The Eatons: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Royal Family

Customer Reviews:

GREAT BOOK!.......2002-06-02

So many people have such wonderful memories of this great store and of this great family. Others have not so fond memories. Either way, people who knew of the famous Canadian Retail Giant, no matter how they remember Eaton's will likely find something of interest in this book.
The Eaton's: The Rise and Fall of Canada's Royal Family chronicles the story of Eaton's from successful beginning, to tragic end, focusing mainly on what the private, and yet public family was like.
To Americans, this book will really give a story of Canada's own enormously wealthy family, and how they lived. We aren't just a country full of beavers and "EH"'s.
If you know nothing about this amazing store and family, or you know much, but want to learn more, this Great Book is definetely a must have.

'Are You Being Served?'.......2000-06-02

A few years ago, the wonderful British comedy `Are You Being Served' on Public Television portrayed a delightful group of store clerks and supervisors in a parody -- some might say a documentary -- of a traditional London department store.

At `Grace Brothers' the counter clerks were superb, the floor walker was properly pompous but utterly decent, the supervisors clueless and the store owners were totally befuddled but always wonderful. It was fiction, it was funny. Had been set in Canada, it would have been `The Eaton's.'

Instead, this superb book is available. It bears out Marx's observation that all history appears twice, "the first time as tragedy, the second as farce." McQueen has written the tragedy, hopefully some clever Canadian comedian is now writing the comedy.

So, what does a Canadian book about an unknown department store offer American readers? It's the painful story of how a family can totally ruin a revered national institution through their own hubris, arrogance, indifference and plain ignorance. I've seen it happen in some businesses within two generations; the Eaton family was more typical in that it took four generations.

The lesson is that times change. In 1870, when Eaton's was just starting, store goods were sometimes expensive, shoddy and unsuitable and unreliable. Timothy Eaton realized the most important guarantee for a customer was five words, "Goods satisfactory or money refunded." Today, most consumer goods have consistent quality, guarantees are almost automatic and customers look for something different -- price.

It's why Wal-Mart succeeds; its stores are big charmless boxes with indifferent clerks and mass anonymity. But the attraction is a reputation for low prices. It's why Amazon dot com succeeds; the Internet makes it possible to combine low prices with superb service. The four Eaton brothers who ran the chain -- which once had almost 60 percent of Canada's department store sales -- were oblivious to change. They committed the worst sin in business, instead of adapting "they did as Daddy did." The title for the musical comedy of this story will be "How to Go Bankrupt Without Really Trying."

Sure, other stores collapse. Where's Woolworth's these days? Look at Sears. Add up the J.C. Penney balance sheet. In Arizona, the Goldwater stores that funded the political career of Barry Goldwater vanished. This book details, sometimes with agonizing reality, why even a national institution can be reduced to irrelevancy.

One example may suffice. Some years ago, Eaton's stocked a particular item that invariably sold out within days. To solve the problem, the item was dropped because they couldn't keep it on the shelves. Wal-Mart would have ordered more and put it on sale to attract customers; Eaton's was embarrassed by empty shelves. Add up thousands of such petty mistakes by owners who ran Eaton's on the basis of offering customers what they should have instead of what they wanted, and you have the recipe for disaster. McQueen is unsparing in this portrait of self-indulgent arrogance.

Anyone who deals with customers will benefit if they read it on the basis, "Do we do that?" I've seen the Eaton attitude in a dozen or more family businesses, run by owners who have the emphasize "We've got the money to pay the bills" instead of responding to customers' wants. When anything replaces customer satisfaction, the business is headed for decline.

Eaton's did it, going from the most revered department store in Canada to bankruptcy within a generation. Anyone can do it if they follow Eaton's formula of elitist indifference to customers -- it's not patented. Many people will do it, even without reading this book. Some who want to avoid it will read this book. An old saying nicely expresses its value, "A smart person learns from his mistakes, a wise person learns from the mistakes of others."

A flawed but fascinating book.......2000-04-01

When I was very young I was with my mother and sister visiting relatives in a big city. One day I found myself sitting in a restaurant next to a young man, Nicolas, whose wealthy father, a friend of the family, had invited us to tea. The young man made no secret of his boredom, yawning widely and frequently. Searching for a topic that might lift his ennui, I asked him: "Do you drive a car?" He smirked and, holding up a couple of fingers, said: "No, I drive TWO cars."

That is the type of hubris Rod McQueen depicts in his book about the rise and fall of Eaton's, Canada's famous chain of department stores. The four brothers who ultimately presided over the store's demise were cut from the same cloth as that long-ago Nicolas.

McQueen's book excels at guiding the reader through the financial sleights of hand performed by the various companies owned by the Eatons while the store itself marched toward its relentless demise. The author does not draw an appealing portrait of the Eatons, and most people would not dispute this depiction. However, his contempt is so blatant it detracts from what should be a more balanced account. He chides Eaton's for being slow to hire French-speaking staff in Quebec, but I lived in Montreal during the 'sixties and I recall that their catalogue order takers spoke English with a thick francophone accent. McQueen correctly shows the family coping with financial woes through excessive staff cutbacks starting in the 'seventies, but he fails to mention that this was a national phenomenon of the day, and applied to The Bay and other large stores as well. Thus began the rise of the small boutique.

Finally, McQueen's thesis about the difficulties of retailing in Canada and of Eaton's in particular is often indisputable. Yet some unflattering latter day comparisons do not seem quite fair. He contrasts a failing Canadian mall in the small free-standing city of Sarnia, Ontario with a thriving one in Troy, Michigan. Troy, although smaller, is close to the large population of metropolitan Detroit. Also, McQueen does not address all the issues. Malls fail everywhere, and not just in Canada. Many American malls near the border depend on Canadian shoppers and they fell on hard times when Canada's dollar did.

The book is, however, well worth the read, especially as it tells the fascinating tale of the beginning of the business in Toronto that was launched by Timothy Eaton in 1869. Parts of the history could do with more fleshing out, yet despite his bias, McQueen does make his case about what happens when a store's owners stop minding the store.

Authors' mean spirited commentary hurts otherwise great book.......1999-01-06

To read the story of Eaton's is to read the history of Canada and Toronto in particular. What starts off as a well-researched and interesting story is increasingly hurt by the authors' obvious dislike of the family. (Whom he admits in the prologue did not want the book written) Still the book was interesting and filled with titbits that Canadians in particular will enjoy learning. The authors' synopsis that Eaton's failed because the family never took to the time to really understand retail could also have been applied to his own attempt to chronicle a business he never seems to have a grasp on.

Book Description

When deciding which athletes to profile, our editors take into account not only a player's statistics, but also his character. SPI takes care to select athletes who are known to be community minded and can serve as role models.

The biographical material on each athlete covers him from his earliest days to the present.

Customer Reviews:

A good read for children.......2004-01-14

This book may be dated, being that its time span ends in 1998, after Tony Gwynn's second World Series appearance, and that he would pass the 3,000-hit mark in 1999 and play his last major-league game in 1991. However, for a book aimed at a juvenile audience it is very well-written with a great attention to detail. This story about a modern-day athlete who, in addition to being one of baseball's greatest hitters (eight National League batting titles, tied for the record with Honus Wagner), has been an outstanding citizen and role model, is one that children, not only those who are sports fans, should read.

Hall calls Mr. Padre, courtesy of Mr. Dietz.(Sports)(Tony Gwynn's college coach, Jim Dietz, put the Padre icon on his path to Hall of Fame): An article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)

Average customer rating:

Hall calls Mr. Padre, courtesy of Mr. Dietz.(Sports)(Tony Gwynn's college coach, Jim Dietz, put the Padre icon on his path to Hall of Fame): An article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Gale Reference Team
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000UMN3Q6
Release Date: 2007-08-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by Thomson Gale on July 26, 2007. The length of the article is 746 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Hall calls Mr. Padre, courtesy of Mr. Dietz.(Sports)(Tony Gwynn's college coach, Jim Dietz, put the Padre icon on his path to Hall of Fame)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: July 26, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: D1

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Thanking San Diego's Other Mr. Baseball.(Larry Lucchino to retire from the San Diego Padres)(Brief Article): An article from: San Diego Business Journal

Average customer rating:

Thanking San Diego's Other Mr. Baseball.(Larry Lucchino to retire from the San Diego Padres)(Brief Article): An article from: San Diego Business Journal
Rick Bell
Manufacturer: CBJ, L.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Baseball | Sports | Subjects | Books

Sports | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from San Diego Business Journal, published by CBJ, L.P. on August 20, 2001. The length of the article is 514 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Thanking San Diego's Other Mr. Baseball.(Larry Lucchino to retire from the San Diego Padres)(Brief Article)
Author: Rick Bell
Publication: San Diego Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 20, 2001
Publisher: CBJ, L.P.
Volume: 22 Issue: 34 Page: 46

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This book brings together Satyajit Ray's major writings and talks on film making and film makers, and presents them in two sections. 'Our Films' is devoted mainly to his own experiences and contains many interesting anecdotes, but also has observations to offer on trends in Indian films. 'Their Films' deals with some films from abroad that have become landmarks in the history of the cinema from the silent era to the present day.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic Critical Writing From Satyajit Ray.......2006-09-16

The great Bengali filmmaker/writer/composer Satyajit Ray is one of my greatest heroes, so this will not be any kind of an objective review. So be it.

Ray's roots were in - among other things - film criticism; a background he shared with fellow filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard and Nagisa Oshima, and he never stopped being fascinated by film - it's potential, the theories surrounding process and technique, and even after launching his own filmmaking career (PATHER PANCHALI - a debut of similar stature to CITIZEN KANE or BREATHLESS) with quite a splash, Ray continued to view other films with both the analytical precision of a scholar, and a fan-like fascination retained from his own childhood and adolescence.

OUR FILMS, THEIR FILMS collects the best of Ray's critical writing (also including some diary excerpts and otherwise uncollected film musings), from the late 1940s until the mid 1960s, and is divided into writings on Indian (OUR FILMS) and international (THEIR FILM) cinema. Ray's enthusiasms and his critiques are both rendered with very sharp, eloquent precision; one will come away from this collection with a very strong impression of an extremely erudite and restless creative mind.

For me, there are many highlights here: Ray's writings on Italian film, starting with neo-realism, which offer a number of insights that depart from current critical consensus; with some of the more well-observed (if concise) commentary on Fellini, Antonioni, DeSica, Visconti and others, I would say that this essay is overdue for rediscovery by current cinephiles.

Ray's writings on Indian new wave are provocative, and one subject I would have liked to see a bit more of his opinions - Ray was central to, but not the only noteworthy figure in Bengali Parallel Cinema, and I'd have liked to see more on this.

The multiple essays on Japanese film are revelatory - Ray's friendship with Akira Kurosawa surfaces, and one can detect a similarity in worldview, in spite of their (seeming) stylistic differences. Ray follows a detailed piece on Kurosawa with another more generalized one on Japanese cinema, and one gets the distinct impresion that it (and certain specific figures: Ozu and Mizoguchi) made a powerful impression upon him in many ways - foremost as another great non-Western cinema that had emerged with distinct theories and techniques of its' own.

And Ray's writing on Jean Renoir, Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock comes alive with the complex joy of cinema, offereing the greatest explanation for why he (or anyone) would want to make films.

-David Alston

Welcome to Ray's World.......2002-03-31

Ray proves in this book(written over a period of twenty years starting from 1948) that he is equally at ease with his pen and he can touch people's mind with his amazing clarity of reasons and a definite mastery over the film medium.

As the name of the book suggests,in the first part ,i.e,in "Our Films", he talks about Indian films and related matters.
The essays here are on different topics ranging from the problems of traditional Indian Cinema to various facets of his work; from his analysis of a few "new wave" films by other contemporary Indian directors to the sights and sounds captured in his diary during the shooting of Aporajito(The Unvanquished)in Benares.

The second part, "Their Films" ,talks mostly about the films of Hollywood,Japan and Italy and Russia.Essays here are more captivating as they portray Ray's meetings with such greats as Renoir and Kurosawa and elaboration on few of their works.

Not to miss are the essays on Hitchcock's biography written by Trauffau,Chaplin's autobiography and a tribute to great John Ford and one on Italian neo-realistic genre.

Ray is completely successful in sharing his love for simple ,realistic, human documentary than craftsmanship in this book.This is a great book-for anybody who appreciates good cinema.

Brilliant essays on creativity and culture.......1998-06-14

Our Films, Their Films is a brilliant chronicle of creative thinking by one of the one of the world's most brilliant playwrights. This book is a must for anyone who questions what creatiity is and how culture affects creativity. Ray's essays are both endearing and quite lucid for the normal person to read and understand. All of Satyajit Ray's stories should find their way back into print. He was a breath of fresh air in the film industry.

Book Description

Exploring the fields of architecture, philosophy, and queer theory, Grosz shows how feminism and cultural analysis have conceptually stripped bodies of their specificity, their corporeality, and the vestigal traces of their production as bodies. She investigates the work of Michel Foucault, Teresa de Lauretis, Gilles Deleuze, Judith Butler and Alphonso Lingi, considering their work by examining the ways in which the functioning of bodies transforms understandings of space and time, knowledge and desire. Grosz moves toward a radical consideration of bodies and their relationship to transgression and perversity.

Amazon.com

Cascading Style Sheets can put a great deal of control and flexibility into the hands of a Web designer--in theory. In reality, however, varying browser support for CSS1 and lack of CSS2 implementation makes CSS a very tricky topic. Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide is a comprehensive text that shows how to take advantage of the benefits of CSS while keeping compatibility issues in mind.

The book is very upfront about the spotty early browser support for CSS1 and the sluggish adoption of CSS2. However, enthusiasm for the technology spills out of the pages, making a strong case for even the most skeptical reader to give CSS a whirl and count on its future. The text covers CSS1 in impressive depth--not only the syntactical conventions but also more general concepts such as specificity and inheritance. Frequent warnings and tips alert the reader to browser-compatibility pitfalls.

Entire chapters are devoted to topics like units and values, visual formatting and positioning, and the usual text, fonts, and colors. This attention to both detail and architecture helps readers build a well-rounded knowledge of CSS and equips readers for a future of real-world debugging. Cascading Style Sheets honestly explains the reasons for avoiding an in-depth discussion of the still immature CSS2, but covers the general changes over CSS1 in a brief chapter near the end of the book.

When successfully implemented, Cascading Style Sheets result in much more elegant HTML that separates form from function. This fine guide delivers on its promise as an indispensable tool for CSS coders. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered:

HTML with CSS
Selectors and structure
Units
Text manipulation
Colors and backgrounds
Boxes and borders
Visual formatting principles
Positioning
CSS2 preview
CSS case studies

Book Description

Simply put, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a way to separate a document's structure from its presentation. The benefits of this can be quite profound: CSS allows a much richer document appearance than HTML; CSS saves time--you can create or change the appearance of an entire document in just one place; and its compact file size makes web pages load quickly. Eric Meyer, a member of the CSS&FP Working Group and an internationally known expert on HTML and CSS, tackles the subject with passion and delivers a comprehensive and thorough update to his groundbreaking book. All readers will benefit from both the depth and breadth of his experience and his clear and honest style. Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition is a thorough review of all aspects of CSS2.1 and a comprehensive guide to CSS implementation. The book includes new content on positioning, lists and generated content, table layout, user interface, paged media, and more. It explores in detail each individual CSS property and how it interacts with other properties, and shows how to avoid common mistakes in interpretation. If you're ready to take the next step with your HTML coding and incorporate CSS or are already a CSS code warrior, you'll find Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition is the book you've been craving.

Customer Reviews:

More than one edition of this book.......2007-09-04

Note that there are at least 3 editions of this book. Check for the latest edition if you want the latest.

A reference book, not a how-to.......2007-06-16

This book is not an explanation or tutorial of how to make beautiful pages with CSS. I think the people who give it below 3 stars may have been looking for that, and instead they should try CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions. This book IS, however, a complete reference to all CSS properties and values, and also contains some valuable tips on browser behavior and bugs. If I'm coding along and forget what all the possible values are for list-style-type, this is the book I reach for.

from Eric Myer (the man!) comes a must-have for anyone using CSS.......2007-03-30

This is the 'go-to' reference for me. The truly ultimate guide to CSS from one of the construct's primary innovators and authors. Mr. Meyer is the most knowledgeable person in the field of CSS, browser compatibility and all around HTML design.

was a great book a couple of years ago.......2007-01-17

Probably a bit out of date at this point. For me, this book wasn't that useful, since I generally refer to the W3C site for information about CSS. But it's a nice desk reference, and a standard tool for almost all CSS developers. There's probably a new version out by now to address all the developments that have happened in the past couple of years, I would look for that (or wait until one comes out, it won't be long).

Good, thorough step-by-step guide.......2007-01-07

I had done some work with style sheets, but was confused bythe terms and had no idea what they can do. This book completely changed what I can do when I design web sites. It'sa real eye-opener and a great reference.

Book Description

In this haunting memoir, Yvette Melanson tells of being raised to believe that she was white and Jewish. At age forty-three, she learned that she was a "Lost Bird," a Navajo child taken against her family's wishes, and that her grieving birth mother had never stopped looking for her until the day she died. In this haunting memoir, Yvette Melanson tells of being raised to believe that she was white and Jewish. At age forty-three, she learned that she was a "Lost Bird," a Navajo child taken against her family's wishes, and that her grieving birth mother had never stopped looking for her until the day she died.

Customer Reviews:

Book in excellent condition.......2005-09-26

The book came and it was like new--maybe it was new. I thought it took a bit longer to get to me than usual, and, if so, it's no big deal

Fascinating, an unbelieveable, yet entirely credible story............... .......2005-09-16

This is an amazing and detailed story - and I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has not read it - suffice it to say that 'discovering ones roots' is neither an easy nor a direct path to tread - the brave people who undertake this quest never cease to amaze me .......

Lost Bird - A lesson in Navajo Culture.......2005-02-15

I look through thousands of books a year as a reseller, but I read about 2 books a year. This one got my attention because I have a son who is 1/2 Navajo. His mother suffered the same sort of fate as Yvette. "voluntarily" seperated from brothers and sisters at the age of 5, sent to Utah, a mom she has not met, alcohol, violence etc etc etc . . .

This book does a very good job of relating what rez life is really like, and gives a good insight into Navajo culture.

I am a classically stoic, but I had tears in my eyes all the way through this book. I encourage anyone who is interested in the journey of the Navajo to spend some time on the reservation. Drive around, meet the people. Western culture has a lot to learn from this society.

Read Ward Churchill's writings too, don't judge him by what the media has said about him.

Looking for Lost Bird: A Review.......2004-03-06

Looking For Lost Bird:
A Jewish Woman Discovers Her Navajo Roots.
Yvette Melanson with Claire Safron
Bard Books. 233 pages. $22.00
By Elliot Fein

Looking For Lost Bird is a true story that is disturbing yet compelling. A Native American Navajo Indian woman gives birth on her reservation home in Arizona to twins, a girl and a boy. During their infancy, both children get sick. The mother takes the children to the nearest local hospital for a diagnosis.

Hospital staff members instruct her that they will need to keep the two children over night for observations. When the mother returns the next day, the children are gone. The hospital has no record that they were ever admitted.

The kidnapped infant children are each adopted in Florida by two different families. One of the families is a young Jewish couple that lives in a New York City suburb. Looking for Lost Bird is the story of the Navajo girl, Yvette Melanson, who is raised in that Jewish household.

As an adult, Melanson discovers her Navajo origins and searches for her family roots. She finds her family (minus her mother, who died of a broken heart grieving for two lost children) still living on the Navajo reservation in which she was born. At the age of forty-three, Melanson decides first to visit her birth family in Arizona, then to move there permanently with her husband and two children.

While adjusting to the reservation, Melanson learns and begins practicing the religion, culture, and way of life of her birth family. In this process, she abandons many of the Jewish cultural practices (but not necessarily Jewish values) in which she was raised.

Melanson's Jewish parents (particularly her mother) provide a loving and caring environment for their daughter. In Yvette's recollection of how she was raised, their warts do surface, particularly the shortcomings of her father. After her mother becomes ill and eventually dies during her teen years, the father changes into a different, less appealing character.

Melanson never reveals whether her Jewish parents knew about her Navajo origins. The reader is left to speculate whether the knowledge, if known by her Jewish parents that she was stolen from a Native American Indian family would have impacted their decision to adopt.

What is surprising in the telling of this life story is the absence of any form of anti-Semitism by the author. When Melanson writes critically about her mother and father, she writes about them as individuals. She does not associate her criticism of them with Judaism as a faith tradition.

On the reservation, when she begins taking on Native American Indian ways, Melanson naturally compares Navajo culture to Judaism. In this comparison, Melanson writes with respect, affection, and even admiration about the religious tradition in which she was raised.

Melanson tells her life story (with the help of Claire Safron) with compassion, humor, and eloquence.

I recently led a book club at my synagogue. A member of the club recommended that I read Looking for Lost Bird. After reading it, we immediately decided to include Looking for Lost Bird one of our featured selections. The book provides a great opportunity to learn about Navajo culture and to see how it compares to Judaism as a religious tradition. The book is also a true gift for adopted individuals, particularly native American Indians, seeking to uncover their past.

Elliot Fein teaches Jewish Studies in the Tarbut V'Torah School in Irvine.

Wonderful story about loved ones being reunited!.......2001-05-17

Like many of the readers I couldn't put the book down until I read it from cover to cover. While reading the story I found out these people were my extended family! I know everyone mentioned in the book. As a youngster I remember the crusade of Aunt Desbah, Uncle John and others in finding the twins who were stolen as babies. I wept at the end when Yvette participated in the holy Hozhoji ceremony to be reunited with her birth place, family, culture, and environment. Very moving!

Aunt Betty, Yvette's biological mother lived a very brave life as she longed and searched everyday of her life wanting to be reunited with her twins. May God bless her soul.

Average customer rating:
Looking For Lost Bird - A Jewish Woman Discovers Her Navajo Roots
Yvette with Safran, Claire Melanson
Manufacturer: Bard / Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RISY3K

Book Description

As early as 1654, English and French explorers in the southern Appalachians reported seeing dark-skinned, brown- and blue-eyed, and European-featured people speaking broken Elizabethan English, living in cabins, tilling the land, smelting silver, practicing Christianity, and most perplexing of all, claiming to be "Portyghee." Declared "free persons of color" in the late 1700s by the English and Scotch-Irish immigrants, the Melungeons, as they were known, were driven off their lands and denied voting rights, education, and the right to judicial process. The law was enforced mercilessly and sometimes violently in the resoundingly successful effort to totally disenfranchise these earliest American settlers.

These Melungeons were a remarkable people caught up in a nightmare not of their own making. Perhaps history can finally amend itself and belatedly recognize the incredible achievement of these brave and lonely people, who were among the earliest American pioneers, and bring at long last an end to the Inquisition. The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People by N. Brent Kennedy and Robyn Vaughan Kennedy is their story.

Customer Reviews:

The Melungeons/Kennedy.......2007-09-07

Loved the Book! Very informative and entertaining. A good resource book for genealogists doing research on Melungeons.

A very important work.......2007-08-30

Saying N. Brent Kennedy is a very important person is something of an understatement. Through his work and collaboration with many others he has come forward to put a face on the contemporary inquiry into mixed race and multiethnic cultures in the United States. Designed for the lay person, "The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People," is a brave book written by Melungeon authors the Kennedy's, that sparks thoughts, heated debate, as you can see from these reviews, and most importantly, action. As a combination of Brent Kennedy's many years of online projects and this book *many* people have looked into their ethnic backgrounds using some of the newly available DNA testing. Apart from my general appreciation for what Kennedy as an individual(working in collobation with others) has done for the conversation around ethnicity I really enjoyed the tone, voice, pace and even the historical photographs in "The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People." Kennedy is a gifted stortyteller and you will feel privy to his thoughts, research, investigations and theory upon reading his book. I highly recommend this title to anyone studying the complexities of race and ethnicity in the southeastern United States and those particularly interested in southeastern US cultural history. Apart from those folk, "The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People," has much to offer the general readership, particularly those interested in geneology. A must read--three or four thumbs up!

Not academic in any way.......2007-08-25

I think there are a lot of people that would like to believe in what in this book. On the surface it is an easy read since written in a good conversational language but the content does not sound credible. It does not provide good resources and does not make a good case.

Rubbish.......2007-05-13

This is one of the worst books on Melungeons ever written. There is no credible research at all.

Fascinating!.......2003-04-01

I grew up with Melungeon classmates in southeastern OH and picked this up out of curiosity. What a fascinating story! The subtitle is perhaps a little misleading. I almost avoided the book because it sounded like a diatribe about ethnic massacres; whereas it is really a geneaological journey that weaves in the Melungeon experience in America. At first it comes off as an esoteric delving into the author's geneaology; but as the story unfolds, the reader becomes sucked into the fascinating story of Kennedy's family and their colorful Melungeon roots.
A downside is that he is quick to take scientists to task for their hesitancy about alternative views on Melungeon origins. He seems not to be aware that researchers, in ANY scientific field, need to exercise caution and cannot advocate new hypotheses without data. Meanwhile, he exercises no such caution about his ideas -- speculation on everything from lost colonies, to some really far-fetched word origins -- runs rampant. If not for this I'd give it 5 stars. That being said, this is a fun and fascinating book, and the author's enthusiasm really comes through; a great introduction to a fascinating people.

The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America

Average customer rating:

The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America
N. Brent; Kennedy, Robyn Vaughan Kennedy
Manufacturer: Mercer Univ Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBVJRA

Average customer rating:

A short account of forms in nature.

I love this book!

Nature's Artistic Technology

Li: Dynamic Form in Nature (Wooden Books)
David Wade
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0802714102

Book Description

David Wade has spent a lifetime gathering and organizing the extraordinary families of surface patterns that nature throws up at every scale. The study of these shapes—a subject virtually unknown in the West—was known in ancient China as Li and is the sister science to Feng Shui. In this unique and insightful book are sand and wave patterns, big-cat markings, bark and leaf designs, soap and marbling swirls, crystalline and rock forms, tree branching types, and many more of nature’s dynamic, sometimes enigmatic designs. Li will appeal to scientists and artists, and has far-reaching applications in graphic design, architecture, and other visual forms and sciences.

Customer Reviews:

A short account of forms in nature........2007-01-06

It is a very nice short account of different forms in nature, I enjoyed the interpretation given to the different natural expressions.

I love this book!.......2006-02-25

This book is a thoughtful look at patterns of all sorts. The text accompanying the picture is concise and helpful, but not overwhelming.
This is a book one can open to any page and just let the mind wander. The world of Li is more complex and beautiful than I had imagined.

Nature's Artistic Technology.......2003-06-26

A wonderful little book that shows the remarkable complexity and inner structure of natural patterns. Loaded with black and white illustrations, Wade presents the reader with a variety of amazing, self-similar shapes that occur in nature. Anyone interested in fractals, nature, sacred geometry, and mathematics is sure to be attracted to this book. The reader will gain an appreciation of the simple, yet amazing intelligence built into natural life-forms, landscapes, and objects.
(Simeon Hein, Ph.D., is the author of Opening Minds: A Journey of Extraordinary Encounters, Crop Circles, and Resonance. (Mount Baldy Press, Inc., 2002))

LI Formas Dinamicas En La Naturaleza/ LI Dynamic Form in Nature (La Aventura De La Ciencia)

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LI Formas Dinamicas En La Naturaleza/ LI Dynamic Form in Nature (La Aventura De La Ciencia)
David Wade
Manufacturer: Oniro
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Science & Technology | Teens | Subjects | Books

General | Infantil y juvenil | Libros en español | Formats | Books

No ficción | Infantil y juvenil | Libros en español | Formats | Books

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LI (Dynamic Form in Nature)
David Wade
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KD1F24

Book Description

Confrontation may be one way of settling environmental disputes but is there another, perhaps better, way? Stern and Hicks say yes--through the process of collaboration. They give executives the practical skills to create and sustain collaborations with environmentalists of all kinds, and environmentalists another way to work with corporations, not as foes but as partners. The book is unique in that it does not demand governmental intervention but puts faith in the disputants themselves to reach amicable, mutually agreeable solutions. Stern and Hicks give practical, tested advice from other dispute resolution professionals, as well as from their own experience, and organize it in a way that enables decision makers and leaders on both sides to understand and cope with the difficulties they will encounter during the course of a collaboration. Well written and illustrated with real world case studies, the book will come as a welcome relief to corporate decision makers, and as an eye-opening, hope-creating surprise for environmentalists of all persuasions. Stern and Hicks focus on two key issues: whether to collaborate and how to collaborate. They present five in-depth case studies to highlight the challenges and strategies throughout their book. Among the latter are strategies for gaining internal support for proposed collaborations, and ways to identify and enlist the participation of key parties and other organizations with interest in the negotiations. Chapter 5 looks at ways to develop constructive partnerships by drafting ground rules. Chapter 6 shows how to develop a strategic plan for collaborations. In Chapter 7 the authors analyze some of the many process challenges that parties in collaborative negotiations may face and present methods for dealing with them. Chapter 8 evaluates substantive challenges that may arise during the course of a collaboration; Chapter 9 stresses the importance and methods of documenting agreements once reached. Chapter 10 gives strategies for enlisting the help of outside organizations, including government and media, and Chapter 11, how and when to get help from mediators and technical experts. The book concludes with methods to evaluate a collaboration and a discussion of the importance of ongoing evaluation throughout the collaborative process.

Customer Reviews:

A practical guide for either side.......2000-07-30

This book builds on the concept of achieving win-win solutions. It provides practical guidance and real case studies in the contentous area of corporate/environmental conflicts. I particularly like the authors approach. They realistically acknowledge neither side may ever become "friends" and yet can still achieve outcomes that meet the needs of both sides, avoid costly litigation and save time. A lot of the concepts and tools are applicable to other realms of negotiation and conflict management as well. A real contribution to the field.

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