Pantanal: South America's Wetland Jewel

Book Description

A spectacular tour of the world's largest wetland.

The Pantanal covers 81,000 square miles in the middle of South America, extending over parts of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay.

About half the size of California and 20 times the size of the Everglades, the Pantanal flood plain is the largest wetland network on Earth.

Pantanal reveals the abundant wildlife and beauty of this remarkable eco-system, home to some of the most spectacular concentrations of flora and fauna on the planet.

The text explains the Pantanal's ecology, its people, plants and animals, presented in five chapters:

The Pantaneiro: People of the Pantanal
Wetlands
Grasslands
Forests of the Pantanal
Caiman: the comeback crocodile.

The book also examines the impact of deforestation, overfishing and overhunting in the Pantanal and the efforts by conservationists to protect this magnificent region for future generations.

Pantanal is a superbly photographed tour of one of the most memorable regions on the planet.

Customer Reviews:

Splendid photography.......2005-12-02

Pantanal - just one word that makes you itch to see for yourself the wonders of this magical wetland in the heart of Brazil! Dozens of caimans lurking in the current, mouths agape; a big jaguar comes stalking through the understory at the shoreline; giant otters appear out of thin air right next to the boat; a tapir crosses the lagoon in marvelous light; a group of hyacinth macaws gathers on a fence of a fazenda, and in the savanna a young giant anteater clings cutely to his mother's fur - wildlife photographers' dreams, subjects everyone exploring the Pantanal with a camera longs for.
Theo Allofs got all these images - thanks to his patience, photographic excellence and his cooperation with Conservation International (CI), opening doors to subjects of some of the most beautiful farms in the area.
Large pictures, great colors and fine printing - impressive, even at a first glance. A closer look reveals that among some 150 pictures there is no weak or even mediocre one! A photographic gourmet-piece and yet, even more: the publisher and the CI writers found an elegant and well balanced way of presenting pictures and heaps of information on such a vast region, its human inhabitants and breathtaking biodiversity. A fine example of a cooperation between nature conservation and nature photography!

Book Description

In "Simulating Scoiety", the authors explore the basis for social and economic behavior. Using the methodology of computer simulation, specifically cellular automata, they model various factors that are involved in a system of individuals (or agents) who interact socially and economically with one another. The usefulness of computer simulations in the social sciences is that it provides a laboratory in which qualitative ideas about social and economic interations can be tested. This brings a new dimension to the social sciences where 'explanations' abound, but are rarely subject to much experimental testing. Mathematica is used as the programming language for implementing these models as cellular automata simulations. The authors have chosen this language because it has a number of features which make it uniquely qualified to be used by social scientists, especially those without expertise in computer programming. Users can easily access the various 3.0 Mathematica notebooks, and readily interact with them, the full text of the printed book, itself, and other data contained on www.telospub.com.

Customer Reviews:

Worth buying.......2000-04-04

This book will help you design simulations. It doesn't take you trough the design on the simulation, but rather help you apply certain algorithms to your simulations. If you know simulations and require help in coding Mathematica, this book is for you.

Simulating Society: A Mathematica Toolkit for Modeling Socioeconomic Behavior

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Simulating Society: A Mathematica Toolkit for Modeling Socioeconomic Behavior
Gaylord;Lou, D'Andria;Louis J., Dandria Richard
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MCZ38U

Book Description

An enriching introduction to the diverse and exciting world of literature, this anthology offers a broad collection of short fiction, poetry, drama and nonfiction selections written by a diverse group of writers who represent different social classes, races, genders, cultures, and sexual orientations. Organizes selections around five socially relevant themes—Growing Up and Growing Older; Women and Men; Money and Work; Peace and War; and Varieties of Protest. Shows how literary technique serves larger purposes—the recreation of experience, the exploration of ideas, the analysis of social issues—and how these larger purposes themselves shape literary form. Explains the ways in which literary form creates meaning, and provides a strong emphasis on writing about literature throughout, with a full chapter on all stages of the writing process —generating ideas, developing a thesis, discovering a form, drafting, revising, and editing—plus numerous excerpts from sample papers and journals. Now contains 42 new works, with more by Native American and Latino/Latina writers, as well as Bertolt Brecht's play Mother Courage and Shakespeare's Othello; also includes 18 works of nonfiction prose that have been chosen both for their literary technique as well as for their exploration of the five major themes.

Customer Reviews:

A Quality Text for College-Level Introduction to Literature.......2005-03-18

I respectfully disagree with reviewer Jeffrey Leeper; this is a solid text for a college-level introductory course in literature. The selections assume an intelligent reader, which covers most of my students.

I specifically chose this text because I wanted to approach the course from a societal perspective, and I was impressed by the editors'/authors' arrangement: "Growing Up and Growing Older," "Women and Men," "Money and Work," "Peace and War," and "Varieties of Protest." Sometimes, I switch works into other categories, for example, Sylvia Plath's poetry and play THREE WOMEN from "Growing Up and Growing Older" to "Varieties of Protest." But that's a matter of personal preference.

Mr. Leeper is probably correct that a professor may not want to use this particular text for an introductory literature course emphasizing a standard approach or for a writing about literature course. But, certainly, for a higher-level thematic course, such as Literature and Society, this text would no doubt offer an excellent choice.

I like the variety of works; this text could easily cover one or even two semesters of literature, covering not only fiction and poetry thoroughly, but also drama, including known and lesser known playwrights: William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Susan Glaspell and Alice Childress, among others. I would like to see more in-depth creative nonfiction, but, for now, I supplement the text with an inexpensive trade edition of HIROSHIMA. In later editions, the editors might consider adding some longer current and classic creative nonfiction selections, such as memoirs, journalistic features, and biography.

I have only one quibble: cost. I teach at a medium-sized, four-year college in Pennsylvania; most of our students come from blue collar families who struggle to pay for books and supplies, and I like to assign inexpensive books that won't break their budgets.

In this case, however, quality wins out over price, and I can only hope that my students feel that they're getting their money's worth.

Not My Favorite Literature Text.......2002-05-26

If you are looking for a literature textbook for a survey course, then this book is not for you. It is designed for students, but it is also designed to illustrate literature's place in our society.

The beginning goes into the writing process and writing about literature. There is an example of writing on poetry, but it is only two paragraph's worth. Most students would like to see the whole essay.

The bulk of the book is arranged in topics, which have subtopics of fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction. The topics, "Growing up and Growing Older," "Women and Men," "Money and Work," "Peace and War," and "Varieties of Protest," give you a wide variety of selections to illustrate the idea. Unless you plan on structuring your course this way, this isn't the easiest text to navigate a class through.

The end of the book has a section devoted to each of the subtopics: fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction. Here, strategies and elements of each of these subtopics are illustrated here. The examples used here refer to selections from the text, which allows the student to refer back. This is a good touch.

I would not recommend this book as long as you are teaching a survey course.

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Literature and Society An Introduction to Fiction Poetry Drama Nonfiction Instructor's Manual

Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0135329205

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Literature and Society: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction, By Annas, 3Rd Edition
Pamela J./ Rosen, Robert C. Annas
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LZOC80

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Literature and Society An Introduction to Fiction Poetry Drama Nonfiction Instructor*s Manual
Robert C. Rose, Pamela J. Annas
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ0MJ6

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Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction
Pamela J.Rosen, Robert C. Annas
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHZ4R8

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Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction
Pamela J.; Rosen, Robert C. Annas
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIHA5G

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Excellent Textbook for Literature Students and Teachers

Literature and Society: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction
Pamela J.; Rosen, Robert C. Annas
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIYM3E

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Textbook for Literature Students and Teachers.......2007-08-06

A text/anthology with a difference. Literature and Society, 2nd Edition, provides an extensive, varied, and innovative introduction to four literary genres: fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fictional prose. It offers a broad spectrum of selections, traditional as well as contemporary, and organizes the selection around socially relevant themes that students can relate to easily. In addition, it provides pedagogical support for understanding literary form and writing about it.

Literature and Society demonstrates how literary techniques serve larger purposes - and how these larger purposes shape literary form.

Among its many unique features, the Second Edition:
* Organizes the literature around five socially relevant themes
- Growing up and Growing older
- Women and Men
- Money and Work
- Peace and War
- Varieties of Protest

* Offers a variety of works by women, African American, ethnic, working class, and other writers traditionally under-represented.

* Includes an introduction to each literary genre, a process-oriented chapter on how to write about literature, and author biographies, discussion questions, and writing exercises for all stories, plays, works of non-fiction, and key poems.

This will remain a trusted resource and reference long after subsequent revisions are released. - 5 Stars.

Book Description

Gail Godwin was twenty-four years old when she wrote: “I want to be everybody who is great; I want to create everything that has ever been created.” It is a declaration that only a wildly ambitious young writer would make in the privacy of her journal. Now, in The Making of a Writer, Godwin has distilled her early journals, which run from 1961 to 1963, to their brilliant and charming essence. She conveys the feverish period following the breakup of her first marriage; the fateful decision to move to Europe and the shock of her first encounters with Danish customs (and Danish men); the pleasures of soaking in the human drama on long rambles through the London streets and the torment of lonely Sundays spent wrestling these impressions into prose; and the determination to create despite rejection and a growing stack of debts. “I do not feel like a failure,” Godwin insists. “I will keep writing, harder than ever.”

Brimming with urgency and wit, Godwin’s inspiring tome opens a shining window into the life and craft of a great writer just coming into her own.

“A generous gift from a much-loved author to her readers.”
–Chicago Sun-Times

“Full of lively, entertaining observations on the literary life . . . [captures] the spirit of a young writer’s adventure into foreign lands and foreign realms of thought and creative endeavor.”
–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“As cities and continents and men change, the entries are borne along by . . . the young Godwin’s fierce conviction that she is meant to write fiction and her desire to distract herself from this mission with any man who catches her eye.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“[Godwin] describes a high-wire act of love and work. . . . She espouses fierce, uncompromising ideas about fiction.”
–Los Angeles Times

“[Gail Godwin’s journals] are a gold mine.”
–The Boston Globe

Customer Reviews:

A Personal and Professional Journey.......2007-03-08

Gail Godwin's latest book is as much about the struggle of a female in her mid-twenties to find her life's work, as it is about writing. As her story unfolds over a two-year period, the reader can sense the author's growth, both as a person and as a writer. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to be a writer.

Raw and Revealing.......2006-08-11

I first read Gail Godwin's work in the mid-seventies, when in the midst of the women's movement, I was trying to find my way through the dilemma of being an independent woman who loved men. Godwin had been there before me, and I was attracted to her early novels--The Perfectionist, The Odd Woman and Violet Clay.

Now, reading her journal, I see that she was addressing of this dilemma nine years before she published her first novel in 1970. She's been one step ahead of me ever since. At first, this journal seems to be rather typically about a woman with a wealth of male lovers and friends who can't decide who's Mr. Right. Remember, this is pre-Second Wave feminism, on the early edge of the Sexual Revolution. She's so circumspect about her sexuality that you must read carefully to figure out who she's sleeping with, and who she's not. Although Britain must have been more open that North Carolina where she grew up, Gail scandalizes the people who run the boarding house where she lives by staying out all night. She struggles with developing her own moral compass just as diligently as she struggles with her affection for a variety of men.

She also forms one of her rare female friendships with an American woman of color, something that was uncommon for Southern white women as the Civil Rights movement gained momentum.

Meanwhile, she flogs herself about her writing and re-writing of various fictions, none of which makes it to publication during the course of this journal. She takes her vocation as a writer seriously, above anything else. Amazingly, she's only twenty-four when this journal begins, but she's already married and discarded one husband and one career as a journalist.

Beyond her determination to be a writer, two things intrigued me about these musings: the attraction she must have held for men and the absence of mention of her parents. I found explanations for both that satisfied me before I finished. The poet Sylvia Plath was about the same age as Godwin and lived in London at the same time. There is no indication that they encountered each other, but it's interesting to compare how the two women addressed very similar personal and vocational issues.

Now I want to return to the novels and see if they have the same power I felt when I first read them. Godwin was brave to publish this journal, because by spilling her guts on some very raw material, she reveals how her persistence led to a rich literary career.

Of Zeitgeists and Interstices.......2006-03-26

On the face of it, this book seems to be pitched to aspiring writers, but I think that it holds greater value as a reflection of the early 1960's, and as a testimony to the human spirit.

In "The Making of a Writer" Gail Godwin describes her life in terms that echo the words of a heroine in her fictional work, "The Odd Woman". In that book, the character of Jane says, "Sometimes I think those persons raised in the interstices of Zeitgeists are the ones most punished."

At the beginning of the 1960's, America was not a country given over to self-examination. A resurgence of feminism was nothing more than a vague rumor that may have swirled in the air. Women in the early 60's were not well positioned for success. This was a generation in peril of falling through the cracks. The truest echo of this time may be Sylvia Plath's classic, "The Bell Jar".

For Gail Godwin, the 60's began with an abortive attempt at marraige and a short stint as a journalist with the Miami Herald which also ended disastrously. Focusing her indomitable will on her desire to become a writer, Godwin embarked on a personal odyssey, traveling to Denmark, Spain, and the Canary Islands before taking a job with the Travel Service and extended residence in London.

In her journals she depicts both the struggle to become a published fiction writer, and a deeper quest to understand herself and other human beings. As she records impressions of her life and the characters who populate it, she also strives to find the modern writers that most speak to her sensibilities and to discover the essences she most wants to inform her own stories.

As a "twenty- something'', Godwin is possessed of a very acute intelligence--but the reader will also find hints of youthful callowness. To her credit, Godwin has not expurgated her journals. Their scrupulous honesty is part of their appeal.

As the book progresses, Godwin seems to shift her aims away from overly idealized characterizations and toward a new concern with "displaced persons". As this volume ends, she is beginning to investigate Carl Jung's psychological theories, something which seems to bode well for a young writer who views much of the world in black and white.

One thing that I didn't find endearing about this book was its use of an "explicator", in the form of editor Rob Neufeld. His italicized introductions and interjections often seem to be leading the reader like a rather stuffy tour guide through the Musee d' Godwin. I didn't really appreciate his presence, and I wish Godwin had done the honors (of "explication") herself.

Not every reader who comes to this book is going to buy into the idea, as Neufeld does, that Godwin is a writer of greatness deserving to join Faulkner, Steinbeck, or even Salinger in the firmament. The excerpts from the fiction Godwin was writing at the time of these memoirs reveal only a talented beginner---one who seems intimidated by the contemporary Beat writers ( her story about a Village girl seems lifeless ) and unsure about how to fully animate fiction drawing on her own backround.

It could be that in the future, nonetheless, these diaries (of which this volume is the first) may be regarded as Godwin's best work. I am not ready to compare her to Anais Nin or Lou Salome, but these journals do reveal an estimable intelligence possessed of great determination. In finally stepping out from behind the veil of fiction, it is here that Godwin may make her lasting mark.

A private glimpse into Godwin's early life .......2006-01-25

Bestselling author Gail Godwin, a three-time National Book Award nominee, keeps a journal that her friend Joyce Carol Oates suggested she edit and share with readers. In this first installment, we eavesdrop on Godwin's life as she emerges as a writer during her travels to Europe as a young woman.

The journals open as Godwin is waitressing at a resort in North Carolina, saving money for her grand excursion. She is soon on a ship headed to Denmark --- and adventure. Humorous character sketches of her fellow passengers draw the reader in as we follow her to her destination.

Godwin struggles with self-doubt as a writer and her relationship with the man she loves in Denmark, as well as her perennial lack of money. She considers going home, but when she's offered a job in London, she takes it. First, though, she visits the Canary Islands for a blissful month. Afterward, she is torn between staying with a local love and going on to London. When she finally decides, her leave-taking is wrenching.

In London, her roller-coaster writer's life continues with the highs of doing good work and completing projects in which she takes pride. The lows are rejections and periods of writing inertia. She similarly experiences a roller-coaster relationship with 38-year-old never-married, "probably hopeless" James. She connects with other men and travels back to North Carolina to meet up with an old lover.

Back in London, Godwin struggles with co-workers, office politics, changing apartments, and writing or not writing. She yearns for a true relationship with a man, all the while despising herself for caring so much. At the same time, she celebrates her freedom.

Godwin constantly thinks about her writing. Even as she battles self-doubt she concocts rules to write by, such as: Don't be false. Trust in the story. Eliminate the dull parts. Forget second-best plots. Don't anticipate the reader's reaction. Start somewhere, anywhere. Let the ending be found in the beginning.

The reader of THE MAKING OF A WRITER is privileged to watch as Godwin composes a story, talking herself through each part and using her life experiences --- a fascinating process. She also includes advice on keeping a journal and the reflection that her journal entries seed writing that may come decades later. The book is also liberally peppered with footnotes; at the outset I found these distracting but soon came to relish them.

I've been a Gail Godwin fan for decades. After reading her journal, I feel that I now know her as a struggling author and as a person of moods and vulnerabilities. I constantly looked forward to my time reading it and discovering more about the author. It is particularly fascinating to read Godwin's latest novel, QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, which was partially based on the author's experience as a young reporter in Miami, in order to discover echoes between the two books: a suicide, waitressing jobs, significant names, and more. An excellent read; highly recommended.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

Book Description

A highly intriguing and moving account of this significant and wasteful battle. The invasion of Crete in 1941 should have been a textbook battle for General Kurt Students German troops, a swift and decisive blitzkrieg based on technical surprise. In fact it was based on a series of misjudgements which resulted in large and bloody losses and Crete became the graveyard of the German parachute troops.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book with One Unforgivable Flaw.......2000-05-28

This is an exciting account of a truly incredible battle. Yet for some inexplicable reason, the author condemns the reader to a losing fight to understand the action on the ground with one totally inadequate, puny little map. I can't believe it!

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The Lost Battle Crete 1941
Callum MacDonald
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8XL9K

Customer Reviews:

Still the standard work on the subject.......2006-04-19

It is astonishing how often Western journalists and commentators are taken in by Muslim statements to the effect that the Qur'an and the shari'a guarantee human rights. The Muslims are perfectly sincere, but what they mean by human rights and what the Universal Declaration and others mean are often very different. Ann Mayer has done a remartkable job of sifting through Islamic Declarations, taking the trouble to compare English-language versions with the Arabic or (in the case of Tabandeh) Persian originals. She concludes that wherever the shari'a has been taken into consideration, it has narrowed and even overridden universal human rights values. In addition, she shows how many Muslim commentators are positively antagonistic to those values, particularly in the fields of women's rights, free speech, and religious freedom (including the rights of religious minorities like the Baha'is or Ahmadis). It's a scholarly work, carefully argued and challenging, and essential to any debate of this issue.

On the Jeffersonian wall of separation between church and state in Middle Eastern societies.......2005-10-18

Ms Mayer does a very good job in this book. As correctly the author points out, the most accurate title would have been: "A Comparison of Selected Civil and Political Rights Formulations in International Law and in Actual and Proposed Rights Schemes Purporting to Embody Islamic Principles, with a critical Appraisal of the Latter in Terms of International Law and Islamic Jurisprudence and Relevant State Practice". The Human Rights Schemes meant to embody Islamic Principles and reviewed by the author are: 1) The 1981 Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights; 2) "The Draft of the Islamic constitution" published in 1979 on the Azhar journal Majallat al-Azhar; 3) The 1979 Iranian Constitution; 4) The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam presented at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna; 5) The Basic Law of Saudi Arabia of 1992; 6) A Muslim Commentary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Sultanhussein Tabandeh; 7) A pamphlet entitled Human Rights in Islam by the religious leader Abu'l A'la Mawdudi. Therefore, the author does not try to extract Human Rights principles from the Qur'an, since she assume that this job could have been done better by Islamic jurists through their human rights scheme.

The main thesis is that the premodern shari'a law did not conceive a modern state and therefore its potential abuses against men and women. Shari'a laws were not elaborated with a view to provide institutional mechanisms to deal with cases where governments disregarded Islamic law and oppressed its subjects. Islamic thought stressed not the rights of citizens but their duties to obey God. The implicit assumption is that both ruler and ruled were obedient to God's commands. If this harmony is not satisfied, the Shari'a remains vague in its consequences. Whether the shari'a puts constitutional constraints on governments and safeguards for individual rights is a divisive issue, that in Middle Eastern despotic regimes is solved by recourse to tradition and the good ol' ways. According to Ms Mayer current Human rights schemes with built-in Islamic principles suffer from vagueness and are ineffective in providing real protection to human rights. The main outcome from this state of affairs is a consistent discrimination based on sex and religion. The author does not exclude that a combination of a more democratic environment and more rational interpretations of the Shari'a taking into due account the contemporary reality might generate a more effective outcomes. Without ignoring that each great religion contains important humanistic elements that anticipated our conception of human rights, a Jeffersonian wall of separation between church and state would provide a better and more friendly environment for a real and meaningful protection of rights and freedoms for all men and all women.

This book is highly recommended.

A Conflation and Misnomer.......2005-09-20

As the author admits, the title of her "book is a misnomer." She also confesses that "Islam in the book title is potentially misleading." Those are not the only problems with the book. The entire book itself is a "misnomer" and a conflation of Islam and Human Rights. A careful reading of the Holy Qur'an would have exposed the author to the fact that the Qur'an has all the tenets of the International Human Rights Instruments and plenty more. [We have developed a power point lecture showing the connections between these tenets.] It is not surprising that Eurocentric institutions and individuals have endorsed the book at the Westview Press Web site, without an independent review of the sources that represent Islamic thought. Then, again, any work that finds a way to bash Islam, subtlely or flagrantly, becomes fodder for Eurocentrists. As we strive to foster a Dialogue between Civilizations and peaceful relationships, a careful reading and representation of one another's thoughts become the more imperative.

Meticulously Documented Must Read.......2002-03-02

Ms. Mayer does the difficult scholarly work needed to shed light on the issue of the Muslim treatment of women. She goes directly to the original sources. It can be fairly said that Ms. Mayer's allows Islamic sources to speak for themselves. Everything is amply documented and footnoted to allow the reader to go to the specific document and confirm Ms. Mayer's statments.
Ms. Mayer reveals the differences between the English version and the Arabic translation of the "Islamic" human rights declaration. It is literally a two-faced document, the Arabic version containing limitations and derogations of women, while the English version appears to grant equality.
This is the book that Islamic apologists in the Western world need to read.
One can hope that someday in the future Islam will reform its treatment of women, but, unfortunately, according to many informed sources there is in effect an upsurge in fundamentalism in the Middle East and elsewhere which is taking Islam in the wrong direction.

Arab Voices: The Human Rights Debate in the Middle East (Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies)

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Arab Voices: The Human Rights Debate in the Middle East (Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies)
Kevin Dwyer
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)

ASIN: 0520074904

Book Description

Although many Westerners claim human rights as a major achievement of Western civilization, Muslims argue just as sincerely that human rights are central to Islam. They argue as well that the West's rhetorical emphasis on human rights cannot hide the fact that within Western society basic human rights are violated every day.
Through the use of extensive research and interview material from Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, Kevin Dwyer explores what human rights mean to Middle Eastern men and women--lawyers, political militants, religious thinkers, journalists, and human rights activists. The debate ranges widely from the nature of human freedom and human rights organizations to the role of religion in Arab and national identity. The reader gains a strong sense of the complexity and vitality of life in the Middle East today and of the kinds of issues that are at the center of informed discussion there.
From the book:"Human rights may be something new for the West, but we in Islam have had it since the beginning. We have no differences between whites, blacks, Jews, Muslims--everyone is free. We never persecuted the Jews here the way they did in France and England. In England and in the US you fight against the blacks--why just the other day there were news items about fighting between the police and blacks in London."--Muhammad Mekki Naciri, member of Morocco's Council of Religious Scholars

Book Description

Increasingly sophisticated technology and an ever-expand-ing base of knowledge have not been enough to allow humans to halt the worldwide progression of environmental degradation. Extensive fieldwork in both Africa and the United States convinced Allan Savory that neither the forces of nature nor commonly blamed culprits-overpopulation, poor farming practices, lack of financial support-were causing the decline of once-healthy ecosystems. He also noted that once land has become degraded, leaving it alone seldom helps revitalize it. Savory eventually came to realize that on the most fundamental level, environmental problems are caused by human management decisions, and only through wholesale changes in the way decisions are made can functioning ecosystems be restored. In response to that startling discovery, Savory began to develop a revolutionary new approach to decision-making and management. Known initially as Holistic Resource Management, and now as simply Holistic Management, it considers humans, their economies, and the environment as inseparable. It includes a common-sense decision-making framework that requires no specialized knowledge or elaborate technology to utilize, and is applicable in any environment or management situation. At the heart of the approach lies a simple testing process that enables people to make decisions that simultaneously consider economic, social, and environmental realities, both short- and long-term.

Holistic Management is a newly revised and updated edition of Holistic Resource Management (Island Press, 1988), which was the first book-length treatment of Savory's decision-making framework and how it could be applied. A decade of trial-and-error implementation has strengthened and clarified the book's ideas, and has expanded the scope of the process to include all manner of decisions and management situations, not just those that relate to land and resource management.

Holistic Management has been practiced by thousands of people around the world to profitably restore and promote the health of their land through practices that mimic nature, and by many others who have sought a more rewarding personal or family life. This book is an essential handbook for anyone involved with land management and stewardship-ranchers, farmers, resource managers, and others-and a valuable guide for all those seeking to make better decisions within their organizations or in any aspect of their personal lives.

Customer Reviews:

chalenging.......2007-07-01

Very interesting tome that is overwhelming because it changlenges all of the mindsets that one generally has concerning land management. The book has sections that are good for everyone, not just the land manager, and should be skimmed by anyone who cares about this planet and wants to make a difference.

A HUGELY IMPORTANT BOOK.......2005-04-26

This is a book could be beneficial to anyone ... from individuals, to families, to cooperations, to farmers/ranchers, to governments.

Go to his webiste *holistic management dot com* for some of the most enlightening truth about the environement and our responsibility and what ACTUALLY WORKS in saving and preserving the environment. You will many Ah-Ha moments.

A very empowering book as well as you write out your QUALITY OF LIFE statement, your forms of production and your future resource base. An empowring book because it deals with really getting at the root and working towards a solution no matter who is involved.

If you want to solve problems and live with purpose and actually make a difference towards a sustainable civilization .. This book is at the top of the list.
AND.. It is just plain interesting !! Thank you Mr. Savory.

Real sustainability is about decision making.......2002-12-28

Sustainability has become the central drama of our time, yet within the sustainability movement there is a huge conflict. It isn't the environmentalists against the dam builders this time--it is between those who see nature mainly as a domain, reserve, or area, and those who see nature as a process. Both sides largely agree that there is a serious ecological crisis, we are on the brink, and that humanity needs to change its ways. But there is an enormous disagreement on the problem, and on the prescription.

For the majority of writers on sustainability, the causes of our crisis are greed, overpopulation, consumption, development, and multinational corporations. For them, sustainability is a modern, industrial-era problem. The solutions are political: shift power from the wrong people and organizations to the right people and organizations, or quit logging, grazing, or using chemicals.

Savory's book shows, in convincing and elegant detail, that those who concentrate on shifting ideology or politics to move toward sustainability are just rearranging the deck chairs. The backlash and the revenge of unintended consequences will continue. If we are serious about this, we must change our decision framework. The way we make decisions, which is usually unconscious and habitual, is the key factor. Savory and Butterfield show us how this works, from start to finish.

Very interesting, although not all I expected.......2002-12-04

I found the entire book very interesting, in that it talked in great detail about low-rainfall, brittle environments. These environments are hardly covered in most science books. Nevertheless, I expected to read more about the details of running livestock succesfully on these brittle environments. I am looking forward to further, more specific publications from Mr. Savory.

Don't missunderstand me. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and would highly reccomend it to anyone who lives off the land and who is in close contact with nature.

Manage Cattle, Manage Your Life.......2002-08-17

I began reading Savory's book for a research project into ecological cattle management. Once I began reading it, I couldn't put it down, and I'm glad I didn't. Not only did the book teach me everything I could possibly want to know about Savory's cattle management methodology, but it gave a great perspective for managing life. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially people interested in any type of management (business or ecological) or anyone interested in environmental studies.

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