The Soul Unearthed: Celebrating Wildness and Spiritual Renewal Through Nature

The Soul Unearthed: Celebrating Wildness and Spiritual Renewal Through Nature
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Some wonderful nature writing here

Some wonderful nature writing here

The Soul Unearthed: Celebrating Wildness and Spiritual Renewal Through Nature
Cass Adams
Manufacturer: Sentient Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Human Geography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Spiritualism | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Nature Writing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0971078637

Book Description

This unusual and inspiring collection of 70+ stories, essays, poems, and interviews revolves around the central theme of how wilderness affects us spiritually. Through their experience of nature in its most basic form, the notable contributors (Robert Bly, Maxine Kumin, Terry Tempest Williams, and more) confront their relationship to themselves; to planet Earth, and all its inhabitants; and to the divine.

It is within the sanctuary of the wilderness, far from their computer screens and local espresso vendors, that these highly acclaimed writers find their strongest voice. As a result, these vivid stories of encounters with animals, wretched weather, fear, humility, and ultimately, spirit are gritty and as down to earth as it gets. New material from David Whyte, Gary Snyder, Wendell Berry, Nancy Wood, Deena Metzger, Laura Carithers, and Howard Nelson add an additional ten pages to this second edition.

Customer Reviews:

Some wonderful nature writing here.......2003-03-20

This book will make you want to get out into the places beyond the artifacts of civilization and spend some time in the beauty and quiet. Some of our best poets (Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder) and writers (Robert Bly, Matthew Fox, Terry Tempest Williams) tell us eloquently why they go to the wilderness to be closer to themselves and their God. Inspiring!

Some wonderful nature writing here.......2003-03-20

The Soul Unearthed (New Consciousness Reader)

Average customer rating:

Engrossing, compelling, a "must-read"
Shaping consciousness for a new world-view

The Soul Unearthed (New Consciousness Reader)
Cass Adams
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Alternative Medicine | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Human Geography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Nature Writing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0874778387

Amazon.com

The call of the wild might just be the calling of our soul. A new anthology of nature writers and poets explore this possibility in The Soul Unearthed: Celebrating Wildness and Personal Renewal Through Nature. It is within the sanctuary of the wilderness, far from their computer screens and local espresso vendors, that these highly acclaimed writers find their strongest voice. As a result, the writing is as gritty and down-to-earth as it gets--vivid stories of encounters with animals, wretched weather, fear, humility, and, ultimately, with spirit.

Customer Reviews:

Engrossing, compelling, a "must-read".......1999-03-10

I love this book. It's all about the link between ourselves and nature. I find its well-crafted essays deeply inspiring and eye-opening. Read this book and go on a wilderness trip in your armchair.

Shaping consciousness for a new world-view.......1999-01-31

This is a selection of reactions to the encounter of self and wilderness by contemporary (living) writers, poets, educators, philosophers, theologians, boatmen, healers, and a hunter (Ted Kerasote). As a hunter I review it. There's no dearth of intelligence here, of reflection, of solid writing and even the occasional glint of humor, as in Doug Elliot's "Night of the Living Skunk" or Heilig's "A Walk with the King." The book stands at the beginning of an axiological recovery effort. If you look at Daniel Quinn's "The Story of B," you are presented with the philosophical underpinnings of an ecologically-based discontent, an alienation, a dissatisfaction with the place we've reached after 15Ky of totalitarian agriculture, property rights, scientific nature-penetration, and human-centered, gods-replacing decisions. Quinn sees the birth of a paradigm, a world-order, but he sees few details, he offers very little prescience about what's going to have to arise. I see most of the selections in this book as first efforts toward roughing out that new order. The writers are joining a conversation, debate, or exploration of the shape of what must come if we are to be here to see it. Thus a lot of this book is centrifugal. Strength/weakness: you don't get a lot of unmediated experience here: Judith Minty's dense and disturbing short-story "Killing the Bear" with its foiled-rape suggestions, Ted Kerasote's tale of killing a female elk from Bloodties, a couple of anecdotes from Rod Nash. What you do get is intellection, a kind of centrifugal direction of the prose. Time and again, writers in this anthology start with an incident, and mediate it through quotations from Thoreau, Muir, van der Post, Abbey, Lopez or Roszak. When these writers experience, they describe first, but then almost gratefully retreat into opening the intellect, the collective intellect of 19-20th century nature writers; they enter the great conversation about wilderness as soon as they want to understand. So a lot of these writings start in immersion, and abstract themselves a little nervously into thought. It's a lion, but somehow not really a lion until van der Post and Barry Lopez get cited about lions and the reverence-fear for lions. Or maybe it's too real as a lion until we raise the wordscreen. Again, weakness/strength, mine as well as some of the writers: even when pleased or delighted by a selection, I found myself muttering "Thus I refute Berkeley" and thinking about gutting a moose.

The Soul Unearthed - Celebrating Wilderness And Personal Renewal Through Nature

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The Soul Unearthed - Celebrating Wilderness And Personal Renewal Through Nature
Cass - Editor Adams
Manufacturer: Jeremey Tarcher/G. P. Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IX3TWA

The Soul Unearthed : Celebrating Wildness and Personal Renewal Through Nature (New Consciousness Reader Ser.)

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The Soul Unearthed : Celebrating Wildness and Personal Renewal Through Nature (New Consciousness Reader Ser.)
Cass (editor) Adams
Manufacturer: Putnam Publishing Group, The
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KPNRHI

Revisions of and additions to Indian fungi (Mycological papers, no. l6, 18,40)
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Revisions of and additions to Indian fungi (Mycological papers, no. l6, 18,40)
Bhalchendra Bhavanishanker Mundkur
Manufacturer: Imperial Mycological Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Fungi | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007IUTCO

Book Description

A unique guide that combines Europe's most celebrated capitals. With travel details on moving between the two cities, entertaining and informative commentary on their most famous--and not so famous--sights and attractions and tips on exploring the most interesting areas and quarters, this is the perfect short-break guide.

Amazon.com

The sassy title tells readers right away that this book is NOT like one of those hideous books where the mother dies, even if fifteen-year-old Ruby's mom has recently succumbed to cancer. Sonya Sones has made a reputation for engrossing and emotionally valid verse novels with her two previous books, Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy and What My Mother Doesn't Know, and here she has the good sense to avoid the platitudes of the tearjerker, focusing not on the melodrama of death but on the grieving process of a feisty teen--sometimes even with humor.

Ruby has turned her grief into anger at her father: because he divorced her mother before she was born, because she has had to leave her best friend Lizzie and her boyfriend Ray to come to Los Angeles to live with him, and because he is Whip Logan, a very famous and rich movie star. She turns a cold shoulder to all his gentle and persistent attempts to relate to her, sneers at the glamour of his Beverly Hills mansion and famous friends, and spends most of her time writing desperate emails to Lizzie and Ray, and her dead mother, from her Dream Bedroom. The friendship of Max, Whip's live-in assistant/personal trainer, is some comfort, and Ruby has a harder and harder time keeping her sneer as Whip ups the ante, from rides in his classic vintage cars, to shopping trips for anything she wants, to weekends in Las Vegas and Catalina and a party where Eminem is the guest of honor. But an earthquake leads to a surprising revelation that changes everything for Ruby, in an enormously satisfying ending. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

Book Description

My name is Ruby.

This book is about me.

It tells the deeply hideous story

of what happens when my mother dies

and I'm dragged three thousand miles away

from my gorgeous boyfriend, Ray,

to live in L.A. with my father,

who I've never even met

because he's such a scumbag that he

divorced my mom before I was born.

The only way I've ever even seen him

is in the movies,

since he's this megafamous actor

who's been way too busy

trying to win Oscars

to even visit me once in fifteen years.

Everyone loves my father.

Everyone but me.

Customer Reviews:

One of those wonderful books you re-read many times.......2007-10-09

There have been very few books that I read more than once. Yesterday, I read One of those Hideous Books, etc. Today, I read it again. I don't expect that to be the last time.

What can I add to the positive reviews? Nothing, really. If you have an open heart, you will probably love this book.

Well-Versed Formula.......2007-08-08

Formula: Write your novel in verse on pages with lots of open, white space, so that your book reads quickly. Have an engaging, first-person point of view (15-year-old Ruby, let's call her). Give it a catchy title (makes up for its length). Spice it with themes of death (Mom) and divorce (Dad, whom Ruby must now live with). Clash east coast (Ruby, from Boston) with left coast (Dad, named "Whip" Logan, from LA). Add beautiful people (kids of Lakewood High School) and famous movie stars (all of Whip's neighbors and friends). For dessert, throw in a little "gotcha" surprise at the end.

What Sonya Sones has cooked up here (and, no doubt, in her other books) is a sure-fire winner for middle and high school-aged girls. If the girl is a reluctant reader, all the better, but avid readers will embrace it, too, as a sinfully delicious guilty pleasure. Ruby's voice is THAT winning. Ruby does her best to hold on to her Massachusetts best friend, Liz, as well as her old boyfriend, Ray, but you know how that goes. She also goes through the usual turmoil, anger, stubbornness, that awaits any kid foisted on the parent who left her long ago. Poor Whip will have to pay for his past transgressions, no matter HOW much money he has (oh, he's a famous movie star, too).

Slow to make friends with the weird stereotypes floating around La-La Land High, Ruby at least can identify with Whip's "personal trainer," Max, who befriends her and becomes a lifesaver as she goes through some choppy seas between getting to know Dad and trying to fit in at the new high school.

As for the style, well, most of the "verse" is just paragraphs redesigned into lines and stanzas but, credit where it's due, Sones DOES come up with some poetic language and surely knows her stuff when it comes to how a teenage girl thinks. Funny, quick, and even a little sad at times (like when Ruby e-mails her poor, dead mother for advice and succor), ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES scores a 4 with me but no doubt a 5 from its target audience (so the heck with me!) because this author knows of whom (and for whom) she writes. All young girls should check out a Sonya Sones book -- they might just end up checking out every Sonya Sones book they can find.

Funny, Great Novel for the Beach.......2007-08-05

This novel is about a teenager who meets her father for the first time ever since her mother dies. Turns out her father is a super popstar! The idea of the novel is simple, not original really, but written in an easy, clever way to keep you turning the pages. It is a QUICK, fun read, so give it a taste. The ending will give you a smile.

A story to touch your heart and your funny bone........2007-07-02

When Ruby's mother dies, she flies across the U. S. to live with her movie star, scumbag father, who she's never met and who left her mother before Ruby was born. She leaves behind her best friend, Lizzie, and her boyfriend, Ray. She misses her mother, but Ruby's quirky sense of humor and her attitude keep this from being a sad story. Look for a lot of surprises along the way. A great read about a spunky girl who discovers that people are not always what they seem.
Listen to the Ghost
Secrets I Have Kept

Doesn't live up to the title.......2007-06-20

One of the best titles ever, too bad the book doesn't live up to it. The short poem-like chapters this books is written in are perfect for short attention spans and the book reads very quickly. The situation with the mother dying, the girl being separated from best friend and boy friend and going to live with mysterious father are good. I had trouble believing the whole Hollywood star father. If he made so many schlock movies where did the Oscar come from? I saw almost every twist a mile down the road. Don't people in LA bolt the bookcases to the wall? I have enjoyed other books written in poem form, but these seem particularly shallow. The novel True Believe is especially good. Read this book if you must, but I think there are better ones that you would enjoy more.

Book Description

Earlier, we edited a well received series on "Somatic embryogenesis in woody trees", volumes 1 to 6. These volumes provided readers detailed extensive reviews on somatic embryogenesis of important angiosperm and gymnosperm tree species; an excellent source of information for newcomers or those already engaged in research. However, these book volumes did not cover stepwise "detailed protocols" for inducing somatic embryogenesis. This book contains 46 chapters, divided into 4 sections : A) 12 chapters on conifers, B) 14 chapters on fruits, C) 14 chapters on angiosperms, and D) 6 chapters on histology, bioencapsulation, protoplasts, cryopreservation, double staining and thin cell layer sectioning. The book provides stepwise protocols for somatic embryogenesis of a range of selected woody plants in order to assist researchers to initiate somatic embryogenic cultures without too much alteration in protocols. Each chapter provides information on initiation and maintenance of embryogenic cultures; somatic embryo development, maturation, and germination; acclimatization and field transfer of somatic seedlings. Some chapters include applications of somatic embryogenic cultures, e.g. protoplasts, encapsulation, cryopreservation, genetic transformation, genetic fidelity with molecular markers, and bioreactor.

Protocol for somatic embryogenesis in woody plants

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Protocol for somatic embryogenesis in woody plants
S. Mohan Jain
Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MHE8GI

Average customer rating:

Protocol for Somatic Embryogenesis in Woody Plants
S. Mohan (EDT)/ Gupta, Pramod K. (EDT) Jain
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N6EY1C

Book Description

"This collection shows that women have seen themselves as aggressive and receptive lovers, as well as philosophically sexual and loving partners, since the beginning of recorded history."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Here is the first collection of female erotic writing through the ages, and the first to reveal the form's amazing scope--as multifaceted as the sexuality of women themselves. EROTICA reveals the history of women's erotic writing and reexamines the literary expression of female sexuality. Included in this unique anthology are: Kathy Acker, Jane Austen, Anne Boleyn, Kate Copin, H.D., Radclyffe Hall, Edna O'Brien, Vita Sackville-West, Stevie Smith, Marina Tsvetayeva, Virginia Woolf, and many others.

Customer Reviews:

Multi-faceted erotica by women for... women?.......1999-06-29

As a heterosexual but experimental woman, I hoped to find in "Erotica" sexual writing for a variety of tastes. However, what I actually found was an overwhelming tendency toward lesbian eroticism. Regardless, the writing was interesting, erotic, and broad-based, though the modern writers emphasized more homosexuality than heterosexuality. Overall, the book is a great introduction to feminine erotica, and empowering to those women who feel timid about their sexuality.

Erotica: Women's Writing From Sappho to Margaret Atwood

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Erotica: Women's Writing From Sappho to Margaret Atwood

Manufacturer: Fawcett Columbine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KK2RHO

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Erotica: Women's Writing from Sappho to Margaret Atwood
Margaret Reynolds
Manufacturer: Fawcett Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RBZ6AG

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Erotica: Women's Writing From Sappho to Margaret Atwood

Manufacturer: Fawcett Columbine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GX6NK2

The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own
Average customer rating:

Don't Trust This Bush!

Entertaining like a public drunk is entertaining

She's here. She's loud. Get used to it.

Honest and Witty

Brilliant and Bold

The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own
Periel Aschenbrand
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Not Proud: A Smorgasbord of Shame

ASIN: B000FFJSOE

Book Description

Periel Aschenbrand loathes Internet dating, Republicans, TV, junk food, and stockbrokers. She is twenty-eight years old, lives in New York and Los Angeles, accessorizes Dolce & Gabbana with a "F*ck Bush" necklace, and wakes up every morning to a double espresso with a "splash" of 2% milk. Predictable and pretentious, right? Wrong.

Periel Aschenbrand is also best friends with a Mormon, waits tables in Spanish Harlem, flirts with New York City cops, enjoys a good lap dance, gets revenge on snotty salespeople in an unconventional manner, and stayed in constant cell phone communication with her mother while protesting in her underwear at the Republican National Convention. "Are you provoking any policemen? You could be put in jail and get physically hurt by crack addicts who would see you as bait."

In a refreshing nonfiction debut that's never sanitized or slick, Periel delivers raunchy and hilarious truths about sex, politics, and how best to inspire the youth of America.

Customer Reviews:

Don't Trust This Bush!.......2007-01-03

I would love to know who recommended this to me so I never listen to her again! It was awful! Too bad there isn't a 0-star rating available!

Entertaining like a public drunk is entertaining.......2006-10-30

The interesting title made me want to read it. I got exactly what I expected. I laughed alot because Periel is a liberal, angry, and self-righteous feminist who decided the world should hear what she thinks. Well good for her. I could have stopped reading but I didn't because the book is interesting. It's interesting to have a one-sided conversation with a person who is a liberal, angry, and self-righteous feminist about how she created an anti-Bush t-shirt and sold a few of them to fellow feminists. She writes like she talks, simple and conversational. It's just a little book from a girl who wants to express her views and make some people mad in the process. Almost like an extended blog or short story by a person that isn't a typical stereotypical American woman.

She's here. She's loud. Get used to it........2006-09-19

Ashchenbrand is probably most well known for her venture 'body as billboard', a range of political t-shirts that are outspoken to say the least. Hence the title of the book.

Granted this book is not going to be to everyone's taste but I think it's one of the most hysterical and passionate books I've read in a long time. Aschenbrand is just like the ultra-cool kid at school that you always wanted to hang out with.

Subtle, she is not.

'So maybe I am Mussolini. So what.'

'Being committed to something simply becasue you are or becasue you've been told to be is moronic.'

I have to say that I didn't agree with everything she said (I doubt that she'd care!) and I don't think it matters. It's so refreshing to read an intelligent book by someone who is so completely unapologetic.

Take a whirlwind tour round her thoughts of religion, periods and a brilliant episode that involves a bruised haemorrhoid, and a conversation in a book shop that made me cry with laughter.

Deeply offensive. Thoroughly brilliant. Too cool for school.
Highly recommended.

Honest and Witty.......2006-05-31

I honestly could not put this book down the moment I started reading it. The way the book is structured is completely different from most books, making it that much more interesting to read.

It's filled with clever remarks and witty comments from everything to religion to gay men. All these random events end up tying her to her present day project, "bodyasbillboard" and it's too funny of a book to pass up.

I definitely recommend this book for others to read. But if swear words and sexual thoughts disgust you, then I suggest you find another book.

Brilliant and Bold .......2006-03-27

Peril Aschenbrand's novel, "The Only Bush I Trust is My Own" is witty, thought provoking, and clever. She explores the explicit world of the taboo while expertly ranting about everything from sex and four-letter words to politics and what it means to be a true self-loving Jewish lesbian. Upon first examination of the novel I determined that Achenbrand was childish, lacking in substance, and desperately needing to expand her foul vocabulary. But after further examination I found Aschenbrand to be quite endearing; she is a rebel with a cause. Peril Aschenbrand is everything one could hope for: a snippy women's rights activist, a political theorist, and a comedian in her own right. Like a scrumptious dessert you will eat this novel without remorse.

The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own (SIGNED)

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The Only Bush I Trust Is My Own (SIGNED)
Periel Achenbrand
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MLB7OK

Book Description

Following the disastrous defeats at Jena and Auerstadt by Napoleon in 1806, the Prussian armed forces were forced to regroup, and radical changes were instigated in all areas.
The fighting spirit and ability of the infantry remained consistently high throughout this period, from the dark days of Jena, through the Wars of Liberation and on to victory under Marshal Blücher's command at Waterloo. This title follows a typical Prussian line infantryman through recruitment, training, the routines of daily life and duties, to experiences on campaign and in battle, in this decisive and dynamic period.

Customer Reviews:

You can't find this information anywhere else..........2004-04-07

This book fills in a huge gap in available material in English regarding Prussian Napoleonic Infantry. The book includes excellent photos, and graphics (both of the period and of re-enactors in the field) the author includes many contemporary eyewitness accounts that provide additional "color" to enhance his factual information. The author avoids the overused typical "Waterloo" related information and goes deeper into source material for the 1808-1815 period. Oliver Schmidt holds to the theme of the series in describing the "experience" of the individual soldier. Why did he enlist? How was he equipped? What was typical of the leadership, motivation? etc. All German language terms are left in the text where they are needed. Highly recommended for anyone studying the period.

Paradise Poisoned: Learning About Conflict, Terrorism and Development from Sri Lanka's Civil Wars
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Challenging Conventional Wisdom

What Went Wrong in Sri Lanka?

Paradise Poisoned: Learning About Conflict, Terrorism and Development from Sri Lanka's Civil Wars
John Richardson
Manufacturer: International Centre for Ethnic Studies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
Sri Lanka | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Relations | International | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Sri Lankan Ethnic Crisis: Towards a Resolution

When Memory Dies

ASIN: 9555800944

Book Description

Could actions have been taken prior to September 11 th to prevent the formation of a strong and resilient al Qaeda ? Might alternative development policies have prevented the World Trade Center attacks and forestalled the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq? Paradise Poisoned draws crucial lessons from Sri Lanka's civil wars to demonstrate that violent conflict and terrorism are both predictable and preventable .

John Richardson's study - carried out over nearly twenty years - employs rigorous political and economic analysis and a multi-disciplinary engagement of the systemic linkages between development, governance, and civil conflict. The author - a noted development professor and practitioner, applied systems theorist, and South Asian scholar - traces ten development failures that spawned conflict and terrorism in Sri Lanka, and he proposes a comprehensive prevention strategy summarised in ten key imperatives.

Thus, while contextually rich in its examination of Sri Lankan political history, the policy relevance of Paradise Poisoned extends also to cases like Kosovo, Kashmir, Palestine, Sudan, Afghanistan and now, in particular, Iraq.

Of special utility are 3 policy leverage points discussed at length by Richardson: meeting the needs and expectations of young men, increasing police effectiveness, and prioritizing business community involvement.

Political leaders often say they 'had no choice' when implementing policies such as the US invasion of Iraq or earlier Sri Lankan government interventions, yet this is rarely true. Multiple choices are usually available, and the longer the time horizon, the greater the range of choices. Paradise Poisoned demonstrates that deadly conflict and terrorism are both predictable and preventable.

Customer Reviews:

Challenging Conventional Wisdom.......2005-08-18

John Richardson's *Paradise Poisoned* is an important, timely, and groundbreaking book. The product of more than 18 years of work, it is a carefully researched account of Sri Lanka's fall from a beautiful island paradise and international development "success story", to a headline-grabbing example of a nation torn apart by terrorism and deadly civil conflict.

Drawing both on an innovative methodology and his long-standing work in the fields of international development and conflict, Professor Richardson demonstrates how Sri Lanka's tragic story clearly exposes a world-wide issue that has long been hiding in plain sight--that international development programs, conflict, and terrorism are intimately linked, and often in very negative ways. This is obviously a highly important and policy-relevant finding that is rarely discussed or analyzed in a rigorous manner--the only other book I can recall is Peter Uvin's work on Rwanda (Aiding Violence, 1998). Other important authors, like Mary Anderson (Do No Harm, 1999) offer valuable advice to practitioners on how to reduce conflict in the field, but Richardson and Uvin's more structural analyses expose how contemporary international development policies, put in place by well-meaning leaders and the international community, can be a factor that leads to deadly conflict in the first place.

The book has many lessons, but for me the most important is this profound critique of contemporary development wisdom, and Richardson's carefully documented case study makes it impossible to ignore his findings, or write them off as a simplistic superficial analysis based on preconceived conclusions. Quite the contrary, Richardson's approach is highly sophisticated, and his innovative systems methodology enables him to clarify how deadly conflict arises not from a single cause, but from a complex interaction of a number of critical factors that, acting together, help to explain the fall of Sri Lanka from apparent success to disastrous failure.

The practical policy lessons to be drawn are many, and reach well beyond the Sri Lanka case. Perhaps the most important lesson is that development policies need to be examined with an additional lens that clarifies the ways in which well-intended programs can exacerbate this complex set of factors that undo the development goals and lead to violent and persistent conflict and terrorism. Professor Richardson's useful book goes a long way in this direction by pointing out some of the most critical reference points for this new perspective. It is essential reading, both as a cautionary tale, and as an important source for anyone concerned with discovering specific ways to improve international development policy and reduce global violence.

Steven Arnold, University of Washington (formerly Director, International Development Program, American University)

What Went Wrong in Sri Lanka?.......2005-08-09

John Richardson's *Paradise Poisoned* is far and away the most comprehensive study of civil violence in Sri Lanka ever undertaken. In its narrative sweep, mastery of detail, conceptual acuity and analytic range, it will never be surpassed. Indeed, no other study of civil violence anywhere rivals Richardson's in these several respects.

For those of us who have seen Sri Lanka from the inside, Richardson's large claim is beyond challenge: the country's descent into violence had no single overriding cause. Richardson assembled vast amounts of data (helpfully displayed in innumerable graphs and tables) on every conceivable contributing cause. His background in the analysis of dynamic systems gave him the best imaginable tools for mapping tangled developments over many decades. His conclusions are always compelling, strikingly so when he catalogs the beneficiaries of violent conflict.

One by one, the ten imperatives Richardson puts forward for preventing civil violence in developing societies may seem like common sense. His exhaustive, fully integrated study of the Sri Lankan experience massively substantiates every one of them. Taken together and taken seriously, they are represent our best chance for a better, safer world.

Nicholas Onuf
Professor Emeritus
Florida International University

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