kuramoto apologizes for her writing, as English is her third language. I believe, this is what makes the book so readable. She does not bog the reader down with flowery language. What Kazuko does give the reader is a feeling of what it was like to have lived in Manchuria as a colonialist before and doing WW II.The real charm of the book is that it does not assume the reader has any knowledge of the historical events that shaped the narrative.A brief explanation that doesn't bog down the story gives you a context to understand and enjoy her memoir. The immense popularity of a book, "Angela's Ashes" shows that readers have a desire for personal stories of the ordinary man. Kazuko's story deserves to be read by as wide a audience as "Angela's Ashes"