Wolves and Honey: A Hidden History of the Natural World

Book Description

Susan Brind Morrow brings her singular sensibility as a classicist and linguist to this strikingly original reflection on the fine but resilient threads that bind humans to the natural world. Anchored in the emblematic experiences of a trapper and a beekeeper, Wolves and Honey explores the implications of their very different relationships to the natural world, while illuminating Morrow's own poignant experience of the lives and tragic deaths of these men who deeply influenced her. Ultimately for Morrow these two the tracker and trapper of wolves, the keeper of bees are a touchstone for a memoir of the land itself, the rich soil of the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York. From the ancient myth of the Tree of Life to the mysterious reappearance of wolves in the New York wilderness, from the inner life of the word "nectar," whose Greek root ("that which overcomes death") reveals our most fundamental experience of wonder, to the surprising links between the physics of light and the chemistry of sweetness, Morrow's richly evocative writing traces startling historical, scientific, and metaphorical resonances. Wolves and Honey, attuned to the connections among various realms of culture and nature, time and language, jolts us into thinking anew about our sometimes neglected but always profound relationship to the natural world.

Customer Reviews:

The first-person blend of memoir and observational piece is wonderfully rich in detail and insight.......2006-05-26

Two of author Morrow's best friends are a trapper and a beekeeper: together the tree reflect on the nature of the Finger Lakes region of upper New York State in WOLVES AND HONEY: A HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE NATURAL WORLD. The juxtaposition of two very different, eccentric personalities in Morrow's friends reflect the variations of the land and wildlife they're involved with in Morrow's reflection of man and nature. The first-person blend of memoir and observational piece is wonderfully rich in detail and insight.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

Touching the truth.......2004-09-10

Her words like skipping stones,
Seeing afar from the air,
Splashing down again and again
In truth's lake.

Wolves is a Honey.......2004-07-30

Flora and fauna aren't my strong points. But after reading Morrow's new book, I feel I can hold my own on bees, the Finger Lakes, apples, trees and yes, wolves. The book is a meditation and needs to be read slowly so that the reader doesn't miss the subtleties of her language and thought. The interconnections between the natural world of upstate New York and its political, social and religious worlds is fascinating. In the book's first pages Morrow transported this lifelong city dweller to upstate New York with such ease and pleasure that I didn't want to return. It is the perfect read for a quiet afternoon in a hammock.

Wolves & Honey: A Hidden History Of The Natural World

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Wolves & Honey: A Hidden History Of The Natural World
Susan Brind Morrow
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0786184973

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Wolves & Honey: A Hidden History of the Natural World
Susan Brind Morrow
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 078618695X

Book Description

Our complex relationship to the natural world is revealed through the unusual lives and deaths of a trapper and a beekeeper.

Susan Brind Morrow brings her singular sensibility as a classicist and linguist to this strikingly original reflection on the fine but resilient threads that bind humans to the natural world.

Prompted by the emotional loss of two friends, one a trapper and one a beekeeper, Susan Brind Morrow explores the implications of their very different relationships to the natural world. Ultimately, these two men are a touchstone for a memoir of the land itself, the rich soil of the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York.

Customer Reviews:

Relaxing read while passing the time.......2002-11-12

I read this book while visiting Bobobudur over 4 days. It perfectly suited the relaxing atmosphere of my vacation.

The first few sections are devoted to the history and the archaeology of the site. Each successive chapters are devoted to the bas reliefs which tell 3 major stories of Buddhist texts.

Personally, I found the latter sections on the stories harder to follow since the books only gives bits and pieces of the story (and sometimes the photo illustrations, which are in great abundance, do not follow the text) and I am not at all versed in these stories. I would have much preferred
a more detailed book on the history and archaeology of the monument. But perhaps that is more difficult to come by because it is not a deeply studied area.

But I think the photographs more than make up for any perceived deficiencies on my part. Each page has at least one big photo which occupies half of the page and that makes it a great coffee table book to browse.

Golden Tales of the Buddhas.......2000-05-01

An excellent book that summarises Borobudur's past and archaeological symbolism. It is a light and informative read of the ancient Buddhist monument in Central Java. The photography is excellent, with lots of close ups of the reliefs. Very often you get whole pages of pictures which tell a story of their own. It's really worth buying this because you'll definitely read it more than once.

Book Description

The most urgently needed vaccines are those against poverty-related diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and HIV. However, there is a considerable gap between the development of a vaccine and the implementation as a useful measure for disease control. Major obstacles need to be overcome even after successful completion of the preclinical stage.

This book provides an important link between vaccine development and application under the particular conditions in developing countries.
The editors, S.H.E. Kaufmann and P.H. Lambert – one from the field of basic research and the other an expert on the side of applied vaccinology – have gathered contributions from specialists of both fields in an attempt to create a source of information that has thus far not been available.

Book Description

This book is based on a graduate course taught by the author at the University of Maryland. The lecture notes have been revised and augmented by examples. The first two chapters develop the elementary theory of Artin Braid groups, both geometrically and via homotopy theory, and discuss the link between knot theory and the combinatorics of braid groups through Markou's Theorem. The final two chapters give a detailed investigation of polynomial covering maps, which may be viewed as a homomorphism of the fundamental group of the base space into the Artin Braid group on n strings.

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In Search of Lost Time Volume V: The Captive & the Fugitive
Marcel Proust
Manufacturer: Modern Library Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N91UDO

Book Description

After two years as a postgraduate student at Nanjing University in China, Vikram Seth hitch-hiked back to his home in New Delhi, via Tibet. From Heaven Lake is the story of his remarkable journey and his encounters with nomadic Muslims, Chinese officials, Buddhists and others.

Customer Reviews:

What a travelogue!.......2005-06-07

Do you remember a picnic or a party in your past that was so delightful that it has always stayed with you? It might not have been profound or life changing or anything like that, but it must been something you look back with a 'wow, what fun that was!' and cherish the thought?.

This book is exactly like that.

Travelling through some of the remotest terrain in the world and facing some red-tape, Seth simply wrote down his experiences and the result is a short and engaging travelogue. He is the perfect companion for a trip like this; his humanity shines through and he tolerates discomforts with a smile on his face and his personality is what makes this book so endearing.

If you are a seasoned travel book reader, this will be another one of your favorites. If you are not into this genre, I promise you will be after reading this.

P.S.: Whoever designed the cover deserves a pat on his/her back. It perfectly captures the essence of what lies inside.

Celebrating wanderlust.......2003-01-16

Much has been said about travel broadening vision, and the journal of a traveller who has a universal view of life makes a rich reading experience. From Heaven Lake is more than a travel book that traverses the length and breadth of a place with smatterings of history, geography and local culture - It is a verbal album of direct images that personify the soul of the areas.

The book contains relatively little on the culture, civilisation or customs of China or Tibet. Rather it is the personal account of an economics student's experiences while returning home to Delhi from Beijing, via Tibet and Nepal, the novelty of the journey being that it is almost entirely hitchhiked, relying on luck and optimism alone against all odds.

The idea of hitchhiking to Lhasa comes as a sudden inspiration to Mr.Seth while touring Turfan with fellow non-Chinese students. In serendipitous circumstances, he gets a travel-permit to Lhasa -The indirect repercussion of his singing 'Awara Hoon' (I'm a wanderer) at the students hostel. The song is symbolic of Mr.Seth's wanderlust impulses that make him embark on this fantastic journey. The rest of the book narrates his experiences that has many such co-incidences and fortuitous events that indicate life imitating art, as in an action-packed adventure story.

The journey also has a more than fair share of obstacles, from dealing with a suspicious mosque doorkeeper or a slightly eccentric truck driver, to major ones like trying to get a lift on a truck to Lhasa, going on an impromptu chase of lost luggage or being stuck indefinitely on deserted, muddy roads. But these not-so-enticing situations are handled comfortably by Mr.Seth who simply refuses to give up. With remarkable candour and a liberal dash of his characteristic humour, he talks about his frustration, anger and minor irritations during the journey and how he got over them eventually.

Mr.Seth also focuses a great deal on the unexpected gestures of kindness that he encountered in course of the journey - Friendly policemen, amiable officials, store managers, tailors and citizens who helped him.

Mr.Seth seems to be at home in any part of the world - Climbing into lost caverns in Chinese temples or wading in underground canals, playing basketball with officials or frisbee with waiters, assimilating the quietude of a Chinese shrine and a mosque alike, enjoying a picnic with a Tibetan family he had just met and above all, conversing on all kinds of topics with an assortment of strangers. Not so surprisingly, the people he describes also begin to come alive, like many of the characters in his fiction.

Reflections and musings on various aspects of China, India and life in general are diffused throughout the book, along with an occasional verse. There is a great attention to detail like the descriptions of Heaven Lake, the Lhasa mosque with its amalgam of Chinese and Arabic styles, the interior of a common truck and even the unpalatable soup served on the way, that suggest Mr.Seth's potential as a superior writer, this being one of his early works.

To quote Tolkien, not all those that wander are lost, and "From Heaven Lake" conveys that there is indeed much to be found for potential wanderers, besides ideas and ways of thought, experiences, insights and interactions with peoples and cultures - a greater understanding of themselves and the world around them.

Unique viewpoint.......2002-09-12

Very well done travelogue around China. A perfect counterpoint to Salzman's Iron & Silk. Salzman stayed in one spot for his sojourn in China; Seth, although he spent two years at Nanjing University, here is concerned with an impromptu hitchhiking trip through western China and Tibet. Seth isn't afraid to put some dangerous questions to his hosts and fellow travelers--questions about the cultural revolution and Red Guard, how life is now under the communists compared with before, could Tibet be a separate country once more? But the best thing about this book is Seth's viewpoint: an Indian writing about China and Tibet for an English/American audience. He takes the time to ruminate on the relations between the countries and the conditions in each country. In particular, his comparison of the living conditions of the poor and aged in China (cared for, if not greatly) and India (left destitute) was eye-opening.

twenty years on.......2002-07-07

This summer, I was in Nanjing. In the afternoons it is so hot, that all I did was to stay in and re-read Seth's book. It was probably the fifth time I was reading it.

I am from India and since childhood I was always fascinated with China and one of the reasons was this book.

Twenty years on (since the book was published) and some places in China have changed so much. Nanjing itself has become a bustling city and the teashops in Kunming have become swanky cafés. Still, any train journey provides with interesting travel mates and generally kind people similar to the people in the book.

In my opinion the greatest accomplishment of this book (at least for me) is that it made me go east at time people growing up with me in India were only interested in the west. It is very funny, I went to China to look for differences in our cultures and everywhere I looked, I found more similarities.

Ok not one of his best works.......2002-01-07

In general, I like vikram seth's works. But,I found this early travelogue to be less insightful and interesting than his later novels. I did not really connect with him, his travels, his predicaments, or the people he met along the way.

From Heaven Lake Travels through Sinkiang & Tibet

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From Heaven Lake Travels through Sinkiang & Tibet
Vikram *SIGNED by author* Seth
Manufacturer: Chatto & Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VW63DU

From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet

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From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet
Vikram Seth
Manufacturer: Chatto & Windus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

In the summer of 1981, Vikram Seth, an Indian postgraduate student at Nanjing University, decided on a politically difficult and geographically hazardous journey: he would hitchhike home to Delhi by way of Tibet.

Seth is equal to the challenge, and moreover proves to be an observant and resourceful traveler. He endures bureaucratic delay, climatic extremes and the protracted discomforts of long-distance lorries with equal aplomb. In the event, he makes his way from the arid wastes of China's far west to the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

"Seth is a stimulating and evocative companion. FROM HEAVEN LAKE is a travel book to put alongside those of Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)

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The Forgotten Few

Here is the story of the men who flew

Best Histories of WWII Still Being Written

The most accurate book on the subject

The best book written on the subject - ever!!!!

Fortress Against the Sun: The B-17 Flying Fortress in the Pacific
Gene Eric Salecker
Manufacturer: Da Capo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Pacific War (Combat Aircraft)

December 8, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor (Texas A&M University Military History Series, 87.)

With the Fifth Army Air Force: Photos from the Pacific Theater

Flying buccaneers: The illustrated story of Kenney's Fifth Air Force

CLASH OF EAGLES: USAAF 8th Air Force Bombers Versus the Luftwaffe in World War II

ASIN: 1580970494

Book Description

Flying into Hawaii at the height of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the B-17 was in the war from the very start. Fighting from the Philippines to Australia, and from Hawaii to Guadalcanal, the B-17 played a significant role at Coral Sea, Midway and the Bismark Sea. It was one of America's most instrumental weapons against the onrushing Japanese tide.

Althought the B-17, the Flying Fortress, is one of the best loved and most recognized planes used in World War II, no other book has yet to describe in detail the extensive use of the B-17 in the Pacific. Fortress Against the Sun is the first book ever dedicated solely to the use of the Boeing B-17 in the Pacific.

Fortress Against the Sun not only tells the history of the plane in the Pacific theater, but of the men who flew her, fought in her, serviced her and lived with her. Drawing extensively from primary sources, including letters, diaries, postwar memoirs, government documents and squadron histories, the author weaves together the history of the operations and story of the men in the air and on the ground?the strategy and the tactics along with the mud, the rain, the heat and the insects.

Customer Reviews:

The Forgotten Few.......2002-05-10

Gene Salecker has written an action-filled account of B-17 operations in the Pacific. Unlike their more famous counterparts in Europe, this was a rag-tag war. More B-17s were lost in one-day missions in Europe than were operational any day in the entire Pacific Theatre. What makes this book particularly engaging is the support of first-hand accounts from diaries or interviews. Nearly every event is enlivened with recollections and personal anecdotes. Some elements of the story benefit from research into Japanese records as well. A weakness, however, is that many of the personal recollections are obviously exaggerated. Countless times crews return with overly enthusiastic accounts of enemy fighters shot down or shipping destroyed. High level bombing of ships at sea was a total failure. General Kenney ordered skip bombing and low level tactics in New Guinea, which improved results, while the Espiritu Santo crews continued dumping bombs in the ocean. Army Air Force B-17 crews claimed three carriers sunk at the Battle of Midway. Salecker clarifies such obvious errors but lets other recollections stand. (I wonder if the exaggerated reports from the Pacific reinforced 8th Air Force planning to send unescorted bombers over Europe.) The author offers scant information on Japanese units, their leaders, or their personal accounts. The contrast with European operations is stunning. From the early defeats in the Philippines and Java to the shoestring existence in Australia, maximum effort missions were lucky to involve six or ten aircraft. Crews lived in makeshift accommodations with swarms of insects, disease, poor food, and lack of spare parts. They battled furious tropical storms as much as the enemy and flew incredibly hazardous missions, often at night. Their planes were battle-worn and flew without fighter protection. Even when replacement aircraft dribbled in, the 21,000 mile journey through Africa and India from the US meant they arrived in need of overhaul. So few were the planes, the author uses tail numbers, 41-2616, to identify aircraft and an appendix lists the fate of each one. We get to know these crews and their bombers quite well and are saddened at losses, such as when Major Sewart is riddled with machine gun fire, or other familiar crews lost. These guys were military before Pearl Harbor was attacked and few survived. Salecker does a nice job of balancing the complex stories of the Solomon Islands and New Guinea campaigns. By mid-1943, B-17s were phased out in favor of the longer range B-24s and, eventually, B-29s. But the desperate, early days in the Pacific are recounted here. Congratulations to the author for giving this overlooked story, and these gallant, overlooked men, the attention they deserve.

Here is the story of the men who flew.......2001-05-21

Gene Salecker's Fortress Against The Sun: The B-17 Flying Fortress In The Pacific tells the war-time history of one of the most significant American aircraft to be flown in the Pacific Theater. Here also is the story of the men who flew it, fought the Japanese in it, serviced it, and lived their lives around it. Author Gene Salecker draws upon extensive primary sources for his engaging and informative narrative, including letters, diaries, postwar memoirs, government documents, and squadron histories. Fortress Against The Sun is a superbly researched, exceptionally well written and informatively presented addition to any personal, academic, or community library military history collection.

Best Histories of WWII Still Being Written.......2001-05-02

My father served as a B-17 pilot with the renowned 435th "Kangaroo" Squadron of the 19th Bombardment Group. I have read every account available of B-17 operations in the Pacific. Gene Eric Salecker's "Fortress Against the Sun" is the most definitive and comprehensive account of the desperate early days of the air war against Imperial Japan since "They Fought With What They Had". Salecker makes extensive use of veteran interviews. His book is chock-full of new material, proving, once again, that the best histories of World War Two are still being written. I give it five stars without reservation.

The most accurate book on the subject.......2001-03-27

I have been waiting for years for a book with this type of detail and accuracy. My father served with the 43rd BG in the South Pacific and this book put me with him during his combat missions in his B-17. This book is a MUST for any relative of someone who served with the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific.

The best book written on the subject - ever!!!!.......2001-03-08

Gene Salecker has compiled perhaps the most comprehensive story of the B-17, and the men who fought in them, during the early years of WWII in the pacific theater. A long overlooked area of history, this book covers every aspect of the B-17 in the pacific, from Pearl Harbor and the Phillippines, to the later island hopping when the B-17 was replaced with the B-24. Included are storys and interviews with the men who flew the combat missions, as well as Japanese counterparts, detailed times and dates of events, and a complete serial list of all B-17's that served in the Pacific Theater. This book dominates all other books on the subject, and will probably never be topped. Great job Gene!!!!

Book Description

American power today is without historical precedent, dominating the world system. No other nation has enjoyed such formidable advantages in military, economic, technological, cultural, and political capabilities. How stable is this unipolar American order? Will the age-old dynamic of the balance of power reemerge as the other great powers rise up to challenge American preeminence? America Unrivaled examines these questions. The experts in this volume contend that full-scale balancing in this new world order has not yet occurred. They ask if a backlash against American dominance is just around the corner, or if characteristics of the current situation alter or eliminate the entire logic of power balancing.

American power poses threats, as do the likely responses to that power, the experts argue in America Unrivaled. The definition of these threats is critical to understanding future political trends and learning whether an original (and stable) world system has already come into existence. Most of the contributors agree that novel features of the American hegemony and the wider global order make an automatic return to a traditional balance of power order unlikely.

Customer Reviews:

The Unipolar Moment?.......2003-06-16

This collection of essays seeks to explain why, despite its overwhelming power, the world has not balanced against the United States. Several well-noted authors give varying answers. The first essay, appropriately enough, is written by the founder of Structural Realism, Kenneth Waltz. Waltz answer is simply that the world will eventually balance against American power, and in fact has started to do so already. Waltz explains that in an anarchic system,"overwhelming power repels, and leads others to balance against it." Furthermore, Waltz sees Unipolarity as unstable, as the hegemon may be tempted to overexpand. Waltz concludes that the unipolar moment is exactly that, a brief time in history that will be over the blink of an eye. But Waltz made much the same case in 1993. The world has not yet balanced against the US, and history has yet to prove him right. Taking the opposite approach, William C. Wohlforth argues that the current unipolar system is actually very stable. This is so due to several factors. First, Wohlforth notes that balancing is very difficult to successfully execute. Also, unlike previous hegemons, America's power is so great that it crosses the threshold where balancing against it becomes impossible. Also unlike previous hegemons, the US is not located geographically nearby the other powers. Therefore, it does not directly threaten most states as much as their neighbors do. It is therefore better for states to rely on the US for protection from its own neighbors, than to balance against America. Wohlforth thus sees a continuation of the peaceful relations that have existed since the end of the Cold War. These two essays are most likely the ones that will receive the most attention since they predict future events based on structure. But somewhat dissapointingly, neither addresses the argument made by John Mearsheimer in his book that other states will not necessarily balance against the United States itself, but against the United States in their respective regions. Mearsheimer, unlike Wohlforth, does not see the system as global but regional. Therefore China will balance against US power in the Far East, not against global US power and interests. Mearsheimers's argument fall somewhere between Waltz and Wohlforth. Its a shame neither one addresses it.

The other articles in this book are more policy-oriented. Charles Kupchan claims that it will be very hard to sustain domestic support in America for the resources necessary to maintain unipolarity. He also believes the EU to be much farther along the road to unity than most realize, and he sees a balance of power between the US and EU in the future. Stephen Walt, advancing his balance of threat hypothesis, urges American policymakers to act and speak in a restrained manner, which will convince the world that the US does not have aggressive designs. Josef Joffe praises the US policy of overlapping alliances as a copy of Bismark's hub and spoke system, which he believes will serve to create a peaceful world, due to America's overwhelming capabilities. There are also some non-realist authors who make the case for other variables. John Ikenberry advances the importance of international institutions in creating a peaceful world, arguing that the "Western order has a structure of institutions and open polities that bind states together, thereby mitigating the implications of power assymetries and reducing the possibilities of the United States to abandon or dominate other states." Ikenberry argues that insitutions have a life of their own and make it difficult for states to do other than what the institutions specify. Its not a new theory, and realist critiques will most likely be the same: Instiutions do what states want them to do, not vice-versa. Although there are no realist critiques of the Ikenberry piece in this volume, it is hard to imagine any realist worth his weight in salt arguing otherwise.

Book Description

Walter J. Hickel, former Secretary of the Interior and twice Governor of Alaska, describes in fascinating detail how Alaska faced the crisis in the commons and created a solution that could transform how we live on the planet.

Customer Reviews:

Textbook for the Future.......2002-05-15

Imagine a world where humankind is considered part of the environment and our elected leaders consider the needs of the commons when making decisions. Imagine a world where neither unbridled communism or capitalism reign. This is the world described in Wally Hickel's new book, "Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution."
If you haven't read this book yet, you should. It is a well-written lesson for every citizen of the planet. Even if you don't agree with all of his ideas, Wally Hickel's book will make you think about how we can co-exist with nature and how our potential as residents and stewards of the planet is limited only by our imagination.
The story he tells is a lesson in Alaska's battle for statehood and the world's struggle to find balance between bottom-line exploitation and lock-it-up environmentalism.
It is a story every student should read. Our youth need to understand the battles that were fought by some of Alaska's greatest leaders to win statehood. They need to learn about how the federal government has broken its promises to the people of Alaska. They need to read about how outside commercial interests have exploited Alaska's resources at the expense of Alaska's citizens and the environment. They need to learn about how the environmental movement is trying to lock up Alaska and take humans out of nature's equation.
Everyone should listen to his message of entitlement. He explains with refreshing clarity how the creation of Alaska's Permanent Fund has fostered an atmosphere of doubt, greed, and narrow-sightedness. And his theory that the Permanent Fund has stolen Alaska's pioneering spirit is worthy of consideration. As Alaska faces its current fiscal crisis, it would do every Alaskan good to understand that the Permanent Fund was established as a "rainy day account" and not as a giant trust fund.
Our local, state, and federal leaders would serve us well to read this book, debate its ideas and concepts, and consider the arguments. Perhaps then they would move beyond the rancor of political jousting and act in the best interests of Alaska, the nation and the world.
Wally Hickel's life has been one of challenges, victories, defeats, vision, leadership, and controversy. This book is the culmination of an amazing life. It brings into focus an idea that has been nurtured over 50 years - an idea from a man respected around the globe for his vision and straight forward manner.
"Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution" is a textbook - a textbook for the present and the future.

Don Stolworthy
Juneau, Alaska

A View from the Top.......2002-04-27

Walter J. Hickel's "Crisis in the Commons" is must reading for anyone interested in land use patterns and environmental issues. Hickel's analysis is truly a view from the top as he has shaped land use policy both as an advocate for Alaska statehood,as governor of Alaska, and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior under Richard Nixon.

Hickel takes the reader through his trials in negotiating a state land grant for Alaska in the 1958 statehood bill. We then move to the builidng of the trans-Alaska pipeline and later examine the issue of oil drilling in the Santa Barbara channel when Hickel was Secretary of the Interior. Hickel provides insightful analysis into various crises in the Nixon administration, including an account of his own firing.

The book is also a view from the top in its discussion of a new form of land ownership that has emerged in America's most northern state. Hickel calls this the "owner state." In Alaska the state, rather than the federal government or private individuals, owns a vast portion of land, including the Prudhoe Bay Oil field. Unlike earlier American states, Alaska's goal is not to place such land in private hands, but to develop it for the benefit of all the people of Alaska.

All readers may not agree with every policy that Hickel developed to "manage" the owner state. But there is no question that the "owner state" points to a new concept and vision of the public lands.

Finally the personality of Hickel, a fascinating state and national figure, comes through with vibrance in this volume. The reader will truly come to know Walter Hickel by reading "Crisis in the Commons."

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