Eastern University Books

As the aphorism "when the pupil are ready, the master appears" states, this is a book for those who recognize the superiority of inner wisdom, and the inner teacher, to any outer form or image! By revealing the messages enclosed in this book, this I believe, is the bridge that the author of this book is crossing.

This is THE MOST heart soothing book I've read. It is like a child talking to her Father. I cried at some points it was soooo beautiful. I couldn't put it down! In school, in the car, at work. . . EVERYWHERE! She is a gifted and special woman to have such delicacy and such eloquence in her writing. It shouts out "ALLAH". She has been taught by the best!

Starret concise work stands out amongst a sea of books written
about religion (esp. Islam) in the Middle. While the unsecular
character of Mid. East Societies, in this case Egypt, and their
affinity by so-called violent religiosity has been attributed to a
primitive mentality of the people, cynical demagoguery by politi-
cians, angst-ridden youth, disillussionment of the middle-aged,
poverty, anti-Western hysteria, and rage arising from political im-
potence and failure, Starret gives an alternative account that is
actually convincing. He does this by drawing the roadmap between
the sensationalist events such as revolutions and assassinations
by examining how the religious citizen is constructed through
national discourse, with a specific focus on the development of
Egypt's educational system from Muhammad Ali's transformation
of the kuttab to later permuations under the British, Nasser,
Sadat, and onward. The result is a highly believeable account of
the salience of religion and religious conflicts [of all sorts,
not just the less-interesting, violent ones] in the country inte-
grated with the national changes in thinking with regard to such
subject as mass media, religious authority and the market. Thus,
the works offers numerous keen insights into the reproduction of
Islamic religiosity and its transformations in Egypt today through
the various interplays between power and public culture. His
anthropological-historical approach is a fresh and welcome one.

An editorial criticism of the book as whole: the Arabic throughout
is atrociously transliterated. I ended up making notes in the
margins of my copy to make phrases written in Latin script intelli-
gible. Particularly, iDaafa constructions are not written, hard-
letters are not distinguished from soft letters, long and short
vowels are not differentiated, and sometimes letters are just out-
right confused (e.g., dhaal and Zaa'). With relatively standard-

ized options of Arabic transliteration out there,this book is just
sloppy and amateurish in its final edit. Perhaps this won't
bother those who are ignorant of Arabic; however, for those who
are familar with the language, it's a continually frustrating
blemish.

By focusing on education, Starrett shows that political ands socio-economic issues alone are insufficient in explaining the rise of islamic revivalism. The combination of increased literacy and Islamic awareness made possible by the spread of public education, in which religion has played a principal role, and its functionalization to serve the purposes of social engineering has made Islam a matter of increasing socio-political concern. The proliferation of Islamic affordable literature and media from official and private sector sources. The scope of religious discourse among non-specialists has widened and the Islamic establishment no longer holds a monopoly on this debate which is presently characterized by a variety of viewpoints. Starrett speaks of a new Islam now taking shape in Egypt as a result of the mass proliferation of Islamic publications and spread of literacy and communications media. Education's particular role in this process has been to create the demand for more religious information and from more sources as the religious discourse widens.

I have had my issues for years, and still use as a reference guide. Includes history of many lines that barely started.

Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California is the premier work on transportation in the Silver State. The photos are suprb, the text inclusive and the maps are a must for rail buffs and modellers seeking authenticity. I have owned this set for 35 years and it is nearly worn out from reference. The section on the southern roads is espcially well researched. I have been able to relocate features and buildings from Myrick's maps alone.

David Myrick did an excellent job of weaving history with technology in this readable work. Profusely illustrated, it connects time, place, and Nevada's colorful mining history together in a delightful fabric. The research appears flawless, as I have yet to find contradictory evidence in the several areas I have delved into. Reading the stories, one obtains a feel for the flow of commerce, the excitement of new discoveries, the character of the players in this real-life American drama. Detailed discussions of railroad technology, planning, construction, finance, and operations make this a delightful research tool.

The binding and printing are excellent, with beautiful crisp type and exceptionally clear photgraphs.

Overall, this set is a MUST for any serious student of Nevada railroads. Well worth the cost at todays price.

What an achievement!

For the first time, someone has produced a field guide using photographs that is as useful/helpful as one with paintings.

Through painstaking effort, and clearly top-quality equipment, Brian Wheeler has overcome the vagaries of bird photography (varied lighting, poor focus, etc.) to produce images for each species that are,by themselves, worth the price of the book. And, Wheeler's photographs are comprehensive for each species,and associated subspecies, ranging from 9 pictures for Short-tailed Hawk up to 82 for Red-tailed! A novice or veteran birder could spend hours poring over the photos, soaking up the fine details.

Along with the pictures, Wheeler has included exhaustive descriptive text (plumage, behavior, range, habitat, etc.) for each subspecies. He has also provided full-page maps with an innovative addition of major city names so the reader can "get their bearings".

All these things make this book (and its western counterpart) the crowning bird reference achievement since the first Peterson guide.

This book belongs in every falconer's bag. A book in a class by itself. The standard by which every future book on guides to raptors, will be judged.

Popkin is a handful of author who write about the socioeconomic cause and effect in Vietnam prior to the Vietnam War. His book concentrated on period of the Nguyen Dynasty and the French Colonial Period. It dispels many myths about the driving force behind the conflict in Vietnam.

The other reviewer, Matthew P. Arsenault, missed the point. This is perhap because he is prejudiced by his romantic notion of "nationalism." There were numerous peasant uprising during the Nguyen Dynasty (before the arrival of French Colonial Power). If nationalism is such the primary reason, why did peasant rebelled when they were ruled by fellow Vietnamese. Peasant uprisings were also common in China and Japan before modern time.

Popkin explores the rationale for peasant protest. In The Rational Peasant, Popkin attempts to discredit the common assumption of moral economy and impose his own idea of political economy. Moral economists believe that peasant protest is a result of falling below a subsistence level (short-run security), or the loss of traditional institutions that "provided for peasant welfare (long-term security)" which often result as the imposition of a capitalist economy (5). In other words, the peasant, according to moral economists, is seeking to protect that which he already has, namely security, rather than seeking to advance his position. The moral economist continues by suggesting that peasants rise up in protest when they fall below this subsistence floor, or when particular institutions that preserve peasant security and welfare are removed due to an emergence of capitalism or through colonization.
Popkin attacks the position of moral economists by proposing a rational choice alternative he dubs political economy. According the political economic approach espoused by Popkin, the peasant is not so concerned with maintaining the status quo as the moral economist would have us believe. Rather, the peasant is concerned with maximizing his or her utility. They are willing to gamble and take risks in order to secure a higher social level. The peasant's behavior is always guided by economic rationality.



Although agreeing with Popkin's thesis, I would suggest some improvements in methodology. For example, Popkin made an interesting case study analysis by analyzing the three main historical regions of Vietnam. By analyzing Cochinchina in the southern Mekong Delta region, Annam, home of the Imperial capital, in the central highlands, and Tonkin in the Red River Delta, Popkin was able to show that through differing subsistence floors, and subsequent economic levels, that fear of falling through the subsistence floor was not necessarily a causal relationship to protest. In addition, by spacing his research over the whole of the country, he showed that many different classes of peasants combined in protest. The fight for independence is a cross-class struggle, not necessarily the battle to the lowest class peasant.
Although, this research strategy was impressive, Popkin could have added emphasis to his argument by also researching peasant protest in the other Indochinese nations. By limiting his research to one case study, he limits the universality of his theory. Had Popkin researched other nations, the accuracy of his assumption would have been greater.
For example, both Cambodia and Laos had been colonized by the French, and both nations fought anti-colonial wars at the same time. Granted, there are subtle cultural differences between Khmer, Laotian and Vietnamese as well as geographical, but these differences could have been controlled for and two more case studies would have offered support to Popkin's argument.
In addition to increasing the number of case sizes, statistical data is necessary to truly illustrate the role of economics on decision making. Due to the nearly eighty years of armed struggle, data regarding individual and village economies is probably lacking. This leaves the path open for other researchers seeking a more quantitative support for Popkin's work.
Lastly and most importantly, Popkin believes that peasants are motivated by personal gain and security. He fails to thoroughly address the extent that warfare and nationalism have played on Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese have repelled invaders since before the reign of Tamerlane. This seemingly innate desire to expel invaders from Vietnam should be explored in greater depth. After all, the tenacity of the Vietnamese revolution can not be explained away as individual utility maximization.

I read these books many years ago and found them moving, perhaps 'The Sword and the Blossom' the most moving. This, the third book, attempts to understand the Japanese character as it was experienced by the POWs. It's not pretty, but it is necessary if you want to try to come to grips with quite a lot of the meanings behind the Pacific theatre of WWII.

Parkin's writing is well-balanced, as pointed out. The brutality, sadism and all the other things can't be hidden. Parkin wrestles with the complexity of the Japanese psyche in the war. The POWs are men in extreme situations. Some may not act as well as they may have liked, but Parkin doesn't judge them: who could? There are quietly heroic acts that just seem 'normal', but Parkin doesn't make a big deal about it.

What shines through is the author's humanity. In spite of the brutality, he can appreciate the people he meets, the world around him (e.g. 'the coruscating sea'), and capture it in his sketches.

The novels were first published in London in the 1960's, the author himself stating it took this long for him to take a balanced view of the things he saw as a sailor during war and as a prisoner of war under the Japanese. His hand drawn pictures in these works were made whilst in Custody under threat of execution if seized.

Before the war, PARKIN was a professional sailor, after the war he studied as a classical artist, and worked on the wharfs of Melbourne as a tally clerk.

This description meets his works, his love of the sea, his artwork throughout the works, his beautiful descriptions, and his exacting detail.

The first novel is of a shipwreck survivor, it doesn't show it, but he is the hero portrait, it is a TRUE story. The second is a diary of his captivity on the Burma railway, and the third of his captivity in Japan, including the dropping of the A-Bomb. 'He states that a newspaper dropped in by air to Japan when he was first released has three momentous events, atomic weapons, jet propulsion and ball point pens'.

His works are not bitter, if anything appreciative of having lived a life less fortunate. Very Australian in it's style and language, it is as moving as any of the recognized greats. I will not wax lyrical about its style further, the editorials above do so far more eloquently than I could.

The original translation by Sir William Jones of this famous Indian play was popular accross Europe and read by prominant poets including Goethe and Schiller in the late 1700's. Sir William Jones was also a member of Samuel Johnson and Edmund Burke's politically influentual Literary Club and the translation by him, this is not it, was a small hit across Europe. It inspired some stylist influence upon Goethe and Goethe must have read this about the time of the end of his "Italian Journey" where he later gained some creative energy after a dry spell following the massive success of his "Sorrows of Young Werther". (Sir William Jones is most famous today for observing that the similarities in Latin, Sanskrit, Persian, English and other, now called, Indo-European languages could not be just an accident).

This modern translation by W.J. Johnson is a good effort; however, for a variety of reasons loses something in translation as it was written to be performed in at least two languages, Sanskrit and Prakrit, and also involved a lot of body language which at times was almost like a dance. Sir William Jones' translation is more vibrant and historically relevant, and other translations of his of Oriental translations as well as original poems, had an impact on 17th and 18th century European literature.

Jones was a romantic supporter of the American revolution, even meeting with Benjamin Franklin in Paris to attempt a resolution to the crisis and play Franklin a game of chess. Jones' most famous and widely popular poem, while he was alive, was "Caissa, or, The Game of Chess" which would have gotten Jones through many important doors and meetings.

The play "Sakuntala" was written in the 4th or 5th century CE in India and is considered one of India's great plays. It is interesting for the cultural attitudes of India at that time, especially the strong class system, and making comparisons with other cultures around the world. Never-the-less The play still holds its own in translation as something many readers might find poetically brilliant, entertaining, and also funny.

Byron was also a youthful reader of Jones and there are a lot of stylistic similarities between them. Byron even wrote a parady of some of Jones' poems in his youth.

Jones spent his later life, in India, assisting in setting up a legal system for India which Jones insisted should be based in large part on Indian culture and customs. Jones represents a more early liberal, respecting relationship with the colonies of India; not the heavy-handed British paternal one that was to dominate that relationship after Jones' death.

Goethe[[ASIN:0140442332 Italian Journey: 1786-1788 (Penguin Classics)

The Life of Samuel Johnson (Penguin Classics)

Sir William Jones: Selected poetical and prose works - University of Wales Press (Not carried by Amazon)
[...]

Kalidasa is India's greatest Sanskrit poet and playwright. Many centuries later, his commitment has not flinched to remain India's most respected bard. When you've read world's greatest plays, you must then read him for the proverbial dessert. For most people, drama was invented in Greece, yet Kalidasa didn't know that, being apart by sea and time. So far as he is concerned, he was as much an inventor of this art.
`Recognition of Sakuntala' is a beautiful love story of a married king with a country girl, his deserting her and eventually reclaiming back, by the aid of gods.
I've several translations of this play, but Johnson's version is probably the best - at least in English.
If Shakespeare or Tolstoy gratify you, Kalidasa will as much.

If the Bush Administration is seeking a real road map to peace, this should be its basis. The Palestinian/Israeli conflict is and has always been about land. Dr. Fischbach has done the world a favor by providing us the detail we need about what land was taken, and how sane and factual negotiations about its particulars provide us with a pathway out of the death and destruction of the past 50 years. Please read this book and hope our leaders do as well.

This book studies the expropriation of the property of the Palestine refugees and the compensation issues and diplomatic activity that followed. Especially interesting (to me) is the discussion of the estimates of the dollar value of these losses. It is based primarily on the records of the UN Conciliation Commission on Palestine. It should be of the highest interest to anyone with an interest in the Israel Palestine problem and how it might be resolved. I must confess that I have only started reading this book and I am not a scholar- I am a lawyer- but I highly reccomend this book.

This book is a perfect example of a well written academic work. 'Red Wings' is thoroughly researched and makes good use of newly declassified Russian and Chinese sources. It challenges many widely held views of the air war over Korea, and provides the reader with previously unavailable information regarding the strategy, doctrine and tactics of the 'other side' at the time. Moreover, 'Red Wings' offers insight as to the lessons that the PLAAF took away from the Korean War, and how it affects that service today.

A fine addition to any scholar, Air Force member or aviation enthusiast's bookshelf.

Red Wings Over The Yalu: China, The Soviet Union, And The Air War In Korea by military historian Xiaoming Zhang (Texas A&M International University) is an informed and informative survey and analysis of the military history and international politics of the Korean War. Focusing in particular on the Chinese point of view, Red Wings Over The Yalu is extensively detailed in its presentation and enhanced with black-and-white photographs of Chinese military aircraft and the men who flew them. An invaluable contribution to Korean War military history reference shelves and reading lists, Red Wings Over The Yalu is a seminal and highly recommended addition to any personal or academic Military History reference collection.

this is an excellent book and has the memoirs of a large range of individuals from the middle east. Easy to read and understand

During a five year assignment in Cairo (1961-1966) as head of the U.S. Embassy cultural and information programs I naturall tried to learn as much as I could about our audiences but I never saw an account of growing up in Egypt or nearby nations until this one. Elizabeth Fernea and her husband have lived in intimate contact with their peoples from the swamps of eastern Iraq to the bazaars of Morocco. She has a gift for describing her surroundings. Here she has assembled the memories of a panoply of individuals from every walk of life from royalty to villager during the momentous changes of the 20th Century.