Music, Body, and Desire in Medieval Culture: Hildegard of Bingen to Chaucer (Figurae: Reading Medieval Culture)

Book Description

Ranging chronologically from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries and thematically from Latin to vernacular literary modes, this book challenges standard assumptions about the musical cultures and philosophies of the European Middle Ages. Engaging a wide range of premodern texts and contexts, from the musicality of sodomy in twelfth-century polyphony to Chaucer’s representation of pedagogical violence in the Prioress’s Tale, from early Christian writings on the music of the body to the plainchant and poetry of Hildegard of Bingen, the author argues that medieval music was quintessentially a practice of the flesh.

The book reveals a sonorous landscape of flesh and bone, pleasure and pain, a medieval world in which erotic desire, sexual practice, torture, flagellation, and even death itself resonated with musical significance and meaning. In its insistence on music as an integral part of the material cultures of the Middle Ages, the book presents a revisionist account of an important aspect of premodern European civilization that will be of compelling interest to historians of literature, music, religion, and sexuality, as well as scholars of cultural, gender, and queer studies.

Music, Body, and Desire in Medieval Culture: Hildegard of Bingen to Chaucer. (Book Reviews: Diverse Topics).: An article from: Notes

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Music, Body, and Desire in Medieval Culture: Hildegard of Bingen to Chaucer. (Book Reviews: Diverse Topics).: An article from: Notes
Leah Morrison
Manufacturer: Music Library Association, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on September 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1217 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Music, Body, and Desire in Medieval Culture: Hildegard of Bingen to Chaucer. (Book Reviews: Diverse Topics).
Author: Leah Morrison
Publication: Notes (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2002
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Page: 93(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

Excellent social history.......1999-11-26

This book investigates the social history and mores of Venice in a 30 year period through analysis of the clothing, clothing industry and sumptuary laws of the time. It is NOT a costume book, and although useful for that end, if you buy it for that sole purpose you will be frustrated. If you want to know more than just how to put a Venetian outfit together, you will be delighted. Due to the dearth of female Venetian portraits, most of the book is on male clothing, with only 1 chapter on women. I found this to be an excellent, well researched and illuminating read, and highly recommend it. If you specialise in this period Venice in the SCA/historical renactment, it is an essential buy.

Lots of potential, but isn't what I hoped for........1999-10-28

When I saw this book at this price I thought that it would be perfect for what I was looking for as a costumer and medieval recreationist. When I got the book I was very disapointed. It has many pictures, but they are poor quality and most are in black and white. The book isn't even worth half the price just based on the pictures. It has a huge bibliography, and I expected it to have a lot of information, but it just seems to skim over everything. It would be much better if it were bigger to allow room for bigger pictures and details, along with information worthy of the bib.

Customer Reviews:

BEST BARGAIN EVER!!!!!.......2004-07-09

This book is SO cool and has movie satires. Yes, you were amazed by Lord of the Rings... but you'll dia laughing at Bored of the Rings!!!! You were scared watching The Exorcist.... you'll giggle hysterically at The Eccchorcist!!!!! Oh, some of the movie satires are in colour, too.

Customer Reviews:

Extremely funny!.......2004-10-08

If you are a cricket fan, you will definitely love this book. I bought this book for my husband who plays cricket and is a huge cricket fan. He loves the book and reads the jokes over and over. I just wish the book was longer. This book makes a great gift for any cricket fan. You do have to have some understanding of cricket for most of the jokes.

Relax time reading cricket jokes.......2000-07-29

This is a nice book and as title suggest. I like cricket jokes and the book.

A Century Indeed!.......2000-06-24

This book is a very funny book packed with a lot of good cricket jokes that all cricket fans will admire!

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Annie Hall (Faber Reel Classics)
Woody Allen , and Marshall Brickman
Manufacturer: Faber and Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Annie Hall

ASIN: 0571202144

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ANNIE HALL MOVIE SCRIPT SCREENPLAY

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound
ASIN: B000F5EEJS

Product Description

The nine interdisciplinary essays in this volume were presented in 2003 in Berlin at the Fourth International Conference on Word and Music Studies, which was sponsored by The International Association for Word and Music Studies (WMA). The nine articles in this volume cover two areas: Surveying the Field and Music and the Spoken Word. Topics include postmodernism, philosophy, German literary modernism, opera, film, the Lied, radio plays, and verbal counterpoint. They cover the works of such philosophers, critics, literary figures, and composers as Argento, Beckett, Deleuze, Guattari, Feldman, Glenn Gould, Nietzsche, Schubert, Strauss, Wagner, and Wolfram. Three films are discussed: Casablanca, The Fisher King, and Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Contents Suzanne M. LODATO: Introduction Surveying the Field Eric PRIETO: Deleuze, Music, and Modernist Mimesis David L. MOSLEY: Listening to Parsifal. Premodern Romance, Modern Music Drama, Postmodern Film Michael HALLIWELL: Opera about Opera. Self-Referentiality in Opera with Particular Reference to Dominck Argentos The Aspern Papers Jürgen THYM: Schuberts Strategies in Setting Free Verse Suzanne M. LODATO: False Assumptions. Richard Strausss Lieder and Text/Music Analysis. Music and the Spoken Word Lawrence KRAMER: Speaking Melody, Melodic Speech Werner WOLF: Language and/or Music as Mans Comfort? Becketts Metamedial Allegory Words and Music Stephen BENSON: Beckett, Feldman, Joe and Bob: Speaking of Music in Words and Music Deborah WEAGEL: Musical and Verbal Counterpoint in Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould Notes on the Contributors

Book Description

Prepare yourself for a literary joyride as you look at all the tricks you never dreamed of doing or thought possible with cigars, cigar bands, lighters, matches, matchboxes, cigar boxes, cigar ash and smoke! This book is a collection of the best-of-the-best stunts--from the simplest to the most challenging. This book is for everyone.

Customer Reviews:

A hoot!!.......2001-01-30

This book is great fun! It will teach you any trick you ever wanted to know dealing with cigars. Interlaced with great anecdotes as well. Who knew there were so many ways to blow smoke rings?!

Fantastic.......2000-01-12

This was given to me as a gift, I would have never expected what is really was. I collect many books on cigars, this one is the most fun I have ever had with one. The book is packed full of cool and amazing tricks to do with a regular cigar. You will have a blast "Amazing" friends!

For your next golf game, sales meeting, or cigar event..........1998-12-08

You want to have more fun with your cigar? Get this book! Because you've laid out a lot of cash to smoke that stogie, you might as well impress the folks that don't care how much you paid for it. This book is loaded with tons of fun gags, tricks, and things to do with your cigar and smoking stuff. For less than what you'd pay for a couple of good smokes, you'll have the stuff to light up a good smoker and be the life of the party. I know, I've been getting big reactions from ideas in this book every time some one fires up a cigar. It's show time! Oh, and it makes a killer gift for your favorite cigar smoker. I've given away a bunch to cigar-smoking clients with great results.

Book Description

Never before in the history of the workplace has the concept of teamwork been more important to the functioning of successful organizations. Ken Blanchard bestselling coauthor of Raving Fans, The One Minute Manager, and Gung Ho! teams up with Donald Carew and Eunice Parisi-Carew to explain how all groups move through four stages of development on their way to becoming high performance teams -- orientation, dissatisfaction, integration, and production. The authors then show how a manager can help any group to become fully effective quickly and with hardly any stress.

The valuable addition to The One Minute Manager® Library is essential for anyone who works with groups and wants to build a high performing team.

Never before in the history of the workplace has the concept of teamwork been more important to the functioning of successful organizations. Bestselling author Ken Blanchard and his two collaborators explain how all groups move through four stages of development on their way to becoming a high performing team-Orientation, Dissatisfaction, Integration, and Production. They then show how a manager can help any group become fully effective sooner and with much less stress.

This valuable addition to The One Minute Manager. Library is essential for anyone who works with groups and wants to build a high performing team.

Customer Reviews:

all books should be like this one.......2006-11-30

Short, straight-to-the point, wise book. This is exactly what I needed for increasing the productivity of the team I manage.

one minute manager builds performing teams, the rev.......2006-03-10

great reference and information in one concise format.

A useful resource for team development.......2005-01-16

I was referred to the One Minute Manager series when I asked someone I considered an excellent manager if he could recommend some management resources. The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams was my first introduction to the series.

The book is written as a conversation between the One Minute Manager (a nameless, faceless character), a curious manager named Dan, and a human resource manager named Maria who brought up the question of how to manage teams versus individuals.

The print is large and there are only a few paragraphs per page, making it quick and easy reading, especially for those who only have time to read a small segment at a time. The dialogues are occasionally dull and a bit pedantic, but the messages come through clearly. And these messages, how to diagnose the development stage a team is currently in and which management style is appropriate for each stage of development, are usual analysis tools for anyone leading a group. The messages from the book can also easily be identified and passed on to group members through a short presentation.

A worthwhile book to look at for anyone wanting to improve team motivation, productivity and functioning.

Excellent! .......2004-08-23

This book gives a great overview of team stages and the simple idea of situational management based on team progress. Excellent!

Simple, fun superficial read.......2004-01-26

Kenneth Blanchard turns his attention to small group dynamics and group performance in this, on of the stable of One Minute Manager books.

Academically, the two principal concepts that Blanchard and his co-authors use, are the stages of group development and Situational Leadership. The familiar stages of forming, storming, norming and performing are termed orientation, dissatisfaction, integration and production. Situational Leadership in this context refers to changing leadership styles according to the stage of the group, thereby filling in for process tasks that the group is unable to accomplish for itself.

Groups tend to start in a high-energy, high motivation but low skills and understanding mode of operation. In this stage, directive leadership provides the structure necessary to move forward. The second stage is one of dissatisfaction, questioning of leadership and clarification of roles. As unpleasant as this stage is, we are reminded that conflicts cannot be resolved if they are avoided. A resolving attitude on the part of the leader is exactly what is needed. As confidence and morale return to the group members, they pass hesitatingly into a third stage, termed integration. In this stage, commitment on goals, roles and tasks increases, as well as to the norms, values and processes of the group. A collaborating leadership style that allows control to be shared and facilitates the surfacing of disagreements is critical to the group's continued growth. Finally, the production stage is characterized by high levels of trust, morale, energy and empowerment. The team can pretty much function autonomously, without a leader whose primary purpose is to validate.

Blanchard's strength is his manner of presentation and clarity of relating ideas from disparate sources. The book is a quick read and yet it presents some fairly profound concepts, connecting the dots in a way that reading a collection of "Harvard Business Review" articles can never accomplish. Most of the book is a conversation between Dan Brockway, the director of training at a chemical company, and his mentor, The One Minute Manger. The coordinator of customer service programs, Maria Sanchez, disagrees with the presentation of material for The Essentials of Management course that Dan is coordinating.

Instead of helping Dan convince her that she is wrong, The One Minute Manger allows Dan to observe the functioning of four groups at different stages of development at his own company. The gradual, real-world exposition of the central issues of group dynamics leads into three-way discussions between Dan, Maria and the Manager about the practicalities, pitfalls and variations in group development. The goal is to produce what Blanchard and others have called "Highly-Effective Teams", effectively defined in the early pages.

The intent of the book is to teach and, with two educational doctorates as co-authors, the structure and style is simple to read and flows so logically that it is as easy to digest as Jello. A busy manager can read this book in a single New York commute and keep revisiting it as needed, while his teams evolve. Students can learn and integrate new concepts more fruitfully, as they learn how the pieces all fit together. Participants in teams can quickly get a sense of what they need to do to effectively contribute to the tasks at had, which inevitably include the processes that the group uses to get things done. Anyone reading this book is well advised to realize that this is a brief synopsis and oversimplification of group dynamics and leadership styles. Extended discussions of roles played by participants in dysfunctional groups and extensive elaboration of Situational leadership are found elsewhere and should be referenced when necessary. In the end, drawing on all our creativity and individual knowledge and experience is the path to generating value in a knowledge economy.

Amazon.com

As coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, Vince Lombardi turned perennial losers into a juggernaut, winning back-to-back NFL titles in 1961 and 1962, and Superbowls I and II in 1966 and 1967. Stern, severe, sentimental, and paternal, he stood revered, reviled, respected, and mocked--a touchstone for the '60s all in one person. Which adds up to the myth we've been left with. But who was the man? That's the question Pulitzer Prize-winner David Maraniss tackles. It begins with Lombardi's looming father, a man as colorful as his son would be conservative. Still, from his father Vince Lombardi learned a sense of presence and authority that could impress itself with just a look. If a moment can sum up and embrace a man's life--and capture the breadth of Maraniss's thoroughness--it is one that takes place off the field when the Packers organization decides to redecorate their offices in advance of the new head coach's arrival: "During an earlier visit," Maraniss reports, "he had examined the quarters--peeling walls, creaky floor, old leather chairs with holes in them, discarded newspapers and magazines piled on chairs and in the corners--and pronounced the setting unworthy of a National Football League club. 'This is a disgrace!' he had remarked." In one moment, one comment, Lombardi announced his intentions, made his vision and professionalism clear, and began to shake up a stale organization. It reveals far more about the man than wins and losses, and is the kind of moment Maraniss uses again and again in this superb resurrection of a figure who so symbolized a sporting era and sensibility. --Jeff Silverman

Book Description

More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. In When Pride Still Mattered, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography destined to become an American classic.

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A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist illuminates the life and legend of the great pro football coach Vince Lombardi, in this textured and compelling biography of an American original. of photos.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best sports biographies I ever read.......2007-09-20

I couldn't help feeling that I was right there in frozen Green Bay, in the 1960s, at one of the Lombardis' Sunday post-game cocktail parties, and everywhere else Vince Lombardi went in his life, while reading this great book.
It's a great read, very vivid, about a great coach and (as Maraniss illustrates) not the greatest father in the world. In other words, a portrait of a human being who did great things with his work, but who had foibles like everybody else.

A very engrossing read.......2007-06-20

I picked up this book after hearing a strong recommendation. I knew next to nothing about Vince Lombardi, other than that he was an excellent football coach. Very glad I bought the book as this was a particularly engrossing biography.

The author was very thorough in his research and traces Lombardi's life in detail for his full nearly 60 years. He provides a lot of detail on Lombardi's strengths and weaknesses. At times I wanted to slug him and tell him to quit being so intense about football and pay more attention to his family. Other times, I found myself admiring the daylights out of him. It is astonishing to think he could take the most losing team in football and turn them into major winners in just one season.

There's a lot of food for thought in this biography. Is winning really so important that you should sacrifice your family and your health? Is success really success if you never enjoy it? As a recovering perfectionist, I saw many powerful examples from Lombardi's life about why I DON'T want to be a perfectionist! Nothing is ever good enough, and you never, ever get to be happy. That is one lesson in Lombardi's life that really comes blasting out of every story.

If you like biographies, you will really enjoy this one. Glad I decided to pick it up.

Jan Dahlin Geiger, author of "Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies" Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies

Biography of a Coach.......2007-04-12

This biography of Vince Lombardi will move you to tears and inspire you to find the best in others. Lombardi was truly a great teacher, coach, and man.

measure of a man.........2007-04-03

maybe the greatness of a man can be determined by his ability to inspire greatness in other men..by that account Vince Lombardi was a giant..maybe his tactics would not work as well with today's pampered athletes but I'm sure he would still find a way to inspire that's what the great teachers do..they not only teach about they're hired to..they teach about life..some of Lombardi's players to this day attribute their success on and off the field to the coach..I thought I knew so much about coach Lombardi but this book by David Maraniss filled me in on so many things I didn't know..Vince had a brother who was gay but he still went to church every day and never ostrasized his brother, he just figured the church got it wrong on this one..I read this book on a journey to Green Bay to visit Lambeau..I carried with me a picture of my dad shaking hands with Vince..but you don't have to be a Packer fan to enjoy and be inspired by this book..it's simply one of the best biographies I've ever read..even a Viking fan would enjoy it..as one of his ex-players recants..'there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss that man'...

A Man's Man. .......2007-02-20

I read Harvey Mansfield's Manliness last spring, and I have to say that Vince Lombardi embodies all of his criteria for the positive expression of masculinity. Coach Lombardi demonstrated the coveted male virtues of valor, devotion, passion, loyalty, and the need for victory. What's so telling about Maraniss's account is the way in which the narrator reveals to us slowly, but consistently, just how much the man meant to the people around him. A couple of the scenes with Starr and Hornung will choke you up--particularly the letter that Bart's dad sent to Lombardi. When Lombardi went to the Redskins, even though he was only with them for a year, he transformed the players completely. He walked up to the podium with a single ring on and restored their hope. Sonny Jurgensen had never possessed a leader's mentality before meeting Lombardi. In a single year's time, he led the team to a winning season and became a man admired for more than talent alone. For all of us who are devoted fans of the NFL, Coach Lombardi will always be remembered and treasured. I say this despite the fact that I have no use for the Green Bay Packers and have hated them since I was a kid. No matter, a man like this is above partisan loyalty. He's better than all that stuff. He could be gruff, angry, and harsh, but everyone around him (almost unanimously) still loved him because they could sense him love and devotion. He returned their love again and again. Vince Lombardi was a teacher, a coach, a tactician, a strategist, and a man's man, RIP.

WHEN PRIDE STILL MATTERED A LIFE OF VINCE LOMBARDI

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WHEN PRIDE STILL MATTERED A LIFE OF VINCE LOMBARDI

Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HZVRHI

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When Pride Still Mattered a Life of Vince Lombardi
David Maraniss
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000X66LSQ

Book Description

The secret services of the Soviet Union were intimately involved in all the great conflicts of the 20th century from 1970-1991; and even since the break up of the Soviet Empire; their inheritors in Russia have played a key role, and continue to do so into the fight against international terror in the early 21st century. No other institution in modern history has had such a deep involvement in international affairs. Loyal Comrades, Ruthless Killers presents us with a fresh slant on the history of the modern world. We can look at the great crises of modern times from the real point of view of the leaders of the Soviet Union, and reappraise shadowy figures such as Beria, the man who ran the purges for Stalin and was himself shot on the orders of Krushchev. We can see what the KGB thought of its opponents in the CIA; and trace the involvement of Soviet agents in European political parties during the Cold War. Interestingly, although the Soviet Union was a closed society, there will almost certainly never be the same amount of information available covering the operations of the CIA over the same period.

Customer Reviews:

One can never really know............2007-08-26

In my opinion, not nearly as bad as the latter review, but not
as good as the former review, either. The early history of the
predecessors of the KGB is certainly gruesome. I'd be inclined to
believe the early history more, just because the current administration
of the KGB has possible connections with later events described.....
I'm not suggesting the author isn't honest, just that he has a sense
of self preservation. I grew up on the view that the KGB was made
up of emotionless psychos, as portrayed by Ian Fleming and others, then
saw a change in popular literature
to the opinion that they might be the good guys in some instances,
suggested more by John LeCarre (I never could quite accept that, sorry).
My current favorite spy storyteller, Alan Furst, describes the NKVD as
a dangerous organization, supporting a corrupt system, but staffed by
ordinary people, both good and bad....I think Mr. Katamidze's book adds
to our knowledge of at least the history of the USSR's secret services...

Good photographs, horrible content.......2006-09-12

The only thing good about this book is pictures, but I am very disappointed by the content. It's like this book is written by KGB propaganda machine. I just cannot believe the year of publication, it's seems like the book is written in 60s or 70s and USSR is still a country. Where did the author get all his facts and numbers from? "Pravda" newspaper?
All the lies of the communist regime about crimes committed, about number of victims, about beginning of the Second World War are already discussed great deal in countless books. But it's like it does not exist, so keep repeating same lies over and over again. What a shame!

Great book.......2004-11-25

The secret services history is a most interesting theme, one that is often overriden by conspiracy theories and the like. The subject is also undermined by it's own complexity. Slava Katamidze does a great job in presenting it in a simple manner, without losing the connections, and without losing sight of the man on the front.
The whole facts presented, I found it astonishing, and extremely revealing in the many things that allowed the extension of the cold war. It also serves to present the facts behind the communist regime of terror. In the whole, this book serves not only to understand secret services of the USSR, but the whole history of the Soviet Union.
The whole book is written in chronological order, which serves to keep the reader in track of everything happening at the time onthe global scene. The hardcover edition, with high quality paper, and the picture filled pages make it worth buying. I, however, disliked the unattention to several facts of history underlying the development of the cold war. The book centers itself on the history of the secret services, and somehow misses part of the international big picture.

KGB Leales Camaradas, Asesionos Impacables/ Loyal Comrades, Ruthless Killers: El KGB y los servicios secretos de la URSS , 1917-1991/ The KGB and the Secret Services of the USSR, 1917-1991

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KGB Leales Camaradas, Asesionos Impacables/ Loyal Comrades, Ruthless Killers: El KGB y los servicios secretos de la URSS , 1917-1991/ The KGB and the Secret Services of the USSR, 1917-1991
Slava Katamidze
Manufacturer: Editorial Diana, S.A.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Loyal Comrades, Ruthless Killers: The KGB and the Secret Services of the USSR, 1917-1991

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Loyal Comrades, Ruthless Killers: The KGB and the Secret Services of the USSR, 1917-1991
Viacheslav Ivanovich Katamidze
Manufacturer: Spellmount Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Terribly Biased

Very well written, researched, and NON-BIASED book

The China Threat Is Real-This Book Proves It

For a complete perspective on China....

Sun Tzu

China: The Gathering Threat
Constantine C. Menges
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The China Threat: How the People's Republic Targets America

Hegemon: China's Plan to Dominate Asia and the World

The Coming Conflict with China

Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America

Showdown: Why China Wants War with the United States

ASIN: 1595550054

Book Description

In a book that is as certain to be as controversial as it is meticulously researched, a former special assistant to the president for National Security Affairs and senior official of the Central Intelligence Agency shows that the U.S. could be headed toward a nuclear face-off with communist China within four years. And it definitively reveals how China is steadily pursuing a stealthy, systematic strategy to attain geopolitical and economic dominance first in Asia and Eurasia, then possibly globally, within the next twenty. Using recently declassified documents, statements by Russian and Chinese leaders largely overlooked in the Western media, and groundbreaking analysis and investigative work, Menges explains China's plan thoroughly, exposing:

China's methods of economic control.
China's secret alliance with Russia and other anti-America nations, including North Korea.
China's growing military and nuclear power-over 90 ICBMs, many of them aimed at U.S. cities.
How China and Russia have been responsible for weaponizing terrorists bent on harming the U.S.
Damage caused by China's trade tactics (since 1990, we've lost 8 million jobs thanks to China trade surpluses).

Customer Reviews:

Terribly Biased.......2005-12-06

I'm a leading Sinologist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and I have read few books as bellicose and biased as this one in my whole career as scholar. His assumptions, theories and conclusions are flawed. I don't believe this guy has ever been to the Middle Kingdom. He didn't even seem to have talked to serious scholars when writing the book - there is only abstract intel background. I dare to say that this book is a serious menace to American and Chinese Civilizations since it may influence American policymakers (I'm so glad I live in Brazil). This book is NOT SERIOUS; IRRESPONSIBLE; and DANGEROUS.

Very well written, researched, and NON-BIASED book.......2005-11-16

If one thinks that this is just another example of unreasonable paranoia about China--THINK AGAIN. This is written by the same gentleman who was very instrumental in successfully bringing down the Berlin Wall of the Cold War and knows how to deal with foreign affairs. One can clearly see that when reading this book, Dr. Menges is not a "China Basher" in any sense, but lays out a practical structure on how both sides can prevent a conflict with one another. Also, Dr. Menges presents the information in a non-biased manner in pointing out flaws that both Bush and Clinton have done to make the China Threat so grave. Go ahead and purchase the book. You will be pleasantly surprised at how researched it is.

The China Threat Is Real-This Book Proves It.......2005-09-14

Here is a voluminous, well researched, and timely analysis of China's impending power grab in Asia. More books are sure to come, but so far none have been warmly received by the New York Eastern publishing establishment.

That China bashing is not a popular subject on Wall Street is demonstrated by the fact that even if you are an ex-assistant to the President for National Security, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a former National Intelligence officer at the CIA, an advisor to Congress and a senior professor of International Relations at George Washington University, as Professor Menges was, your book will end up being published posthumously by an obscure printing house in Tennessee on cheap paper.

But whatever the case may be, Professor Menges' book is an analytical work, not a China bashing book. Even so, the facts he has accumulated are (or should be) alarming to the Western World. Simply put: China has become powerful enough both economically and militarily to challenge the US influence in Asia, in fact, to kick the US right out of Asia if she chooses to (and as China has already promised to do).

The ignition switch for the Chinese power grab is Taiwan, a heated and escalating situation the Western media has done little or nothing to publicize. To put it mildly, China could invade Taiwan at any time, but might hold out until shortly before or after the Olympic games of 2008 (which will take place in China). A US reaction could provoke a Sino-American war in Asia. But in spite of this, it is abundantly clear that China's ambition goes beyond Taiwan and is a regional ambition to replace the United States as the dominating power in Asia.

Menges outlines a steady Chinese operation to undermine the US both politically and economically and, if necessary, militarily. Disturbingly enough, the US has shown little interest in confronting the situation.

The information Menges includes in his book proving China's operational designs on Asia are as convincing as they are voluminous, too voluminous in fact to list completely here. But I will mention the most important ones:
-China has claimed Taiwan, the Paracels, the Spratleys, the Japanese Senkau Islands and South China sea as Chinese
-China is buying the ultimate in modern weaponry en masse from Russia
-China has formalized an official military alliance with Russia against America
-China has built a veritable forest of missile launchers astride Taiwan
-China has fired multiple ballistic missiles over and near Taiwan
-China has threatened US carriers to keep out of the Taiwan Strait (and our carriers have obeyed)
-China has threatened to take out all the US bases in Asia, invade South Korea and initiate strikes against the continental US should America intervene in Taiwan
-China has stolen America's most advanced nuclear secrets (we let the only Chinese spy we caught-Wen Ho Lee-go free)
-China is using its clout to turn the nations of the Third World against America
(no joke, China prohibited three central American nations from receiving the President of Taiwan at the last minute...and they obeyed)
-China now operates the Panama Canal
-China is building the world's largest container port in the Bahamas
-China & Russia operate an electronic spy base in Cuba
-China has jammed US propaganda transmissions to the Third World

If one looks at what we have to stand up to China --- half the military forces we had in 1992 / our presence in the Philippines reduced to zero / reduced forces in Korea (which we are now withdrawing south of Seoul) / a thin alliance with Taiwan which neither promises nor denies assistance and does not recognize Taiwan / 7 trillion dollars of debt / a weak economy / most of our heavy industry outsourced / low morale in the Army after two+ years of Iraq / a total split and alienation of NATO / general resistance to the draft --- one can see there won't be very much the US would do should China decide to invade Taiwan. It would not be surprising to see the US just sit back and watch.

But what the world fails to see, according to Menges, is that to the Chinese this would be further confirmation of American decline in Asia marked by the expulsion of Chiang Kai Shek, the expulsion of US forces from North Korea, the withdrawal of US forces from South Vietnam, the closure of US bases in the Philippines and the reduction of US forces in South Korea. What the world fails to see, according to the author, is that Taiwan would be only the first step in a wider Chinese expansion.

Is the US about to suffer a royal defeat in Asia?

Whatever happens, we must remember this: we were abundantly warned of what was coming.

For a complete perspective on China...........2005-06-09

read "The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" at www.english.epochtimes.com. The Nine Commentaries is a series of articles which explores the history of the CCP. Since its publication in November 2004, over 2 million people have resigned from Party. See for yourself the truth behind the CCP.

Sun Tzu.......2005-06-07

Sun Tzu would have loved the current (and, for that matter, past several decades') strategy of the PRC and Russia. For the PRC, a de facto confederation with Russia constitutes a new incarnation of the Yuan Dynasty, but this time around, a dynasty with Han elites as its Eastern node. For Russia, this time around, they are an equal, not a vassal state, to a Far Eastern great power.

It is an interesting excercise to start with an assumption that the much lauded late 50s through early 70s "Sino Soviet Split" was a massive smoke screen and not bona fide. Assume this, and revisit each major event with any dependence on or relationship to the "split" accordingly. Such events are many and continue to the present day. Of particular note, in this regard, are geopolitics in South East Asia. If the Sino-Soviet Split was a ruse, then quite literally, everything you may have learned about Southeast Asian geopolitics since the 1950s is wrong!

Moving forward, consider the ramification of the world's largest combined military troop strength combined with the world's largest arsenal, when Russian and Chinese forces are coordinated or combined. The mother of all Axes .....

Book Description

The science of genetics has undergone a period of very rapid and significant development in recent years, and the area of poultry genetics has been no exception. This book provides a balanced and up-to-date account of all the major areas of this subject from Mendelian to modern molecular genetics. The book begins by tracing the evolution of the domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) from its avian ancestors. Subsequent chapters cover important aspects of poultry genetics, including cytogenetics, transmission genetics, gene mapping, sex linkage, lethal genes, genetics of feathering and plumage, and quantitative genetics. In each chapter, a concise explanation of the genetic principles is followed by a full discussion illustrated by key examples. In the latter part of the book, recent advances in gene cloning and sequencing are examined. In the area of molecular genetics, where the most rapid developments have been made, more extensive background information is given and a glossary of terms is included. The impact of these exciting new developments on our understanding of gene structure and organization, immunogenetics, and the evolution of proteins is assessed. Finally, the uses of transgenic techniques and their implications are discussed. This book provides a clear and useful survey of the genetics and evolution of the domestic fowl, which will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of genetics, agriculture, and veterinary medicine, as well as to poultry breeders, both commercial and non-commercial.

Customer Reviews:

A very serious textbook for the avian geneticist..........2005-05-19

This book is not for sissies. It's a serious textbook for those who are studying avian genetics. It is not for the faint of heart, or those without a background in basic genetic terms and science. All that being said, it's an invaluable book if you're seeking to understand how chicken genetics work, and apply them to your breeding processes.

Chapters in this book include:

1. The history and evolution of the domestic fowl
2. The cellular organisation of genetic material
3. The transmission of inherited characters
4. Sex determination and sex-linked inheritance in the domestic fowl
5. Linkage and chromosome mapping
6. Genes controlling feathering and plumage color
7. Muscle, nerve, and skeleton
8. Lethal genes in domestic fowl
9. Quantitative genetics
10. Protein evolution and polymorphism
11. Immunogenetics of the domestic fowl
12. Gene cloning, sequencing and transfer in the domestic fowl

There are also five appendices, a glossary, and an index. The appendices include:

I. Linage groups and the chromosome map in the domestic fowl
II. Oncogenes
III. The Chi squared test
IV. One letter amino acid code
V. The genetic code

All in all this book is more then the average fancier would want to spend, but if you are a scientist or high-end hobbyist desiring to expand your knowledge of poultry genetics, then go for it!

Genetics and Evolution of the Domestic Fowl

Average customer rating:

Genetics and Evolution of the Domestic Fowl
Lewis Stevens
Manufacturer: Cambridge Univ Pr 1/12/1991
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N5OL5M

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