SUMMERS WITH JULIET CL

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Summers With Juliet

Summers with Juliet

Summers with Juliet

A book about love found, nature loved, life lived.

Touching take of love and life discovered

SUMMERS WITH JULIET CL
William Roorbach
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0395573238

Book Description

They met in a bar on Marthas Vineyard. Bill was instantly smittenher cool beauty, her insouciance, her sassy youthbut Juliet was unimpressed. Even so, a courtship began, and for the next eight summers, in sublime settings across North America, Bill Roorbach and Juliet Karelsen made circuitous progress toward a lasting love, and finally, marriage. In charming fashion, Summers with Juliet tells this tale, but it also chronicles a second awakening, as Juliet rekindles in Bill his childhood enchantment with nature. Now marvelous creatures abound: giant ocean sunfish and wild turkeys, bellicose hummingbirds and canny trout, all of them images and explications of the many facets of Juliet. Landscapes hold new mysteries, too, and the author vividly describes his exuberant road trips with Juliet around the country, from the River of Promise in Montana, to the Gulf Coast of Florida. And at last, they come to a wooded lake in New Hampshire and the singular June day when! loves all there, sweeter than the cake.

Customer Reviews:

Summers With Juliet.......2003-03-15

I would easily put this book among the best that I have ever read. The images that Roorbach uses keep coming back to me even though it has been well over a year since I read it. The honesty of his writing is amazing, and there were many, many times that I had to pause because the emotional descriptions were so true. Read this book-- by the end you will feel like an old friend at Roorbach's wedding, and you will be glad not to have missed it.

Summers with Juliet.......2000-05-26

This memoir records the struggles of a young writer trying to find his literary voice by portraying his distraction, frustrations, and devotions to his art through his adventures with his future wife as they encounter a variety of people and animals--turkeys, turtles, hummingbirds, and bluefishes--in many beautiful natural environments. Their adventures are always fascinating andamusing, and, at times, exciting.

Summers with Juliet.......2000-05-26

A book about love found, nature loved, life lived........1998-04-27

This book is a paper plane, it will take you away. From the first page, Bill Roorbach takes us on a wonderful journey during a time of his life, when he first meets his wife Juliet in Martha's Vineyard. It becomes a wonderful, weird, chaotic time for both. This book will make you honestly laugh out loud, and shake your head in disbelief, at the experiences and adventures that these two people take on. It is filled with nature in all it's glory, and sometimes not so glorious. This is a man that writes the way we think. The conversations that he has with himself are so lively, and funny that you will want to shake his hand heartily and say "Yes, Yes, I know just what you mean" Read it, it's worth every word.

Touching take of love and life discovered.......1997-04-09

This is a wonderful story of one man's memories of the beginning of his true love life. Roorbach is a compelling writer in the essay style of Russell Baker, who offers his readers much in terms of language and story-telling ability. We, too, learn to love Juliet and touch the unique feelings that make this couple worthy of our attention. Perfect reading outside on a summer afternoon

Customer Reviews:

Good for hockey nuts, but not the best writing.......2003-04-02

Great hockey stories and insight into the evolution of modern professional hockey and backroom stories about what hockey referees go through. I like nonfiction and I officiate hockey so this book was a natural. If you're interested in "old time" hockey from the 1960's which is when Bruce Hood started officiating professional hockey or like to get the inside story on the NHL up until the 80's this is a great book. The quality of writing is a little weak but Hood has some great stories about being a referee, traveling around the country, what players and coaches of his era said and how they acted.

It's obvious Bruce Hood is a referee and not a writer, although he had some help with the book. Some readers might be bored when Hood wanders a little too far into his personal life but some might enjoy that aspect of the book.

Book Description

This book will haunt you--until you get the answers right. It is a devilishly delightful collection of 1,814 questions and answers about the best and worst horror films ever made. From the silent movies of the 1920s to the scream queens of the 1990s, the topics range from vampires to werewolves to haunted houses and mad scientists to creature features and giant apes. More than 160 photographs infest the pages of The Amazing, Colossal Book of Horror Trivia, including the greats of horror cinema like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Fay Wray, Ingrid Pitt, and Barbara Steele.

In addition to listings of the Top 5 films per subject, Lampley, Beck, and Clark have also noted the highlights from the lives and works of the legendary stars and directors who have made this genre popular across the century. You'll never sleep without a nightlight again.

Customer Reviews:

So scary, but oh so good!!!.......2007-03-14

I've always heard, "Don't judge a book by it's cover," but this cover is the ultimate in horror and so is the book! This book is full of very entertaining bits of trivia. It covers history and drama when it comes to great horror films. It is a very fun book to challenge your knowledge and reminesce on the movies of your childhood. It really inspired me to catch up on some movies I haven't seen. Luckily,I caught a few of them around Halloween time on television! Good thing I had this amazing, colossal book around!!!!

EXCELLENT.......2007-01-07

I am such a Horror movie buff that I did notice a few of my favorites that were missed but my bother and I had a great time of asking each other questions and I am happy to report we did great........... if you love horror movies this it the book for you................please note that this book contains older movies so you have to be a true fan all the way back to the 1930's...................you will love it.....

A Rare Treat.......2006-06-12

I'm no expert; my main claim to fame in this area is that Psychotronic Video printed my letter correcting them about US distribution of Italian exploding-Brussels-spouts-opus Alien Contamination. Oh, and I like horror movies an awful lot.

This book is a delight. Some chapter titles ("Dracula and Other Vampires") are obvious but necessary; others ("Screams of Laughter," "Deadlier Than the Male") are quirkier and more inspired. If, like me, you saw most of these films as a kid, The Amazing Colossal Book is a great refresher course. If you haven't seen the films, this book should whet your appetite, as the photos alone are worth the price of admission.

Why isn't it in bookstores everywhere, or piled all over convention tables everywhere? I dunno. The "answers on next page" (rather than buried somewhere in the back of the book) format is a stroke of genius, making it impossible to stop turning pages long after midnight.

Well-written........2006-03-07

It's incredibly gratifying to know that three writers from Tennessee -- long denounced as a hotbed of ignorance and incest -- who are writing about horror movies, no less, can still be bothered to use the Queen's English to do so. It's very well written and quite interesting if you're a fan of the genre. If you're not, well, don't buy it, because you won't understand.

Not enough information.......2003-05-13

This is just a list of 1,000+ questions about a limited number of horror movies, with answers on the next page. I guess you're supposed to ask them at parties or something for "hours of fun." The questions are certainly trivial -- eliciting a response of "who cares" rather than "isn't that fascinating" -- and it is tedious to constantly turn to the next page to find the answers. It felt a good deal like reviewing for a 5th grade geography test.

Thousands of facts are available, but many are perfectly useless and utterly dull, so why devote a book to them? If the goal of this book is to spark interest in the films or in the horror genre, it has utterly failed. My copy is going into the garbage.

Book Description

Now with a fresh look and updated introduction, this witty volume is ready for the dawn of the new millennium. Chronicling the demise of things we thought would always be a part of life -- from the smell of burning leaves to wedding-night virgins -- this compendium of pop culture and history has been praised for its lively text full of intriguing trivia and retro photographs of each subject in its heyday. Whether you're old enough to remember polio scares or too young to have used a typewriter, this provocative and amusing look at the way things were offers end-of- the-century proof that the only constant in life is change.

Customer Reviews:

Going, Going Great!.......1999-12-09

My husband got Going, Going Gone out of the library and read it, I read it, my Dad read it, we all liked it. This book catalogs many of those things our moms, dads and grandparents used or did in daily life that are vanishing through changes in society or technology: carbon paper, rotary phone, garter belts, or mending socks for example. The book describes the things that lead to the phasing out of the old products and methods. The photocopier killed carbon paper for example. The only down side I can see is that the book is too short. My Dad thought it was written from a slightly feminist point of view, but I didn't really notice it. I am writing this review before buying 2 copies for Christmas presents.

50 short essays on obsolete elements of American life.......1997-04-17

The authors provide two to three page essays with a touch of nostalgiaon fifty specific elements of American life in years gone by. Subjects range from the highly tangible (drive-in movies, manual typewriters) to activities (hitchhiking, bridge parties) to abstract social norms (formal dating, parietal rules on college campuses). The strength of the book may well lie in its myriad of photographs that complement each essay extraordinarily well. The topics covered reinforce the fact that the authors are female (feminine hygiene products, white gloves, and mending, to name a few), and the reader will no doubt frequently ask himself or herself "why didn't they include this idea?&quot

Going, Going, Gone : Vanishing Americana

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Going, Going, Gone : Vanishing Americana
Susan & Nissenson, Marilyn Jonas
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books c1998
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ONOPVI

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Going, Going, Gone: Vanishing Americana.
SUSAN JONAS
Manufacturer: See notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RQTLSE

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A fun treasury of practical magic

This book is great!!!!!

Bill Severn's Complete Book of Magic: The Ultimate Book of Fascinating Illusions with Rope, Ribbon, String, Money, Coins & Mental Magic
Bill Severn
Manufacturer: Galahad
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Magic | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0883658984

Book Description

Amaze and amuse friends and family with these hundreds of tricks, all presented by a master magician. Ranging from basics for beginners to more sophisticated illusions, this magical compendium covers everything from sleight of hand with ropes, ribbons, and strings to mind-boggling adventures in mind-reading. Most require little or no equipment--just minor props and a little preparation. And more than 350 detailed line drawings provide a close-up view of every move you need to make. Perform some quick switches with coins and dollar bills. Stun everyone by predicting what the highest bid will be on a gift package you've auctioned off. Tie an "impossible knot." It's loads of fun for you and your audience.

Customer Reviews:

A fun treasury of practical magic .......2006-09-26

This is a massive compilation of at least three of Bill Severn's earlier books.

Bill Severn gives some really novel plots for some of his effects and the patter he supplies with the tricks is usually quite good. He gets rid of the old "During my travels to India... " type patter and instead suggests patter that sounds like something that someone would actually say.

One thing that is unique about his books is that he doesn't rehash the same old tricks normally found in beginner's books but tries to create new effects and presentations based on the old classics. I think Severn was the most prolific writer of magic books for the general public since Walter B. Gibson. Plus, he wrote so clearly I can't recall an instance where I couldn't follow the instructions given in any of his books (something I can't say about a lot of magic books).

This is not just a book for beginners, however; even working pros can find some novel plots and routines here.

Some of Severn's most novel money tricks are a clever twist on the "Six Bill Repeat" in which the money actually changes colors in your hands, a trick where the money "blushes", and one in which you transform newspaper strips into real bills!

The section on rope and string magic contains the complete working of the famous trick "The Professor's Nightmare" (although here it's called the "Odd Even Ropes Routine"). Other clever tricks are one where you clap your hands and a rope suddenly appears between them (a great opener), "Tricky Knots" (a complete routine), "With a Loop of String" (a close-up routine), "Knot a Rope and Catch a Ribbon" and "The Rope that Flies Wild", in which a rope actually floats between your hands!

Plus, the "Mental Magic" section will have the audience believing that you can actually read minds!

Not all the tricks in this book are winners ("Topsy Turvy" has impossible angles) but if you get just one great trick from a book you have gotten your money's worth and in this book you will find several. Enjoy!

This book is great!!!!!.......1997-06-16

This book may not be so great if you don't care about magic but I do and whoever else does will love it too. First of all I like Bill Severn's books because they have great magic tricks in them . This book is three of his great books combined into one!!!!

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The Ultimate Ribbon Book
Annabel Lewis , and Tessa Clayton
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1570760306

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The Ultimate Ribbon and Bow Book

Manufacturer: Mark Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1568240759

Book Description

Learn sixteen different styles of bows and try your hand at over twenty different projects. A beautiful photograph of each bow and project along with detailed instructions and color illustrations will help you become a bow expert.

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Publisher 2003 Review

The cover says "complete" but it isn't

Good Step-By-Step Projects

More for high school kids....but....

Microsoft Office Publisher 2003: Complete Concepts and Techniques (Shelly Cashman)
Gary B. Shelly , Thomas J. Cashman , and Joy L. Starks
Manufacturer: Course Technology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Microsoft Office Word 2003: Complete Concepts and Techniques, CourseCard Edition (Shelly Cashaman Series)

ASIN: 0619200316

Book Description

For the past three decades, the Shelly Cashman Series® has effectively introduced computers to millions of students, consistently providing the highest quality, most up-to-date, and innovative materials in computer education. Enjoy the proven step-by-step style and improved Office 2003 updates of the Shelly Cashman Series® and enhance your Office application skills today!

Customer Reviews:

Publisher 2003 Review.......2007-05-12

I am glad I purchased this Shelly, Cashman Publisher manual. It has helped me better understand Publisher and how to create newsletters, flyers, brochures and how to use mail merge. I feel that I got my moneys worth purchasing this product and would recommend this product to anybody.

The cover says "complete" but it isn't.......2007-03-22

I suppose the acknowledgement that this book was created using Quark Express ought to tell the careful reader all he needs to know about Shelly Cashman and Starks's effort to explain Microsoft's desktop publishing software. At almost $60 a copy, this is the most expensive giant goldenbook I have hear of.

I bought this book to find out how to create a booklet of 20, 8.5x11 sheets folded into 8.5x 5.5 pages, printed on all four sides, a common situation in publishing. The table of contents says that bookfold will be addressed on PUB (why PUB and not page?) 258. It isn't.

All in all, this is a sloppily done work for which the people at Thomson ought to be deeply ashamed.

Tom Gordon

Dallas TX

Good Step-By-Step Projects.......2006-12-11

This is a good book for beginners in Publisher to learn the program. It provides good projects that help show the features of Publisher. To me, it is not a "reference" book for tips on the program--it makes you do projects to learn the program. The good thing is, it gives you multiple projects for all sorts of uses of the program, so that you will learn how to use a lot of the features and templates that the program has to offer. I was required to complete projects in this book for a graduate course in Desktop Publishing. It was good for that use. I would use the step-by-step projects in the book with my high school students too.

More for high school kids....but...........2006-05-19

The "but" is after reading the first chapter of this book and looking through the contents there are some useful projects. I've been using Publisher since 2000 for a newsletter and brochure for a non-profit group and not much more. But now I can see several new uses for the program and I'll give them a try. Granted it's not a hard program to master the bare essentials but I think this book may open a much wider range of uses for this user. The only bad thing is the steep price for the book itself. I really would like to give the book a 3.75 star rating...

Book Description

The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England is a major reference-work covering the history, archaeology, arts, architecture, literatures and languages of England from the Roman withdrawal to the Norman Conquest (c.450 - 1066 AD). Drawing on contributions by scholars of international standing, the book comprises a series of some 700 articles by 150 contributors, arranged in alphabetical order, describing the people, places, activities and creations of the Anglo-Saxons. The articles are illustrated by maps, line-drawings and black and white photographs; the book is accompanied by a comprehensive table of the 'Rulers of the English, c.450-1066', and by a classified index of head-words to facilitate access to the Encyclopaedia itself. The Encyclopaedia can be consulted for information and bibliographical orientation on points of detail; in addition, its accessible style and layout make it ideal for browsing by readers interested in aspects of Anglo-Saxon England outside the range of their own specialism. Representing the full breadth of recent scholarly investigation, the volume is the first large-scale work of synthesis and reference in the field since Stenton's Anglo Saxon England (1943) and is likely to become the standard reference on this subject.

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.(Review) (book review): An article from: Canadian Journal of History

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The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.(Review) (book review): An article from: Canadian Journal of History
Alan W. Reese
Manufacturer: University of Saskatchewan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

History | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Canadian Journal of History, published by University of Saskatchewan on April 1, 2001. The length of the article is 476 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: The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.(Review) (book review)
Author: Alan W. Reese
Publication: Canadian Journal of History (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 2001
Publisher: University of Saskatchewan
Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Page: 109

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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The "Early Modern" Period

not as good as the earlier volumes

A Good Idea ...but drowned in florid speach.

A History of Private Life, Volume III, Passions of the Renaissance (History of Private Life)

Manufacturer: Belknap Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067440002X

Customer Reviews:

The "Early Modern" Period.......2004-12-29

And now volume three. My reviews of the first two books in this series have garnered a fat total of 0 votes, positive or negative, so I'll make this review brief.

This book charts the transistion from the middle ages to the beginnings of the modern period. In the introduction by Aries (who's scholarship is the inspiration for this project), he makes a claim that this time period deserves to be treated as a seperate "early modern" period. It's a noble thought, but the book reads more like one would expect: a lot of the middle ages and a little of modernity, but a lack of the coherence that one sees in volumes I, II and IV.

The authors are mostly concerned with discussing two (seemingly)contradictory trends: the attempt by families to develop "private space" and the attempt by the state to intrude on that private space. Chapter two deals mostly with the first statement, chapter three with the second.

You have to keep an open mind with the Annales school of scholarship. The writers favor open ended generalizations to conclusive statements and are just as interested in providing ideas for further study as they are in answering questions.

not as good as the earlier volumes.......2002-12-31

I had a much harder time getting into this volume than the two previous ones. It is far more limited geographically in that about 90% of it is about France and it is also edited rather poorly: many of the chapters are chock full of vague generalizations that require far more historical knowledge than I had to evaluate them (my failing, perhaps, but also an indication of the level of the book). Finally, many of the chapters were far less fun than the ones in the previous two volumes.

That being said, there are absolutely wonderful nuggets embedded throughout the book. This is, afterall, the era when the individual emerges en masse from the "community" mentality of the middle ages, as the absolutist state (and its embryonic legal system) replaces the more relationship-based bonds of feudal communties. This had innumerable consequences, including the development of public schools on a widespread basis and a sense of justice as administered by the state rather than by a feudal lord who demanded personal loyalty.

THere are also many episodes within this that make for great reading. For example, there is a whole chapter on the development of accepted manners for the middle classes and even below, based on those of the court but also on books on etiquette such as one written by Erasmus himself, which astounded me as I learned its various editions were influential for over 300 years on wuch topics as acceptable table manners. THere were also chapters on charivari - a kind of moralistic razzing of newlyweds that combined extortion and youthful exuberance, carried out as they were (sometimes for months) by amoral thugs! Even the notion of childhood - of the child having a distinctive personality with his/her own requirements and needs - was developed in this period. ANd of course, there is the growth of the practive of friendship by choice, so rare in the middle ages, rather than via kinship ties or feudal obligation, which had subordinated most feelings to the survival of the extended clan.

Nonetheless, these delightful chapters are buried in many dull and poorly written ones that were a terrible slog to get through. I was very disappointed by this, having loved the volumes on the ancient world and the middle ages. Perhaps it was marked by the death of the founding editor. I will try the later volumes, but worry they will not measure up. The title is also misleading: this volume is less about the Renaissance than what followed, that is, the period of religious wars and the development of absolutism.

REcommended to those willing to make the effort, but not for the casual reader.

A Good Idea ...but drowned in florid speach........2002-05-02

This book is a good idea. But there is room for litterature that can tell the same in a more lively way with far fewer words. ...or can tell four time as much with the same number of pages. - The language of most of the authors is such that you wonder WHY they have chocen to say what they attempt to tell in such flowery ways. After a paragraph it's hard to remember "What did he try to tell me now." It's easier to think: "Yes. I can see that you have learnt a hole lot of words, and adjevtives in particular." - I have found litterature about the same topic, put in a different language that manage to do this far better. In fact I've found public reports that with regards to the ability to convey a thought is far more readable.

Book Description

A comprehensive study of the historic development of division in extreme and mean ratio ("the golden number"), this text traces the concept's development from its first appearance in Euclid's Elements through the 18th century. The coherent but rigorous presentation offers clear explanations of DEMR's historical transmission and features numerous illustrations.

Book Description

In many parts of the tropics, intensive, export-oriented monocropping has destroyed both local self-sufficiency and biologically rich and stable environments. The rehabilitation of these savanna regions - as yet relatively neglected by environmentalists - is vital for the success of any strategy for sustainable development. This study focuses on just such a district in Ghana and uncovers the complex factors responsible for environmental degradation. It suggests policies based on the regeneration of the local economy, diversification of agricultural products and markets, making use of local farmers' knowledge, and involving the community in drawing up environmental agendas.

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Updating dagradation data, technologies and policies
International State-of-the-Art Publication

Response to Land Degradation
Frits W.T. Penning de Vries , Sara J. Scherr , and Samran Sombatpanit
Manufacturer: Science Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Land Use | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1578081521

Customer Reviews:

Updating dagradation data, technologies and policies.......2002-02-06

Book review : "RESPONSE TO LAND DEGRADATION"
E.M.Bridges, I.D.Hannam, L.R.Oldeman, F.W.T. Penning de Vries, S.J.Scherr, S.Sombatpanit (Editors). Science Publishers, Inc., NH, USA (510 pp.) 2001.

Conservationists and other close professionals ask themselves for a long time: why land degradation processes (mainly affecting farmers but also other people), are increasing worldwide, damaging all countries (and especially "third world" areas) - in spite of years of work and the large sums of money invested to counter them and conserve the land resource?

This collection of papers (chosen among those presented at the Int'l Conference on Soil Degradation held in Khon Kaen, Thailand, 1999) - brings forward various answers to this serious question (including new approaches and strategies for conservation, and also new terminologies, such as "good land husbandry" and "sustained land-use"), aimed to overcome the many obstacles on the way of safeguarding the production-capability of land, undermined by the pressure of increasing populations who need more food, timber, fiber, and feed for more livestock.
Choosing between the usual "full proceedings"edition, or inviting thematic papers on a pre-planned basis - the editors adopted a wise middle-way (also summarizing each of the 11 thematic chapters with a comprehensive introduction). Obviously, there are always drawbacks in compromises (among those - repetition of the ritual-research "problem background" in most papers). On the other hand, the interested reader will benefit identifying varying perceptions of the core-problems - which represent genuine differences in physical and socio-cultural environments, professional background experience and personal attitudes.
Among the 39 articles and 50 "boxes", many papers focus, as usual, on identification and assessment of degradation and its damages - an almost representative sample of the world-wide actual problem. A lesser number - on technologies of land husbandry (part of the response); only a few papers and "boxes" really address national land economic policy and conservation legislation - those pre-requisites for sustained land use and conservation (I.Hannam and others). The review of Russian century-experience (A.Gennadiyev) is much instructive for understanding the complexity of conservation problems and their linkage to major national policies. Other important lessons can also be learned from Chapt. 5 (S.J.Scherr and others), the New South Wales application and adoption models (I.J.Packer, Chap. 8), and the World Bank review (Chapt. 10), - to mention only a few of the many valuable papers presented.
In the summary to his paper T.Enters concludes: "as long as the framework of economic and institutional conditions is not conducive to conservation, direct incentives will remain ineffective in promoting innovative technologies, and land degradation will continue apace".
Two comments: (1) "Institutional conditions" would eventually include a National Agency for Soil (or Land) Conservation (like a Service or Department, besides a Research Institute) - its organization, professional staff training and operational framework - planning and application. These are at present very weak or non-existent in most "third world" countries, where the international "project" pattern, usually limited in area and period of operation, constitutes the usual activity. (2) The USDA-NRCS (formerly SCS) 65-year precious experience, mobilizing farmers, public, government and legislature to the conservation effort - has proven itself much successful, and may well be studied and made use of everywhere (not only in developed nations). - The fact that there were no presentations on these issues, at the conference, brings to light a shaded side of the "problem" to be "responded": most conservationists still overlook the major political aspects of conservation, and neglect the required actions to be taken in this respect.
This book presents an excellent, almost worldwide "state of the problem" update, very useful and recommended to help national conservationists and decision-making politicians work together and set-up adequate conservation "responses", adapted to their countries' conditions.
(Reviewed by Arie` Shahar, member, WASWC)

International State-of-the-Art Publication.......2001-12-06

Response to Land Degradation provides a state-of-the-art analysis of the causes and effects of land degradation, and the wide range of human responses. Over 140 leading experts--soil scientists, geographers, economists, extension specialists, policy analysts and others from diverse fields--provide the reader a comprehensive picture of the contemporary state of global land resources. The driving forces that cause land degradation and the impacts they have upon the economy and environment are discussed and illustrated by case studies. The most up to date tools for monitoring and assessing land degradation are described. The latter half of the book presents and critically evaluates diverse technical, institutional and policy interventions that have been used around the world to prevent or reverse degradation, including major international initiatives. Case materials are presented from dozens of countries in both temperate and tropical regions. 510 pp., index, 10 color plates.

Assessing soil chemical and physical property responses to deforestation and subsequent cultivation in smallholders farming system in Ethiopia [An article ... Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment]

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Assessing soil chemical and physical property responses to deforestation and subsequent cultivation in smallholders farming system in Ethiopia [An article ... Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment]
M. Lemenih , E. Karltun , and M. Olsson
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B000RR1Q04

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
In Ethiopia land degradation in the forms of soil erosion and declining soil fertility are serious challenges to agricultural productivity and economic growth. Despite the general recognition of the threat from land degradation on agricultural productivity, few studies have been made to quantify the extent, rate and process of soil fertility depletion under various land use systems and management practices in the country. In this study we assessed soil chemical and physical property responses to deforestation and subsequent cultivation along a chronosequence of closely located farmlands of different ages (7, 10, 26, 34 and 53 years) since conversion from a tropical dry Afromontane natural forest in Ethiopia. These properties were compared with soil properties under an adjacent natural forest. The changes were used as indicators to evaluate the sustainability of the farm management. All the soils in the study were Mollic Andosols/Humic Haplustands. Soil bulk density (gcm^-^3) in the 0-10 and 10-20cm soil layers increased significantly while percent pore space decreased significantly in a continuum with increasing cultivation period. Soil C and total N contents (gkg^-^1) in the 0-10cm soil layer declined significantly and exponentially with increasing years under cultivation. However, in the 10-20cm soil layer both soil C and total N on the farmlands were significantly higher until after 34 years of continuous cultivation compared to the same soil layer under the natural forest. Consequently, the soil C stock (gm^-^2) of the upper 0.20m mineral soil was not significantly lower on the farmlands until after 26 years of continuous cultivation compared to the natural forest soil. Available P and K (mgkg^-^1) in the 0-10cm layer were higher in the soils of the farmlands throughout the 53 years of continuous cultivation compared to the soil under the natural forest. Exchangeable Ca, CEC and base saturation in the 0-10cm soil layer declined more or less throughout the cultivation period while in the 10-20cm soil layer they followed the patterns of soil C of that depth. Generally, the magnitudes and rates of degradation of the soil properties following conversion and subsequent cultivation were lower than expected for a low input tropical farming system as the one investigated. Nevertheless, almost all soil quality attributes showed overall declining trends in the long perspective. This continuous decline, albeit slowly, in soil quality with increasing cultivation period indicated that the present land management is not sustainable. Therefore, improved management is imperative to sustain the soil quality and maintain long-term productivity of the farmlands.

Response of soil quality indicators and their spatial variability to land degradation in central Iran [An article from: Applied Soil Ecology]

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Response of soil quality indicators and their spatial variability to land degradation in central Iran [An article from: Applied Soil Ecology]
M. Nael , H. Khademi , and M.A. Hajabbasi
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000RQZW1O

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from Applied Soil Ecology, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Studying land degradation through a soil quality approach, which reveals soil functioning within the ecosystem, is necessary for sustainable management of land resources. This investigation was conducted to understand the changes of soil functions, resulting from exploitive management, using some soil quality indicators and their statistical and geostatistical measures. Undisturbed and disturbed sites were identified in each of two study areas, including an oak forest and a semiarid rangeland in central Iran. Soil organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), microbial respiration (MR), aggregate stability (AS), and hydraulic properties of the sites were determined. Statistical comparisons of frequency distribution functions of OC and MR revealed that these functions are normal in protected forest, while in the disturbed forest distributions deviate from normality. In the rangeland sites, the results were exactly the opposite. Spatial variability of the two variables in forest sites demonstrated pure nugget and spherical pattern in protected and disturbed sites, respectively. As for the rangeland ecosystem, pure nugget pattern was observed for both sites. According to our findings, protection of rangeland has resulted in higher OC and MR with no effect on the amount of TN and infiltration rate. The negative effect of this management system was a decrease in aggregate stability due to the formation of crust as a result of complete grazing exclusion. By contrast, improvement in all soil quality indicators in protected forest indicated the success of conservative management in this region.

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