Average customer rating:
|
Mexico's Hope: An Encounter with Politics and History
James D. Cockcroft
Manufacturer: Monthly Review Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Economic Conditions
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Economic Conditions
| International
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Mexico
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Social History
| Historical Study
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Federal Government
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Mexico Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization
-
We Say No: Chronicles 1963-1991
-
The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics (The Latin America Readers)
-
The Labyrinth of Solitude: The Other Mexico, Return to the Labyrinth of Solitude, Mexico and the United States, the Philanthropic Ogre
-
Slave Rebellion in Brazil: The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia (Johns Hopkins Studies in Atlantic History and Culture)
ASIN: 0853459258
Release Date: 1998-01-01 |
Book Description
Mexico's Hope tells the dramatic story of the making of modern Mexico, treating all the major developments of the past century of Mexican history.
Unusually attentive to the contributions of women, Indians, workers, and peasants,
Mexico's Hope is informed by the conviction that the country's most promising prospects today lie in the quest of its poorest people for social justice and democracy-from the recent Zapatista uprisings in Chiapas to ongoing electoral efforts on the left.
Customer Reviews:
Current Mexican affairs.......2000-11-30
Anyone interested in Mexico's modern politics and current events must read this book. I thought the first chapters, those dealing with Mexico's history previous to the 1910 revolution, were a bit useless to the overall effect. However, most of the book deals with the country's cultural and political aspects in such a way as to make it a necessary companion to the study of present day Mexico. There are many revealing ideas, and above all, I think, the author is able to transmit to the reader more than facts or oppinions about Mexico's government: he is able to clarify and express those things one always notices about Mexico without one ever beeing able to conceptualize into words. Althoug the author does not inted to be prophetic, I think that he was knowledgeable enough to foresee many of the developments that have just recently taken place after this book's publishing, so that one can clearly see the underlying motives and reasons of those changes.
Average customer rating:
|
Illinois Legacy: Gubernatorial Addresses of Adlai E. Stevenson, 1949-1952
Adlai E. Stevenson
Manufacturer: Greystone Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Law
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Law
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0961537604 |
Average customer rating:
|
An Illinois Legacy: Gubernatorial addresses of Adlai E. Stevenson 1949-1952
Michael (editor) Maher
Manufacturer: Paint Hill Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBD93M |
Average customer rating:
|
The Life and Times of a 20th Century Farmer's Boy
Nick Adames
Manufacturer: Woodfield Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
History
| Subjects
| Books
| Africa
| Americas
| Ancient
| Arctic & Antarctica
| Asia
| Australia & Oceania
| Books on CD
| Books on Cassette
| Europe
| Gay & Lesbian
| Historical Study
| Large Print
| Middle East
| Military
| Military Science
| Russia
| United States
| World
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Agricultural Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1903953014 |
Average customer rating:
|
Intercellular communication in plants: Studies on plasmodesmata
Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0387075704 |
Average customer rating:
|
Parallels in Cell to Cell Junctions in Plants and Animals (Nato a S I Series Series H, Cell Biology)
William J. Lucas ,
England) NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Parallels in Cell to Cell Communication in Plants and Animals (1989 : York , and
A. W. Robards
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Cell Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Cell Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0387517685 |
Average customer rating:
|
Plasmodesmata (Annual Plant Reviews)
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Cell Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Cell Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 1405125543 |
Book Description
Annual Plant Reviews, Volume 18Since their discovery over 100 years ago, plasmodesmata have been the focus of intense investigation. Plasmodesmata are unique to plants and form an intercellular continuum for the transport of solutes, signals and ribonucleoprotein complexes. It is now clear that plasmodesmata formation and regulation are central to a diverse range of plant functions that include developmental programming, host-pathogen interactions and systemic RNA signaling.This book provides a state-of-the-art overview of the diverse forms and functions of plasmodesmata. It covers the structure and evolution of plasmodesmata, their role in plant development and solute transport, and their central function in systemic signaling via the phloem. It includes critical evaluations of current methods used to study intercellular transport via plasmodesmata.The volume is directed at researchers and professionals in plant cell biology, plant molecular biology, plant physiology and plant pathology.
Average customer rating:
|
Plasmodesmata: Structure, Function, Role in Cell Communication
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Cell Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Physiology
| Plants
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Morphology & Anatomy
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Physiology
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Cell Biology
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 3540651691 |
Book Description
Plasmodesmata are minuscule plasma corridors between plant cells which are of paramount importance for transport, communication and signalling between cells. These nano-channels are responsible for the integrated action of cells within tissues and for the subdivision of the plant body into working symplast units.This book updates the wealth of new information in this rapidly expanding field. Reputed workers in the field discuss major techniques in plasmodesmatal research and describe recent discoveries on the ultrastructure, the functioning and the role of plasmodesmata in intracellular transport and communication, in cell differentiation, plant development and virus translocation.
Average customer rating:
|
Investigations on the structure and development of plasmodesmata in the cortical parenchyma of viscum album (FPL)
Reta Krull
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007I4MYK |
Average customer rating:
|
PLASMODESMATA
Oparka
Manufacturer: BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N55WGY |
Average customer rating:
|
Selected Methods for the Small Clinical Chemistry Laboratory (Selected Methods of Clinical Chemistry, Vol. 9)
Manufacturer: American Association for Clinical Chemistry,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General & Reference
| Chemistry
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0915274132 |
Average customer rating:
- Useful, but could be much better with substantial revision
|
Introductory Quantum Optics
Christopher Gerry , and
Peter Knight
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Quantum Theory
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Optics
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Optics
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Quantum Theory
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Quantum Optics: An Introduction (Oxford Master Series in Physics, 6)
-
Modern Foundations Of Quantum Optics
-
Quantum Optics
-
Fundamentals of Quantum Optics
-
Introduction to Quantum Optics: From Light Quanta to Quantum Teleportation
ASIN: 052152735X |
Book Description
This elementary introduction to the subject of quantum optics, the study of the quantum mechanical nature of light and its interaction with matter, is almost entirely concerned with the quantized electromagnetic field. The text is designed for upper-level undergraduates taking courses in quantum optics who have already taken a course in quantum mechanics, and for first- and second- year graduate students.
Customer Reviews:
Useful, but could be much better with substantial revision.......2005-10-13
I am a mathematician who is very familiar with electrodynamics and quantum mechanics.
I read this book to teach myself quantum optics.
Since I read it as a self-study text,
I will review it from that perspective.
Some of the weaknesses noted might be less important for a classroom text.
The Gerry/Knight text is billed as suitable for
"senior undergraduates and beginning postgraduates", but
I fear that undergraduates who attempt it as a self-study text
are likely to end up frustrated.
I can't recall ever encountering an undergraduate with a background in mathematics and quantum mechanics
sufficient to read this book in a reasonable time without the guidance of an instructor.
If used for self-study, I think that minimal prerequisites
would be a graduate level understanding of abstract linear algebra and quantum mechanics.
Some familiarity with Fock space and the theory of operators on infinite-dimensional Hilbert spaces would be desirable.
Because the book is intended for beginners,
the authors take pains to explain many things which a beginner might not know.
Most of the explanations were careful and helpful, but I was dissatisfied with some.
I read the book cover to cover and was able to follow most of it,
but some of it (e.g, much of the chapter on decoherence)
is still a mystery to me.
Chapter 9 describes recent experiments in quantum optics which
demonstrate amazing properties of light unimaginable from a classical perspective.
The presentations of the physical setups give just the right amount of detail for clear understanding.
The diagrams are good.
However, I felt that the mathematical analyses would be easier
for those with good backgrounds if done on a higher level,
and some of the physical discussions seemed obscure.
Given the authors' intended audience,
it may be unreasonable to quarrel with their choice of mathematical level.
However, it is truly unfortunate that some of
their calculational details seem actually wrong.
For example, in Section 9.3's discussion of a ``quantum eraser'',
several terms appear to be omitted from equation (9.21),
which invalidates some of the subsequent discussion.
Moreover, the discussion is obscure and seems of questionable validity even were the text's (9.21) correct.
More details can be found on my website.
I noticed only a few errors which would affect the physics,
but there are too many mathematical errors and
an unusually large number of typos.
Most of the typos are relatively insignificant,
but nevertheless distracting.
Readers should be prepared to check everything.
My copy is by now riddled with underlined statements with marginal notes
like "Why?", or "What does this mean?"
As I progressed through the book and my understanding deepened,
many of these "Why's" were erased, but quite a few remain.
The reader who wants to learn quantum optics and has
the necessary mathematical background may wish that
parts of the book were more carefully written,
but he will not be fundamentally disappointed.
This is a good book from which I learned a lot.
It seems much clearer than Scully and Zubairy's
Quantum Optics, which I read previously.
My brand new paperback copy is falling apart after only a few weeks of careful use at home.
A book this good deserves a more durable binding.
Average customer rating:
|
La Llamada De Lo Salvaje/ The Call of the Wild, 1903 (El Barco De Papel)
Jack London
Manufacturer: AIMS International Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
London, Jack
| ( L )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Spanish
| Foreign Language Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
( L )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Spanish
| Foreign Language Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Classics
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Clásicos
| Literatura y Ficción
| Adolescentes
| Infantil y juvenil
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
Literatura
| Infantil y juvenil
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
| Acción y Aventura
| Ciencia Ficción, Fantasía, Misterio y Horror
| Colecciones de Relato Corto
| Comicidad
| Crítica Literaria y Colecciones
| Cuentos de Hadas, Cuentos Tradicionales y Mitos
| Cultura Popular
| General
| Poesía
London, Jack
| ( L )
| Autores, A-Z
| Literatura y ficción
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
Clásicos
| General
| Literatura y ficción
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
Contemporánea
| General
| Literatura y ficción
| Libros en español
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: 8495311062 |
Average customer rating:
|
The Definition of the Thing: With Some Notes on Language
John William Miller
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Reference
| Historical Study
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Logic & Language
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Modern
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0393300595 |
Book Description
A classic volume by a noted philosopher, available again. John William Miller (1895-1978) taught at Williams College, where from 1945 to 1960 he was Mark Hopkins Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. His extraordinary teaching is described in Masters: Portraits of Great Teachers, edited by Joseph Epstein. While deeply indebted to Plato, Kant, and Hegel, Miller arrived at a strikingly original reinterpretation of the history of philosophy, which, he believed, resolved long-standing epistemological and moral problems generated by that history. In The Definition of the Thing, an unusually provocative and original essay, Miller had works out a number of the basic contentions of his mature philosophy.
Average customer rating:
- Getting to the bottom of Armenia
- too much Thesaurus, too little depth
- Subjective is a good word.
- The Quest for Ararat
- Excellent travelogue among Armenians
|
The Crossing Place: A Journey Among the Armenians (Kodansha Globe)
Philip Marsden
Manufacturer: Kodansha Amer Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Japan
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Armenia
| Asia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Russia
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
20th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Armenia
| Asia
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)
ASIN: 1568360525 |
Customer Reviews:
Getting to the bottom of Armenia.......2006-10-18
Detectives and divorce lawyers like to probe into their cases, pulling out causes and motivations, faults and crimes. They talk about "getting to the bottom" of it all. Maybe they can do it too. When authors of novels build characters, tell their stories, they can succeed in getting to the bottom of everything---if they want---because, after all, they've created everything from scratch. On the contrary, I know as an anthropologist that you can never, ever get to the bottom of an entire people or culture. You can hardly even get close. Large groups of people are just too diverse. History is too complex, particularly if that history extends over several thousand years. So, what I'm saying is that you can find out what makes a clock tick, you can learn if such and such a people produced pottery or not, but you can't discover what has kept Armenians going through centuries of trouble. Reading Marsden's THE CROSSING PLACE only confirms what I think---he doesn't even get close. On the other hand, maybe that desire was only an excuse to travel around Europe and the Middle East to see what remained of the ancient communities of Armenians that once traded, lived, and built churches from Europe to China. If so, then fair enough, it was a good idea which has produced an interesting, well-written book of travels. Marsden visits not only the scenes of the 1915 genocide, weirdly quiet in Syria and Lebanon just before the first Gulf War in 1990, but also Venice, Israel, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, and several parts of the former USSR. He meets the last remnants of the Armenian population, most of which has left for greener pastures with the fall of Communism or because of the Lebanese civil war. At last Marsden arrives in Armenia itself, just emerging from the ruins of the Soviet Union, fighting for its survival as a nation with Azerbaijan, which was backed by Soviet forces at the time. Marsden travels through the country, eventually reaching the very bottom, by the southern frontier with Iran. He DID get to the bottom of Armenia, but only physically.
The author's approach is extremely haphazard, extremely romantic. He meets a number of important Armenians, but gets little substantive information from them. He visits sites of massacres and seiges, interviews a few ancient survivors, but says nothing new. He meets a number of people he didn't like--and they always speak pidgin English, unlike his own well-modulated tones. Everything American earns his special disdain. Marsden's travails with visas, bad transport, scarce food, or dirty hotels loom large, as does the hospitality of the Armenians everywhere he goes. The Armenians are indeed a hospitable people; they are tough; they are survivors, like the Jews, they have had to use their wits to get by for centuries; despite the genocide they are very much still around. But why them when other peoples have disappeared ? Marsden offers no clue. Armenian readers may warm to the author's attentions, but he doesn't fill in the gaps for others. He ignores works of history, anthropology, or any academic subject whatsoever. Being academic is certainly not required, but you must have SOME facts, some kind of argument, otherwise, you wind up with travel episodes---"I went here, I went there". Why ? Maybe because Philip Marsden likes to travel rough in out of the way places. In short, THE CROSSING PLACE may reveal many facts about Armenians, about Armenia in 1989-90, about the genocide, for readers who aren't aware of them, you may enjoy vivid scenes and some intelligent philosophical musings but don't expect to get to the bottom of anything.
too much Thesaurus, too little depth.......2005-10-11
This is a moderately disappointing book. Armenia has a fascinating history, multi-faceted, struggling against adversity and nevertheless producing talented, highly gifted people. So a good book would be necessary to do them justice.
Philip Marsden tries to deliver this, and certainly undertook an effort. He learned Armenian, and traveled through 20 countries, tracing the history of this scattered people. However, as a reader you soon find that distance does not compensate for depth. It is all fairly breathless, a short night spent here, the next night in the next town, or next country. The experiences therefore remain fleeting, rarely reaching any level of insight. In fact, I think you can get pretty much the same information from a Lonely Planet guide, without the distracting personal details thrown in. This is not intrinsic, some of Marsden's other books actually are better in this regard.
The style is fine, but since the substance is so thin, the chiseled descriptions end up being an irritating veneer, a writer straining his Thesaurus, rather than a good storyteller. There are occasional irritating elements: I, for one, no longer want to read about Western travelers turning down hookers in Eastern Europe, we have really heard it before and there is no need for the writer to parade his virtue to readers. It is, I should add, only a small irritation: overall, Marsden comes across as a likable person, which matters in travel writing, since you will follow private experiences.
So, the book is best described as a broad survey of meeting Armenians in many countries, against the backdrop of the collapsing Soviet Union. Given the shortage of good books on Armenia, it may be a last resort. It may serve as a very basic introduction to Armenia. But otherwise, don't expect too much. If you know the region and like Armenia, the book will add little.
I understand that some Armenians feel charmed by the attention, and therefore like the book. I sympathize, but I believe that their people would deserve more depth, and a more reflective understanding. At the same time, I also felt put off by the way Marsden approached Turkey. He essentially walks into Turkey feeling uneasy, and finds confirmation for his sentiments. No big surprise there, and little value added.
Subjective is a good word........2002-12-19
Please don't make the assumption that because I criticize this book that it means I am a "turkish denier", that I deny that the genocide ever happened. People seem to be so polarized over this issue that it is almost impossible to have a discussion about Turkish/Armenian relations without being instantly pigeon-holed. The reason that I dislike this book, is that it seems to attmept to widen and strengthen this polarization, without any true insight into the issue.
While I truly applaud Mr. Marsden in undertaking this incredible journey and doing so much to dig so deep into a culture, I coulnd't help but be effected by some of the implications he makes in his book in relation to Turks and Turkey in general. Of course this is a document of his own PERSONAL feelings and experiences in the journey which are richly written, but... had I not known any better I would walk away from this book feeling somewhat of a hatred for Turks. What bothers me is the way he accomplishes this by playing loose and fast with facts and alluding to things without saying them directly (and I don't mean loose and hard facts about the genocide, I mean about things that happen to him). While it may seem that due to my personal connection to Turkey I am simply over-reacting to a few small details in the book, I would argue to the contrary. Part of the effect he seems to want to create hinges on convincing us to share his view of how Turks as a people and culture are.
For example, the book itself opens with him in Eastern Turkey chancing upon an abadoned Armenian village and a Turkish shephard. Marsden finds a bone and then asks the shephard about the village. The shepard barks "Ermeni", grabs the bone and throws it to his dogs. Without stating it directly he opens the book "saying" that Turks are glad the Armenians are gone, still hate them, feed their bones to their dogs, and are barbaric. Whether the bone was or was not human or even Armenian for that matter he doesn't say, nor whether or not the man was angry because he hates Armenians, is annoyed by a nosey British man interrupting his solitude, or for any number of reasons he doesn't say either. Either way his aim at the start of the book seems rather, sadly, clear.
Later he says that he meets a man in a mosque in Edirne. The man asks what he is doing in Turkey and Marsden says he tracing out the Armenians. Marsden then asks the man what he does and the man says he's a cop. Again, this is told in such a way as to imply that perhaps some kind of secret Turkish police is following him around, not that it is a chance encounter with a man in a mosque who simply answers his quesiton about what his job is. He refuses to even once refer to Istanbul by any other name than Constantinople. He offers no historical background to the genocide (although a plethora of history elsewhere) which again gives the impression of it just happening out of nowhere due simply to inanate/genetic Turkish barbarity. He even states that he's glad to leave Turkey finally as it is a place "neither East nor West"; this is a very surprisingly superficial view coming from someone so well traveled and who seems to look into everything else so deeply around him: where he is not content with superficial information on Armenians and goes to great lengths to get to the bottom and truth of this information, he seems totally content with accepting and furthering completely superficial information and views in relation to Turks.
I am not here to debate about the genocide and related issues nor to defend Turkish/Ottoman actions, but I do want to point out what I feel to be a "message" in the book. Due to these inbalances in the book at the end it seems to come off as too one-sided and almost irresponsible: yes he has done a wonderful job bringing to light a complex, important, and beautiful culture, but at the cost of sidlining and de-humanizing another. Having been to Armenia and currently living in Turkey myself I agree with another reviewer's comment of Turks and Armenians having more in common than they might want to admit. If Marsden is truly commited to the Armenian cause then he would do good to be more aware of the effects his book might have in furthering the Turkish-Armenian rift.
Again it's a great travel book, but be wary of it's implied politics.
The Quest for Ararat.......2002-09-20
Philip Marsden clearly harbors a special interest in eastern Christian traditions, for they run like a red thread through his three travel books. In "A Far Country: Travels in Ethiopia" he visits this sole surviving Christian nation in the Horn of Africa, surrounded by Islamic countries. "The Spirit Wrestlers" explores a plethora of religious movement springing up in Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus in the wake of the Societ Union's downfall..
In "The Crossing Place" Marsden sets out to investigate the tragic fate of the Armenians, an ancient Christian people from the Caucasus. This mountainous region tugged in between the Black and Caspian Seas lies on the crossroads of the old Persian, Turkish and Russian realms. It is also the place were six of the world's twelve tectonic plates meet, making it one of the most earthquake-prone regions in the world. Because of this geographical position Armenia's fate is permeated with disaster, both natural and man-made. These experiences have made dislocation a continuous theme in Armenian history and provide the book with a double travel motif: not only the author is constantly on the move, but so is his subject.
Marsden became interested in the Armenians through a chance encounter in eastern Turkey. There he stumbled on some fragmentary remains of the 1915 Armenian genocide. Intrigued by what he had found he decided to work his way back to the Armenian heartland.
The first part of the book is situated in the Near East, where Armenia had almost ceased to exist, "pushed down one of history's side-alleys and murdered". Or so it seemed, had they not been such a resilient people. Marsden picks up the trail in the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem. He learns that the Armenians first appeared on the Anatolian plains in the sixth century BC. Eight hundred years later their king became the first ruler to accept Christianity. A first glimpse of the `essential Armenia" is caught during a visit to a famous center for Armenian Studies, the San Lazzaro monastery in Venice (where Armenians had been resident well before the city's rise to commercial and political prominence in the 12th century). According to one of its scholars the unique Armenian script developed by Mesrop Mashtot embodies an idea that can not be explained but only expressed in one word "Ararat", the mountain that is the heart of Armenia.
Marsden continues his quest in Lebanon -- by way of Cyprus -- and poses himself the question how such a mobile nation, consisting of merchants, pilgrims and adventurers, had been able to maintain its distinctiveness. Nowhere better to get a sense of that than in Beirut, which has just emerged from a brutal civil war. Here the Armenians had staunchly stuck to their neutrality but also maintained a basis for their commando-type liberation movements, operating with surgical precision in sixteen countries. Only by tapping into the efficient Armenian network of connections is Marsden able to move swiftly and inconspicuously through Lebanon and Syria. Taking the Baron hotel in Aleppo -- founded and still managed by an Armenian -- as a base camp for explorations into the last surviving Armenian villages of northern Syria, Marsden gives us a chilling account of the ruthlessness with which the Turks perpetrated their ethnic cleansing during the First World War.
From Syria the author moves into Turkey. Using the ancient city of Antioch, which for seven hundred years had been largely populated by Armenians, the ruins of Ani, capital of a long-lost Armenian state, and finally Istanbul as a backdrop, Marsden gives an excellent overview of another Armenian characteristic: their genius for building. No single ethnic group in the Middle East has made so many contributions to architecture as the Armenians. They were employed by Turkish, Persian and Indian rulers alike. Marsden conjectures that they may have been instrumental to the development of Europe's Gothic style with its pointed arch.
The second part of the book takes us to the Balkans. Since the days of the Byzantine empire, subsequent rulers of Asia Minor have used this region to exile unwanted elements. This permits Marsden to launch into one of his favorite topics: arcane religious sects. The reader is provided with a most interesting account of how the doctrine of dualism, which can be traced back to the earlier Persian religions of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism, forms the origin of many Christian heresies. Marsden has clearly studied this issue thoroughly and makes an Armenian role in the spread of heretical beliefs to western Europe quite plausible.
Traveling through Bulgaria and Romania, Marsden "[..] became aware that the Armenians had been a much greater presence in the Balkans than [..] first imagined." More gaps in the knowledge of this, at first so enigmatic, people are filled. He penetrates deeper into their language and learns about the extent of their trading relations. In the Middle Ages they had already reached Moorish Spain, Poland and the court of the Mongol Khan. By the 18th century Armenians were connected with the Ottoman, Safavid and Moghul courts, had established an influence with Burmese and Ethiopian monarchs, and traded in Amsterdam, Calcutta, Java and Tibet.
Via the Crimea Marsden finally makes it to Armenia proper where the third part of the book is set. Recently wrested away from seventy years of Soviet domination the situation there is still very precarious. During visits to four famous monasteries in the country's northeast, the writer contemplates the so-called "Silver Age", Armenia's last period of brilliance during the eleventh and early twelfth centuries. Buried deep beneath this short period of fervent monastic activity lies Armenia's pre-Christian heritage. This atavistic past is just as much part of the Armenian identity as its unique Christian beliefs.
The book closes with an account of Armenia's more recent tribulations: a devastating earthquake and the war with neighboring Azerbaijan over the region of Karabagh. Witnessing its effects first-hand, Marsden "[..] sensed that here, where the threat was greatest, the Armenian spirit was at its strongest. It was the same spirit that had driven the Armenians through the vast improbability of their history".
"The Crossing Place" establishes Philip Marsden as a worthy successor of Colin Thubron, one of Britain's best travel writers. Not only do the two share an interest in less obvious travel destinations on the Eurasian landmass, visiting people at the fringes of so-called great cultures, but their writings have also a certain style in common; a captivating prose that unfolds the power of the English language and holds the reader's attention until the end.
Excellent travelogue among Armenians.......2002-04-23
... It is really the best yet on travelling among Armenians. Mr. Marsden has a talent for juxtaposing different images through the English language and also through selecting visual adjectives in describing the Armenian character, history and the genocide. I enjoyed this book much more than Michael Arlen's which I had trouble really getting into. Mr. Marsden is honest in his reaction and description of Armenanians -- his repulsion and attraction alike. I recommend this book for anyone wishing to understand the disaspora, the genocide, the Armenian people and their tie to their land.
Average customer rating:
|
Countdown to Apocalypse: A Scientific Exploration of the End of the World
Paul Halpern
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Prophecies
| Reference
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Controversial Knowledge
| Religious Studies
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Unexplained Mysteries
| Occult
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Astronomy
| Astronomy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Cosmology
| Astronomy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Universe
| Astronomy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Philosophy
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Cosmology
| Astronomy
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The End of the World: The Science and Ethics of Human Extinction
-
A Guide to the End of the World: Everything You Never Wanted to Know
-
Pocket Guide To The Apocalypse: The Official Field Manual For The End Of The World
-
OUR FINAL HOUR: A Scientist's warning : How Terror, Error, and Environmental Disaster Threaten Humankind's Future in This Century--On Earth and Beyond
-
Field Guide to the Apocalypse: Movie Survival Skills for the End of the World
ASIN: 0738203580 |
Amazon.com
Get ready now. Everything ends eventually, and life as we know it must sooner or later wind down. Physicist Paul Halpern pursues eschatology from the merely global to the truly universal in Countdown to Apocalypse: A Scientific Exploration of the End of the World. In this surprisingly lively, engaging book, Halpern examines the history of the end of the world (including the first wave of millennialism in the 10th century), potential doomsdays from nuclear war to global warming, and finally the inevitable collapse or dispersal of the universe itself. His explanations of the relevant physics are sparkling. Intriguingly, he is equally conversant in the important psychological factors motivating our interest and occasional strange behavior regarding the end. Tales of Heaven's Gate and Jonestown believers, and others more fortunate but no less deluded, pepper the all-too-real depictions of asteroid collisions, ozone holes, and the death of our sun. While it would be easy to wallow in despair, Halpern's consistently charming prose and optimistic turns keep the reader going eagerly from one awful scenario to the next. Sure, the end is near, but with a bit of luck and foresight, we should still have millions of years left to worry about it. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
A guide to the myriad possibilities for cosmic apocalypse.
Inspired by the end of the millennium, celebrated science writer Paul Halpern tackles the fate of human civilization and our planet in this meditation on the end of the world. Beginning with the religious origins of the idea of apocalypse, Halpern shows how science has borrowed the metaphor to describe potential worldwide catastrophes. He spins out various scenarios for destruction, from nuclear war and global warming to a great flood and a new Ice Age. He argues that while human history will someday come to a close-even if we survived for billions of years, we would eventually face the end of the universe itself-in the meantime we have gained extraordinary control over our fate as a species. Faced with the power to steer our planet toward paradise or transform it into hell, he says, we must take steps to avoid those catalysts of apocalypse that are within our control.
Average customer rating:
|
Endangered and Threatened Animals of Florida and Their Habitats (Corrie Herring Hooks Series)
Chris Scott
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Animals
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Wildlife
| Animals
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Endangered Species
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0292705298 |
Book Description
A biological crossroads where temperate gives way to tropical and east blends into west, Florida has over twenty-five primary habitat types, several of which are unique to the state. Within these richly varied natural communities lives an astonishing abundance of animals and plants, making Florida one of the United States' most biologically diverse regions. At the same time, sadly, Florida is also one of the country's most ecologically imperiled regions, second only to California in the number of its animals and plants that have been federally designated as endangered or threatened.
This fully illustrated book is a comprehensive, yet convenient and easy-to-understand guide to Florida's endangered and threatened animals and the habitats that support them. Chris Scott covers all 71 species, subspecies, or populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, crustaceans, insects, corals, and mollusks. His species accounts describe each animal's listed status, identifying characteristics, historical and current distribution, biology, current threats, and conservation efforts. To make the crucial link between animals and their habitats, Scott also includes extensive discussions of Florida's natural regions; human impacts on the environment, including habitat destruction, pollution, and the introduction of invasive, nonnative species; and ongoing efforts to conserve and restore native plant and animal communities. With this wealth of information available in no other single volume, everyone who cares about the natural environment can help preserve one of America's biological treasurehouses.
Average customer rating:
|
Endangered and Threatened Animals of Florida and Their Habitats
C. Scott
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORL5PS |
Books:
- Official Papers of Alfred Marshall: A Supplement
- Oil and Gas: Crises and Controversies 1961-2000, Volume 1: Global Issues
- On the Margins: The Arab Population in the Israeli Economy
- Post-Industrial Philadelphia: Structural Changes in the Metropolotian Economy
- Profiles of America 2003: A Statistical Overview of Every U.S. Community
- Profiles of America: Eastern Region : Volume 4
- Profiles of America: Southern Region
- Profits in the Wilderness: Entrepreneurship and the Founding of New England Towns in the Seventeenth Century
- Prophets and Markets: The Political Economy of Ancient Israel (Social Dimensions of Economics)
- Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants and Peasants in Jabal Nablus, 1700-1900
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Adobe Camera Raw for Digital Photographers Only
- American Eskimo Dog: A Comprehensive Guide to Owning and Caring for Your Dog
- Wild Thorns
- Zebra In Lion Country: The Dean Of Small Cap Stocks Explains How To Invest In Small Rapidly Growin
- Write to TV: Out of Your Head and onto the Screen
- An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory
- AKU-AKU: The Secret of Easter Island
- The Enlarged European Union: A Statistical Handbook 2003
- Working With Words, Words to Work With
- Lt. Ted Meredith, USNR, pt boat officer: Stories from 50 years ago