Best of
Geography

2009

Atlas of Remote Islands


Judith Schalansky - 2009
    There are still places on earth that are unknown. Visually stunning and uniquely designed, this wondrous book captures fifty islands that are far away in every sense-from the mainland, from people, from airports, and from holiday brochures. Author Judith Schalansky used historic events and scientific reports as a springboard for each island, providing information on its distance from the mainland, whether its inhabited, its features, and the stories that have shaped its lore. With stunning full-color maps and an air of mysterious adventure, Atlas of Remote Island is perfect for the traveler or romantic in all of us.

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom


Chris van Wyk - 2009
    Now the youngest readers can discover the remarkable story of Mandela's long walk from ordinary village boy, to his dynamic leadership of the African National Congress, to his many long years in prison-and, at last, his freedom and astonishing rise to become the leader of his country.

One World, One Day


Barbara Kerley - 2009
    This is a sophisticated concept book, presented as an elegant picture book with contributions from top international photographers.This beautiful photo book follows the course of one day in our world. Sunrise to sunset is captured in the essential things we all do daily, wherever we live in the world, and in the different ways we do them. The first meal of the day will take on a whole new dimension for American kids as an American pancake breakfast is contrasted with porridge in North Korea and churros in Spain.At the end, each image is reprinted as a thumbnail and accompanied by a detailed caption. Selected images feature photographers’ notes that share the thoughts and methodology involved in the making of the picture and reveal fascinating behind-the-scenes information. The photographers reflect on how the pictures might resonate within the theme of the global family. Such reflections are rooted in the life experiences of these well-traveled professionals. Their global viewpoints, in tandem with Barbara Kerley’s powerful message, set an ideal example for all future world citizens.

Vilnius: City of Strangers


Laimonas Briedis - 2009
    A historical investigation with references to a wealth of sources, this book also features remarkable quotes from travelers passing through. A list of these includes artistic giants (such as writers Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Ostrovsky, Doblin, and Brodsky), political and cultural icons (like the German general Ludendorff and Emperors Napoleon as well as Alexander), and compelling European personas going back to the 14th century, who, though forgotten, are representative of their generation. The subtitle refers to the fact that until quite recently, ethnic Lithuanians rarely made up a majority among the inhabitants of Vilnius. Published by Baltos Iankos, Vilnius, distributed by CEU Press.

Epistemologies of the South: Justice Against Epistemicide


Boaventura de Sousa Santos - 2009
    Rarely acknowledged is another vital dimension: cognitive injustice, the failure to recognize the different ways of knowing by which people across the globe run their lives and provide meaning to their existence. This book shows why cognitive injustice underlies all the other dimensions; global social justice is not possible without global cognitive justice. Santos's argument unfolds in two inquiries. No matter how internally diverse, Western Modernity provided the knowledge underlying the long cycle of colonialism followed by global capitalism. These historical processes profoundly devalued and marginalized the knowledge and wisdom that had been in existence in the global South. Today, working against epistemicide is imperative in order to recover and valorize the epistemological diversity of the world. Such recovery and valorization is the book's second inquiry and is based on four key analytical tools: sociology of absences, sociology of emergences, ecology of knowledges, and intercultural translation. The transformation of the world's epistemological diversity into an empowering instrument against hegemonic globalization points to a new kind of bottom-up cosmopolitanism. It would promote a wide conversation of humankind, celebrating conviviality, solidarity, and life against the logic of market-ridden greed and individualism and the destruction of life to which world populations large and small are condemned by the dominant forces of globalization.

The Soccer Book


David Goldblatt - 2009
    Whether you want to bend it like Beckham or dribble like Ronaldinho, The Soccer Book is the ultimate visual guide to soccer skills, rules, tactics, and coaching, illustrating every aspect of every variant of the sport more clearly, and in more detail, than any other book has done before.

The Maps of Chickamauga: An Atlas of the Chickamauga Campaign, Including the Tullahoma Operations, June 22 - September 23, 1863


David A. Powell - 2009
    Track individual regiments through their engagements at fifteen to twenty-minute intervals or explore each army in motion as brigades and divisions maneuver and deploy to face the enemy. The Maps of Chickamauga allows readers to fully grasp the action at any level of interest.Now available as an ebook short, The Maps of Chickamauga: The Tullahoma Campaign, June 22 July 1, 1863 plows new ground in the study of the campaign by breaking down the entire campaign in 7 detailed full page original maps. Situation maps reflect the posture of each army on an hourly basis, while tactical maps reveal the intricacies of regimental and battery movements.The Maps of Chickamauga: The Tullahoma Campaign, June 22 July 1, 1863 offers one action-section: - The Tullahoma CampaignThe text accompanying each map explains the action in succinct detail, supported by a host of primary sources. Eyewitness accounts vividly underscore the human aspect of the actions detailed in the maps as brigades and regiments collide. Meticulously researched and footnoted by David Powell with cartography by David Friedrichs, The Maps of Chickamauga relies on the participants own words to recreate the course of battle.The Maps of Chickamauga is an ideal companion for battlefield bushwhacking or simply armchair touring. Full color brings the movements to life, allowing readers to grasp the surging give and take of regimental combat in the woods and fields of North Georgia

Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City


Eric W. Sanderson - 2009
    It's difficult for us to imagine what he saw, but for more than a decade, landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson has been working to do just that. Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City is the astounding result of those efforts, reconstructing, in words and images, the wild island that millions of New Yorkers now call home.By geographically matching an 18th-century map of Manhattan's landscape to the modern cityscape, combing through historical and archaeological records, and applying modern principles of ecology and computer modeling, Sanderson is able to re-create the forests of Times Square, the meadows of Harlem, and the wetlands of downtown. Filled with breathtaking illustrations that show what Manhattan looked like 400 years ago, Mannahatta is a groundbreaking work that gives readers not only a window into the past, but inspiration for green cities and wild places of the future

The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name


Toby Lester - 2009
    For millennia Europeans believed that the world consisted of three parts: Europe, Africa, and Asia. They drew the three continents in countless shapes and sizes on their maps, but occasionally they hinted at the existence of a "fourth part of the world," a mysterious, inaccessible place, separated from the rest by a vast expanse of ocean. It was a land of myth--until 1507, that is, when Martin Waldseemuller and Matthias Ringmann, two obscure scholars working in the mountains of eastern France, made it real. Columbus had died the year before convinced that he had sailed to Asia, but Waldseemuller and Ringmann, after reading about the Atlantic discoveries of Columbus's contemporary Amerigo Vespucci, came to a startling conclusion: Vespucci had reached the fourth part of the world. To celebrate his achievement, Waldseemuller and Ringmann printed a huge map, for the first time showing the New World surrounded by water and distinct from Asia, and in Vespucci's honor they gave this New World a name: America."The Fourth Part of the World "is the story behind that map, a thrilling saga of geographical and intellectual exploration, full of outsize thinkers and voyages. Taking a kaleidoscopic approach, Toby Lester traces the origins of our modern worldview. His narrative sweeps across continents and centuries, zeroing in on different portions of the map to reveal strands of ancient legend, Biblical prophecy, classical learning, medieval exploration, imperial ambitions, and more. In Lester's telling the map comes alive: Marco Polo and the early Christian missionaries trek across Central Asia and China; Europe's early humanists travel to monastic libraries to recover ancient texts; Portuguese merchants round up the first West African slaves; Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci make their epic voyages of discovery; and finally, vitally, Nicholas Copernicus makes an appearance, deducing from the new geography shown on the Waldseemuller map that the earth could not lie at the center of the cosmos. The map literally altered humanity's worldview.One thousand copies of the map were printed, yet only one remains. Discovered accidentally in 1901 in the library of a German castle it was bought in 2003 for the unprecedented sum of $10 million by the Library of Congress, where it is now on permanent public display. Lavishly illustrated with rare maps and diagrams, "The Fourth Part of the World "is the story of that map: the dazzling story of the geographical and intellectual journeys that have helped us decipher our world.

Very Washington DC: A Celebration of the History and Culture of America's Capital City


Diana Hollingsworth Gessler - 2009
    In eye-catching watercolors and detailed sketches, artist Diana Gessler captures the allure that makes Washington DC one of the most visited destinations in the country. In addition to the national landmarks, stirring memorials, and vibrant neighborhoods, there's the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Twilight Tattoo (a military pageant featuring the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps and the U.S. Army Drill Team), colorful row houses, famous hotels and restaurants, and more museums than you'll be able to visit in just one trip. Gessler covers the city's most popular attractions but also heads off the beaten path to share hidden gems, like the quirky Albert Einstein Memorial and Eastern Market, where you can dine on bluebucks and browse for flea market finds. Also included are an index of sites and a useful appendix of addresses, Web sites, Metro stops, and phone numbers. Very Washington DC is a picture-perfect guidebook—a one-of-a-kind memento for tourists and a cherished reminder of the city's riches for those who have always lived in America's hometown.

How the World Works: A Hands-On Guide to Our Amazing Planet


Christiane Dorion - 2009
    Packed with illustrations and paper fold-outs, flaps, pops, and more to boost interactive learning, HOW THE WORLD WORKS encourages children to think about the impact of human actions on our environment, while engendering respect for the natural world and all its harmonies.

A Walk in New York


Salvatore Rubbino - 2009
    In this unabashed ode to America’s biggest city, Salvatore Rubbino’s fresh, lively paintings and breezy text capture the delight of a young visitor experiencing the wonders of New York firsthand.

Great Plains: America's Lingering Wild


Michael Forsberg - 2009
    But as the United States and Canada grew westward, the Plains were plowed up, fenced in, overgrazed, and otherwise degraded. Today, this fragmented landscape is the most endangered and least protected ecosystem in North America. But all is not lost on the prairie. Through lyrical photographs, essays, historical images, and maps, this beautifully illustrated book gets beneath the surface of the Plains, revealing the lingering wild that still survives and whose diverse natural communities, native creatures, migratory traditions, and natural systems together create one vast and extraordinary whole.   Three broad geographic regions in Great Plains are covered in detail, evoked in the unforgettable and often haunting images taken by Michael Forsberg. Between the fall of 2005 and the winter of 2008, Forsberg traveled roughly 100,000 miles across 12 states and three provinces, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, to complete the photographic fieldwork for this project, underwritten by The Nature Conservancy. Complementing Forsberg’s images and firsthand accounts are essays by Great Plains scholar David Wishart and acclaimed writer Dan O’Brien. Each section of the book begins with a thorough overview by Wishart, while O’Brien—a wildlife biologist and rancher as well as a writer—uses his powerful literary voice to put the Great Plains into a human context, connecting their natural history with man’s uses and abuses.   The Great Plains are a dynamic but often forgotten landscape—overlooked, undervalued, misunderstood, and in desperate need of conservation. This book helps lead the way forward, informing and inspiring readers to recognize the wild spirit and splendor of this irreplaceable part of the planet.

Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints


Christopher Kimball Bigelow - 2009
    In their wake, beautiful temples have sprung up on nearly every continent. These buildings are the heart and soul of local LDS congregations and represent much more than places of worship. Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is both an architecture and history book that chronicles the growth of the LDS faith as it spread around the world. With their elegant spires reaching to the heavens and massive square footage, Mormon temples are majestic structures. See spectacular examples of LDS international architecture, including the Campinas Brazil Temple, Taipei Taiwan Temple, and the Aba Nigeria Temple. Located on the LDS Church’s headquarters, the Salt Lake City Temple is recognized around the world as a symbol of the church. Learn about this remarkable building and all of the religious symbols incorporated into its design. Each spread includes an introduction to the temple, as well as a section containing more specific details such as address, events (dates of dedications, ground breaking) exteriors (design style, materials, dimensions), interiors (square footage, number of rooms), and temple district. This engaging book includes a giant, colorfully illustrated gate-fold guide to symbols in LDS temple design.

Photographing Oregon: A Guide to the Natural Landmarks of Oregon


Greg Vaughn - 2009
    Come explore coastal cliffs and beaches, sand dunes, lighthouses, wildlife refuges, gardens, waterfalls, verdant valleys, volcanic peaks, unique rock formations, the deepest canyon in North America and remote desert outposts. 304 pages, 240+ outstanding color photographs, hundreds of locations covered, grained cover ideal for field use.

The Berlin Wall Story: Biography of a Monument


Hans-Hermann Hertle - 2009
    Spectacular escape stories and shocking deaths are chronicled here in words and images, as are the dramatic events surrounding the construction and the fall of the Wall. A stunning survey of the Berlin Wall, the central symbol of the Cold War.

Top 10 Florence & Tuscany


Reid Bramblett - 2009
    Dozens of Top 10 lists provide vital information on each destination, as well as insider tips, from avoiding the crowds to finding out the freebies, The DK Top 10 Guides take the work out of planning any trip.

Standing with Stones: A Photographic Journey through Megalithic Britain and Ireland


Rupert Soskin - 2009
    From stone circles and henges to long barrows and cairns, our distant ancestors adapted and shaped their monuments to all environments, leaving us the tantalizing signs of their long-forgotten lives.

Elephant Reflections


Dale Peterson - 2009
    The photographs move from the purely aesthetic to the informative, depicting animals who are at once enigmatic, individual, mysterious, elusive, and iconic. In riveting prose, Peterson introduces the work of field scientists in Africa and explains their recent astonishing discoveries. He then explores the natural history and conservation status of African elephants and discusses the politics of ivory. Elephant Reflections is a book that could change the way the world thinks about elephants while we still have some measure of control over their fate.Read an excerpt here: Elephant Reflections by Dale Peterson and Karl Ammann by University of California Press

Lift-The-flap Picture Atlas


Alex Frith - 2009
    Divided into the separate continents, each double page is crammed with information on sights and cultures to be seen all over the world as well as country borders and capital cities. Includes a giant world map poster. An excellent interactive book to help children learn about the world.

Riches Among the Ruins: Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy


Robert P. Smith - 2009
    Smith is a legend in the world of finance. Part adventurer and part economic warrior, this Indiana Jones of the financial world was an advance man for the forces of globalization, having spent more than thirty years traveling through five continents, buying and selling high-risk securities in the world's most downtrodden economies. So tenuous was his operation and so covert the transactions, that an overnight fluctuation in a country's currency rate could mean the difference between a spectacular profit or a devastating loss. Today, the trade in emerging market debt is worth more than five billion dollars a day, but it was virtually nonexistent when Smith, a one-time collections lawyer, pioneered the business in the late 1970s. Riches Among the Ruins is the extraordinary story of Robert Smith's search to make money doing the riskiest kind of business. We are at his side as he travels through the treacherous and exhilarating world of the debt trader, dodging bullets and roadside bombs in post-Saddam Iraq, and risking his life on the chaotic streets of Nigeria. As he engages in a battle of wills with businessmen in Istanbul, and loses millions overnight in the ruins of the post-Soviet Russian economy, we experience all of the thrill and terror that accompanies making big money in emerging markets. At once adrenaline-fueled and utterly compelling, this is the gripping story of one man's quest for fortune where others fear to tread.

State, Space, World: Selected Essays


Henri Lefebvre - 2009
    Shortly after the 1974 publication of his landmark book The Production of Space, Henri Lefebvre embarked on one of the most ambitious projects of his career: a consideration of the history and geographies of the modern state through a monumental study that linked several disciplines, including political science, sociology, geography, and history.State, Space, World collects a series of Lefebvre's key writings on the state from this period. Making available in English for the first time the as-yet-unexplored political aspect of Lefebvre's work, it contains essays on philosophy, political theory, state formation, spatial planning, and globalization, as well as provocative reflections on the possibilities and limits of grassroots democracy under advanced capitalism.State, Space, World is an essential complement to The Production of Space, The Urban Revolution, and The Critique of Everyday Life. Lefebvre's original and prescient analyses that emerge in this volume are urgently relevant to contemporary debates on globalization and neoliberal capitalism.

Essay on the Geography of Plants


Alexander von Humboldt - 2009
    His 1799–1804 research expedition to Central and South America with botanist Aimé Bonpland set the course for the great scientific surveys of the nineteenth century, and inspired such essayists and artists as Emerson, Goethe, Thoreau, Poe, and Church. The chronicles of the expedition were published in Paris after Humboldt’s return, and first among them was the 1807 “Essay on the Geography of Plants.” Among the most cited writings in natural history, after the works of Darwin and Wallace, this work appears here for the first time in a complete English-language translation. Covering far more than its title implies, it represents the first articulation of an integrative “science of the earth, ” encompassing most of today’s environmental sciences.  Ecologist Stephen T. Jackson introduces the treatise and explains its enduring significance two centuries after its publication.

Good Night North Carolina


Adam Gamble - 2009
    Each book stars a multicultural group of people visiting the featured area’s attractions—such as the Rocky Mountains in Denver, the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Lake Ontario in Toronto, and volcanoes in Hawaii. Rhythmic language guides children through the passage of both a single day and the four seasons while saluting the iconic aspects of each place.

The Great Urban Transformation: Politics of Land and Property in China


You-tien Hsing - 2009
    The Great Urban Transformation investigates what is happening in cities, the urban edges, and the rural fringe in order to explain these relations. In the inner city of major metropolitan centers, municipal governments battle high-ranking state agencies to secure land rents from redevelopment projects, while residents mobilize to assert property and residential rights. At the urban edge, as metropolitan governments seek to extend control over their rural hinterland through massive-scale development projects, villagers strategize to profit from the encroaching property market. At the rural fringe, township leaders become brokers of power and property between the state bureaucracy and villages, while large numbers of peasants are dispossessed, dispersed, and deterritorialized, and their mobilizational capacity is consequently undermined.The Great Urban Transformation explores these issues, and provides an integrated analysis of the city and the countryside, elite politics and grassroots activism, legal-economic and socio-political issues of property rights, and the role of the state and the market in the property market.

This Is the Way We Go to School


Laine Falk - 2009
    Learn about the various forms of transportation that children around the world use.This book shows how children around the world ride in different types of vehicles or on animals as well as walk to get to school.

Australia and the Insular Imagination: Beaches, Borders, Boats, and Bodies


Suvendrini Perera - 2009
    This is the first book to turn its attention to the oceans and coastlines that make and remake the limits of Australia through events such as the arrival of asylum seekers' boats, the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Bali bombings and maritime peacekeeping missions in the Pacific. Against the imperatives of war, security, aid and disaster, various configurations of bodies, boats, borders and beaches testify to the power and the limits of Australia's insular illusion.

The Golden Triangle: Inside Southeast Asia's Drug Trade


Ko-Lin Chin - 2009
    Opportunistic Chinese businessmen and leaders of various armed groups are largely responsible for the manufacture of these drugs. The region is defined by the apparently conflicting parallel strands of criminality and efforts at state building, a tension embodied by a group of individuals who are simultaneously local political leaders, drug entrepreneurs, and members of heavily armed militias.Ko-lin Chin, a Chinese American criminologist who was born and raised in Burma, conducted five hundred face-to-face interviews with poppy growers, drug dealers, drug users, armed group leaders, law-enforcement authorities, and other key informants in Burma, Thailand, and China. The Golden Triangle provides a lively portrait of a region in constant transition, a place where political development is intimately linked to the vagaries of the global market in illicit drugs.Chin explains the nature of opium growing, heroin and methamphetamine production, drug sales, and drug use. He also shows how government officials who live in these areas view themselves not as drug kingpins, but as people who are carrying the responsibility for local economic development on their shoulders.

The Extended Case Method: Four Countries, Four Decades, Four Great Transformations, and One Theoretical Tradition


Michael Burawoy - 2009
    capitalism, and the African transition to post-colonialism in Zambia. Burawoy's odyssey began in 1968 in the Zambian copper mines and proceeded to Chicago's South Side, where he worked as a machine operator and enjoyed a unique perspective on the stability of advanced capitalism. In the 1980s, this perspective was deepened by contrast with his work in diverse Hungarian factories. Surprised by the collapse of socialism in Hungary in 1989, he journeyed in 1991 to the Soviet Union, which by the end of the year had unexpectedly dissolved. He then spent the next decade studying how the working class survived the catastrophic collapse of the Soviet economy. These essays, presented with a perspective that has benefited from time and rich experience, offer ethnographers a theory and a method for developing novel understandings of epochal change.

About Habitats: Mountains


Cathryn Sill - 2009
    series."A beautiful and informative selection." ―School Library JournalIn this addition to the award-winning About Habitats series, former educator and author Cathryn Sill uses simple, easy-to-understand language to teach children what mountains are and what kinds of animals and plants live there.Noted wildlife illustrator John Sill uses detailed, full-color illustrations to depict the diversity of mountain landscapes―from the snow-covered peaks of the Himalaya Mountains to the forested slopes of the Appalachians. A glossary and afterword provide more details. Perfect for early childhood and elementary units on geography, nature, and environment.The About Habitats series introduces children to specific habitats and their living and nonliving components. Each book in the series provides information about the nature and characteristics of the habitat while the full-page illustrations expand on that information.Also available by Cathryn and John Sill: About Habitats: DesertsAbout Habitats: ForestsAbout Habitats: GrasslandsAbout Habitats: OceansAbout Habitats: Polar RegionsAbout Habitats: Rivers and StreamsAbout Habitats: SeashoresAbout Habitats: WetlandsAwards: NSTA Recommends ―National Science Teachers AssociationKansas State Reading Circle Recommended Reading List (Primary) ―Kansas National Education AssociationNorth Carolina Author Awards (Nominee, AAUW Award for Juvenile Literature) ―North Carolina Literary and Historical Association

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into Pennsylvania


Bathroom Readers' Institute - 2009
    Follow Uncle John on a whirlwind tour of Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and all points in between with fun articles, amazing facts, vital stats, hometown heroes, and quirky quizzes. Read about…America’s first zooWilliam Penn and his quest for a land of religious freedomThe birth of Little League BaseballThe true story of the Johnstown floodEncountering bears and boars in the Pennsylvania wildernessHow Ben Franklin invented the political cartoonThe Liberty Bell legends—some of which are actually trueRocky’s famous run, and other Pennsylvania moviesIncredible things that can happen “Only in PA”And much, much more!

Societies of Peace: Matriarchies Past, Present and Future


Heide Göttner-Abendroth - 2009
    Gender Studies. Political Science. SOCIETIES OF PEACE: MATRIARCHIES PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE, edited by Heide Goettner-Abendroth, celebrates women's largely ignored and/or invisible contribution to culture by exploring matriarchal societies that have existed in the past and that continue to exist today in certain parts of the world. Matriarchal societies, primarily shaped by women, have a non violent social order in which all living creatures are respected without the exploitation of humans, animals or nature. They are well-balanced and peaceful societies in which domination is unknown and all beings are treated equally. This book presents these largely misunderstood societies, both past and present, to the wider public, as alternative social and cultural models that promote trust, mutuality, and abundance for all.

The Deportation Regime: Sovereignty, Space, and the Freedom of Movement


Nicholas De GenovaVictor Talavera - 2009
    Anthropologists, historians, legal scholars, and sociologists consider not only the physical expulsion of noncitizens but also the social discipline and labor subordination resulting from deportability, the threat of forced removal. They explore practices and experiences of deportation in regional and national settings from the U.S.-Mexico border to Israel, and from Somalia to Switzerland. They also address broader questions, including the ontological significance of freedom of movement; the historical antecedents of deportation, such as banishment and exile; and the development, entrenchment, and consequences of organizing sovereign power and framing individual rights by territory. Whether investigating the power that individual and corporate sponsors have over the fate of foreign laborers in Bahrain, the implications of Germany’s temporary suspension of deportation orders for pregnant and ill migrants, or the significance of the detention camp, the contributors reveal how deportation reflects and reproduces notions about public health, racial purity, and class privilege. They also provide insight into how deportation and deportability are experienced by individuals, including Arabs, South Asians, and Muslims in the United States. One contributor looks at asylum claims in light of an unusual anti-deportation campaign mounted by Algerian refugees in Montreal; others analyze the European Union as an entity specifically dedicated to governing mobility inside and across its official borders. The Deportation Regime addresses urgent issues related to human rights, international migration, and the extensive security measures implemented by nation-states since September 11, 2001.Contributors: Rutvica Andrijasevic, Aashti Bhartia, Heide Castañeda , Galina Cornelisse , Susan Bibler Coutin, Nicholas De Genova, Andrew M. Gardner, Josiah Heyman, Serhat Karakayali, Sunaina Marr Maira, Guillermina Gina Nuñez, Peter Nyers, Nathalie Peutz, Enrica Rigo, Victor Talavera, William Walters, Hans-Rudolf Wicker, Sarah S. Willen

While Flocks Last


Charlie Elder - 2009
    He looks at why their numbers have fallen, what efforts are being made to encourage their recoveries and meets experts and enthusiasts who are working to make a difference.He also examines just why birds matter in the first place and considers the role of the birdwatcher - one species that is certainly not in decline.

A Transnational Poetics


Jahan Ramazani - 2009
    S. Eliot’s phrase, or “the most provincial of the arts,” according to W. H. Auden. But in A Transnational Poetics, Jahan Ramazani uncovers the ocean-straddling energies of the poetic imagination—in modernism and the Harlem Renaissance; in post–World War II North America and the North Atlantic; and in ethnic American, postcolonial, and black British writing. Cross-cultural exchange and influence are, he argues, among the chief engines of poetic development in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Reexamining the work of a wide array of poets, from Eliot, Yeats, and Langston Hughes to Elizabeth Bishop, Lorna Goodison, and Agha Shahid Ali, Ramazani reveals the many ways in which modern and contemporary poetry in English overflows national borders and exceeds the scope of national literary paradigms. Through a variety of transnational templates—globalization, migration, travel, genre, influence, modernity, decolonization, and diaspora—he discovers poetic connection and dialogue across nations and even hemispheres.

Critical Transitions in Nature and Society


Marten Scheffer - 2009
    He gives examples of critical transitions in lakes, oceans, terrestrial ecosystems, climate, evolution, and human societies. And he demonstrates how to deal with these transitions, offering practical guidance on how to predict tipping points, how to prevent bad transitions, and how to promote critical transitions that work for us and not against us. Scheffer shows the time is ripe for understanding and managing critical transitions in the vast and complex systems in which we live. This book can also serve as a textbook and includes a detailed appendix with equations.Provides an accessible introduction to dynamical systems theoryCovers critical transitions in lakes, oceans, terrestrial ecosystems, the climate, evolution, and human societiesExplains how to predict tipping pointsOffers strategies for preventing bad transitions and triggering good onesFeatures an appendix with equations

Rome and the Distant East: Trade Routes to the Ancient Lands of Arabia, India and China


Raoul McLaughlin - 2009
    Ancient sources reveal that after the Augustan conquest of Egypt, valued commodities from India, Arabia and China became increasingly available to Roman society. These sources describe how Roman traders went far beyond the frontiers of their Empire, travelling on overland journeys and maritime voyages to acquire the silk, spices and aromatics of the remote East.Records from ancient China, early India and a range of significant archaeological discoveries provide further evidence for these commercial contacts. Truly global in its scope, this study is the first comprehensive enquiry into the extent of this trade and its wider significance to the Roman world. It investigates the origins and development of Roman trade voyages across the Indian Ocean, considers the role of distant diplomacy and studies the organization of the overland trade networks that crossed the inner deserts of Arabia through the Incense Routes between the Yemeni Coast and ancient Palestine. It also considers the Silk Road that extended from Roman Syria across Iraq, through the Persian Empire into inner Asia and, ultimately, China.

The Complete Book of Maps and Geography, Grades 3 - 6


American Education Publishing - 2009
    Each book also features challenging concepts and activities to motivate independent study, and a complete answer key to measure performance and guide instruction.

Coast to Coast with Wainwright


Alfred Wainwright - 2009
    Wainwright's Coast to Coast is the most authoritative and useful guide to one of the world’s most beautiful walks. It covers rights of way and areas of open access between the Irish Sea and the North Sea and passes through three of Great Britain’s National Parks: the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, and the North Yorkshire Moors, all areas of outstanding beauty. Providing a wide and varied range of scenery with changing landscapes over a distance of 190 miles, it is one of the most challenging and rewarding of long-distance walks. This new edition has been updated to reflect minor changes in the terrain, and many of the original photographs, taken by Derry Brabbs and first published in 1987, have been retaken by the legendary lakeland photographer. The result is the transformation of a superb guidebook into one that is truly sublime.

New York: A Photographic Album


Gabriela KoganLupe Arenillas - 2009
    Some intimate and detailed, others wide-angled, these photographs explore the grand chaotic serendipity that makes New York so vibrant. Tourists and visitors often comment on this remarkable energy—people feel more alive in New York, especially when they are new to it—and this is the perfect keepsake album that captures (and re-captures) that initial dumbstruck awe and rush of adrenaline that everyone has felt here. The photographs also explore the contrasts that define New York—the highs and the lows, the grand and the ordinary. From penthouses to piers and from bucolic Central Park to carnivalesque Coney Island, the book explores New York’s amazing contradictions that somehow come together in a unique masterpiece. From the heights of the Empire State to the nether realms of the subway, from the burlesque zaniness of Gay Pride to the busting Chinatown streets beneath the bridge, from luxury boutiques to colorful bodegas, and from Lincoln Center to the street corner chanteuse—the contrasts of the city are captured in this album to form a coherent picture of the genius and excitement that is the city.

"A" Is for Anaconda: A Rainforest Alphabet


Anthony D. Fredericks - 2009
    Exotic inhabitants are highlighted along with explanations of forest structure such as understory and canopy.

Pemba Sherpa


Olga Cossi - 2009
    Pemba and his younger sister Yang Ki both yearn for roles as guides and porters to the high country of the Himalayas. While such a goal is well within Pemba’s reach, his seven-year-old sister faces an obstacle, mainly because girls aren’t encouraged, let alone accepted, as porters or guides. As Pemba begins his predawn hike to gather firewood for their school, Yang Ki trails a few feet behind him, resolute in the face of this admonitions to remain at their hut. The trail is sharp, and lose rocks erupt into a landslide that leaves Pemba dazed and desperate for help. As he and Yang Ki resolve the peril of the landslide, both brother and sister reach beyond their perceived limitations to regain safety as well as alter viewpoints about societal roles.

Hrant Dink


Frederic P. Miller - 2009
    Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 - January 19, 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian editor, journalist and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, Dink was a prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey. Dink was best known for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in Turkey; he was often critical of both Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, and of the Armenian diaspora's campaign for its international recognition. Dink was prosecuted three times for denigrating Turkishness, while receiving numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists. Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007, by Ogun Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. This was shortly after the premiere of the genocide documentary "Screamers" in which he is interviewed about Turkish denial of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 and the case against him under article 301. While Samast has since been taken into custody, photographs of the assassin flanked by smiling Turkish police and gendarmerie, posing with the killer side by side in front of the Turkish flag, have since surfaced.

Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment


Wendy Macdonald - 2009
    On an ordinary day, Galileo encounters Massimo dropping food from a bridge to his uncle passing below in his boat. This simple action makes G

Science, Colonialism, and Indigenous Peoples: The Cultural Politics of Law and Knowledge


Laurelyn Whitt - 2009
    Numerous historians of science have documented the vital role of late-eighteenth- and nineteenth-century science as a part of statecraft, a means of extending empire. This book follows imperialism into the present, demonstrating how pursuit of knowledge of the natural world impacts, and is impacted by, indigenous peoples rather than nation-states. In extractive biocolonialism, the valued genetic resources, and associated agricultural and medicinal knowledge, of indigenous peoples are sought, legally converted into private intellectual property, transformed into commodities, and then placed for sale in genetic marketplaces. Science, Colonialism, and Indigenous Peoples critically examines these developments, demonstrating how contemporary relations between indigenous and Western knowledge systems continue to be shaped by the dynamics of power, the politics of property, and the apologetics of law.

Stories from Around the World (Usborne Gift Book)


Anna Milbourne - 2009
    Tales of brave heroes and heroines are retold alongside tales of wonderful magic, of strange and faithful creatures, and of how things first began. These fascinating stories are narrated in such a way that young listeners and young readers will find them easy to understand and enjoy.

Pippo the Fool


Tracey E. Fern - 2009
    This fictionalized version of a true story emphasizes the importance of artistic vision and personal resilience. Editorial Reviews In fifteenth century Florence, a contest is announced for the best design of a dome for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Filippo Brunelleschi, a goldsmith called Pippo the Fool for his practice of designing peculiar machines and structures, vows to win. No one has been able to figure out how to build a dome of the necessary size. Pippo studies the problem and prepares sketches. The contest judges eliminate him. But he builds a model, and the judges are impressed. However, to his anger, they insist that he work with the sneering, arrogant Lorenzo Ghilberti. Overcoming his pride, Pippo begins. It takes sixteen years to finish—without Ghilberti—but the result is the marvel we can see today. Estrada takes pains to depict Florence with historic thoughtfulness. At the same time, his characters are effectively humorous. Lorenzo is depicted with foolish bravado, while Pippo has youthful arrogance. The detailed watercolor-and-gouache scenes with crowds of citizens are informative as well as attractive; the images of the building in process and finished at last are truly impressive. Notes by both author and illustrator add factual information. Includes a list of resources for those who want to learn more. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

The Princeton Guide to Ecology


Simon A. Levin - 2009
    Edited by eminent ecologist Simon Levin, with contributions from an international team of leading ecologists, the book contains more than ninety clear, accurate, and up-to-date articles on the most important topics within seven major areas: autecology, population ecology, communities and ecosystems, landscapes and the biosphere, conservation biology, ecosystem services, and biosphere management. Complete with more than 200 illustrations (including sixteen pages in color), a glossary of key terms, a chronology of milestones in the field, suggestions for further reading on each topic, and an index, this is an essential volume for undergraduate and graduate students, research ecologists, scientists in related fields, policymakers, and anyone else with a serious interest in ecology. Explains key topics in one concise and authoritative volume Features more than ninety articles written by an international team of leading ecologists Contains more than 200 illustrations, including sixteen pages in color Includes glossary, chronology, suggestions for further reading, and index Covers autecology, population ecology, communities and ecosystems, landscapes and the biosphere, conservation biology, ecosystem services, and biosphere management

The Wandering Lake: Into the Heart of Asia


Sven Hedin - 2009
    Situated in the wild Chinese province of Xinjiang, Lop Nur - "The wandering lake"- has for millennia been in a perpetual state of flux, drifting north to south, often tens of kilometres in as many years. It was once the lifeblood of the great Silk Road kingdom of Loulan, which flourished in this otherwise barren region 2,000 years ago and its peculiar movements confused even Ptolemy, who marked the lake twice on his map of Asia.Sven Hedin became captivated by the Lop Nur's peripatetic movements and for forty years his destiny was inextricably linked with that of this mysterious lake and the region surrounding it. His last journey to Lop Nur was in 1934. Travelling the length of the Konche-daria and Kum-daria rivers by canoe, Hedin embarked on his last Central Asian expedition and proved what he had always suspected - that Lop Nur did indeed shift position - and why. When he camped on its vast banks at night, Lop Nur was deep and full. Today, this once great lake - a a mighty reservoir in the desert - is nothing but windblown sand and salty marsh. The third in Sven Hedin’s Central Asia trilogy, The Wandering Lake is a gripping story of adventure and discovery but it is also a rare account of a now-vanished world; a masterpiece by one of history’s last great explorers.

Aphrodite's Island: The European Discovery of Tahiti


Anne Salmond - 2009
    As she discerns the impact and meaning of the European effect on the islands, she demonstrates how, during the early contact period, the mythologies of Europe and Tahiti intersected and became entwined. Drawing on Tahitian oral histories, European manuscripts and artworks, collections of Tahitian artifacts, and illustrated with contemporary sketches, paintings, and engravings from the voyages, Aphrodite's Island provides a vivid account of the Europeans' Tahitian adventures. At the same time, the book's compelling insights into Tahitian life significantly change the way we view the history of this small island during a period when it became a crossroads for Europe.

The Blue Ridge Ancient and Majestic: A Celebration of the World's Oldest Mountains


Charles Maynard - 2009
    Stories range from the heritage of the mountains to the present day and include “Life Abundant,” which describes the mountains from a geologic, geographic, and natural perspective; “River Gaps and Mountain Swags,” which traces the origins of the mountains back over 10,000 years through settlement, war, and exploitation; and “Shangri-La,” a look at mountain culture in story, literature, and music encompassing everything from presidents to farmers and poets to mountaineers. Through this unique combination of storytelling and visual splendor, the intricate, interwoven fabric of the natural world and the human culture of the mountains is brought to life in this eco-friendly Green Press Initiative printing with full FSC certification.

City and Cosmos: The Medieval World in Urban Form


Keith D. Lilley - 2009
    Lilley argues that the medieval mind considered the city truly a microcosm: much more than a collection of houses, a city also represented a scaled-down version of the very order and organization of the cosmos. Drawing upon a wide variety of sources, including original accounts, visual art, science, literature, and architectural history, City and Cosmos offers an innovative interpretation of how medieval Christians infused their urban surroundings with meaning. Lilley combines both visual and textual evidence to demonstrate how the city carried Christian cosmological meaning and symbolism, sharing common spatial forms and functional ordering.  City and Cosmos will not only appeal to a diverse range of scholars studying medieval history, archaeology, philosophy, and theology; but it will also find a broad audience in architecture, urban planning, and art history. With more of the world’s population inhabiting cities than ever before, this original perspective on urban order and culture will prove increasingly valuable to anyone wishing to better understand the role of the city in society.

Region: Planning the Future of the Twin Cities


Myron Orfield - 2009
    Historically, this fragmentation has made it extremely difficult to address the social, economic, and environmental problems that affect all parts of the region, yet the Minneapolis and St. Paul area has generally been held in high esteem as a model of regional cooperation. How do policy planners make it work-and is it working well enough?In Region Myron Orfield and Thomas Luce examine both the successes and shortcomings of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Council's regional planning and policy. Detailing the rapid demographic, commuting, and land use changes that are currently at work in the region, Orfield and Luce identify the new challenges faced by the cities and the suburbs and their overlooked interdependence. They thoroughly investigate the economic and political trends impacting Twin Cities residents' quality of life-sprawl, population growth, economic and racial injustice, a lack of affordable housing, traffic congestion-and in particular how education demographic trends are solidifying segregation. Extensive maps, graphs, and charts accompany the authors' argument for careful, coordinated regional development in the Twin Cities and explanations about how such an approach should be a model for other regions around the United States.Confronting unsettling-sometimes shocking-realities of life in the Twin Cities, Orfield and Luce highlight the urgent need to create thriving integrated neighborhoods and job growth throughout the region, as well as the near impossibility of desegregating our neighborhoods and schools. Throughout this detailed and deeply researched work, they analyze the wide impact of planning failures and the promise of successful growth, and ultimately put forth trenchant policy recommendations for a better future-one where we live up to our social, environmental, and political ideals.

Hands of the Rain Forest: The Embera People of Panama


Rachel Crandell - 2009
    Emberá children quickly follow in the steps of their parents. They learn to fish for crabs and carve a canoe from wood. Nothing is wasted in the rain forest—leaves are used to make baskets, the juice of the jagua fruit is applied as a mosquito repellent, and the river provides fresh water for bathing. Through firsthand experience, children are introduced to the lifestyle and traditions of the Emberá culture.

LIFE Wonders of the World


LIFE - 2009
    There are old Wonders here and a new list offered by the New7Wonders Foundation, a Switzerland-based organization that conducted an online poll that saw more than a million votes cast for the world's greatest Wonders. There are man-made Wonders and natural Wonders. There are obscure Wonders and famous Wonders.The amazing stories behind your favorites are recounted as LIFE goes to the Colosseum, to Stonehenge, to the Great Wall, to Machu Picchu, to the Taj Mahal, to Easter Island, to The Acropolis and the Vatican and back to the Great Pyramid. We travel into outer space for a close-up look at the International Space Station, and into the sea for a sensational vantage on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. We go to the summit of Mount Everest and down into the mile-deep Grand Canyon in Arizona. We could not choose between the world's tallest waterfall, 3,212-foot-high Angel Falls in Venezuela, or that which is arguably the world's most awesome, Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border--so we went with both.Fifty Wonders in all, each more wondrous than the last. A reader cannot help being amazed and inspired by what man's industry has built through time, and what sublime Wonders nature has graced us with.This a book Herodotus would have loved! And then comes the big bonus: The 7 LIFE Wonders. We were sure that some of these fabulous sites were suitable for framing, and so we went to the vast LIFE archives and picked pictures of some of the most wonderful Wonders taken by famous LIFE photographers. Using a technique we developed in our 2009 book The Classic Collection, we inserted prints of these places in the last section of our book. Better yet: When you remove the prints to frame them, the image stays on the page, sp your lovely coffee-table book remains intact. For these wonders, a wondrous book.

The Chesapeake Watershed: A Sense of Place and a Call to Action


Ned Tillman - 2009
    Here accomplished environmental scientist and lifelong ourdoorsman Ned Tillman issues his own call for a general public awakening. Combining literary skills with informed science and a love for the environment, he explains how the Chesapeake watershed formed, what it has given us, and what it can continue to provide if we will only take action. He also provides an extensive list of practical things each of us can do which, taken in serious numbers, can preserve and restore this national treasure.

Animals Marco Polo Saw: An Adventure on the Silk Road


Sandra Markle - 2009
    A continuation of the Explorers series by award-winning author Sandra Markle, Animals Marco Polo Saw brings to life the amazing, exotic animals Marco Polo encountered during his explorations in Asia, how the animals sometimes affected the outcome of the journey, and even helped the explorer survive!

Colorado 14er Disasters: Victims of the Game


Mark Scott-Nash - 2009
    Along with intensely positive experiences in climbing is the possibility of the opposite extremeto become stranded, severely injured, or even killed, in disturbingly easy ways. This book explores this dark side of climbing. When an accident happens on a 14er, the victim is far from help and in an environment where rescue is difficult at best. The book is full of hair-raising stories of these disasters and resue attempts and also aids in avoiding such disasters.

Cosmopolitanism and the Geographies of Freedom


David Harvey - 2009
    Presidents as diverse as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush have built their policies on some version of these noble values. Yet in practice, idealist agendas often turn sour as they confront specific circumstances on the ground. Demonstrated by incidents at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, the pursuit of liberty and freedom can lead to violence and repression, undermining our trust in universal theories of liberalism, neoliberalism, and cosmopolitanism.Combining his passions for politics and geography, David Harvey charts a cosmopolitan order more appropriate to an emancipatory form of global governance. Political agendas tend to fail, he argues, because they ignore the complexities of geography. Incorporating geographical knowledge into the formation of social and political policy is therefore a necessary condition for genuine democracy.Harvey begins with an insightful critique of the political uses of freedom and liberty, especially during the George W. Bush administration. Then, through an ontological investigation into geography's foundational concepts--space, place, and environment--he radically reframes geographical knowledge as a basis for social theory and political action. As Harvey makes clear, the cosmopolitanism that emerges is rooted in human experience rather than illusory ideals and brings us closer to achieving the liberation we seek.

Climate Change: Picturing the Science


Gavin Schmidt - 2009
    Photographic spreads show retreating glaciers, sinking villages in Alaska’s tundra, and drying lakes. The text follows adventurous scientists through the ice caps at the poles to the coral reefs of the tropical seas. Marshaling data spanning centuries and continents, the book sparkles with cutting-edge research and visual records, including contributions from experts on atmospheric science, oceanography, paleoclimatology, technology, politics, and the polar regions. As Jeffrey D. Sachs writes in his powerful foreword, “Climate Change is a tour de force of public education.”

Fluvial Hydraulics


S. Lawrence Dingman - 2009
    This understanding is essential for modeling and predicting hydrologic and geomorphologic processes, erosion, sediment transport, water supply and quality, habitat management, and flood hazards. This book's coverage bridges the gap between the highly quantitative mechanics-based civil-engineering approach to stream hydraulics and the more qualitative treatments of fluvial geomorphology typical of earth-sciences and natural-resources curricula. Measurements of natural river flows illustrate many central concepts.The book is specifically designed for upper-level students and practitioners who are interested in a fundamental understanding of river behavior. An introduction to the history of fluvial hydraulics and an overview of the morphology and hydrology of rivers provides the context for the rest of the text. A thorough understanding of water properties, including turbulence, is developed via a series of simple thought experiments. The bases of the equations that are used to describe and predict river flows are systematically presented, including dimensional analysis. Subsequent chapters build logically on these foundations, covering velocity distributions, new insights to the central topic of flow resistance, the magnitudes of forces in natural river flows, the principles of conservation of energy and momentum, the prediction of water-surface profiles, the principles of flow measurement, mechanics, and geomorphic aspects of sediment transport. The book will be especially valuable in providing a scientific basis for the growing field of river restoration. An appendix reviews dimenstions, units, and numerical precision. Over 250 references are cited, providing an entree to the extensive multi-disciplinary literature on rivers. The book's website provides suggestions for student exercises and makes available extensive data bases of measured streamflows for student exploration.

Counterfeit Gentlemen: Manhood and Humor in the Old South


John Mayfield - 2009
    Taylor and Michael O'Brien in the realm of Southern letters."--Bertram Wyatt-Brown, author of Southern Honor"Counterfeit Gentlemen captures a volatile region laughing (uneasily) at itself, and it is the freshest interpretation of the Old South to come along in a decade."--Stephen Berry, author of All That Makes a ManCounterfeit Gentlemen is a stunning reappraisal of Southern manhood and identity that uses humor and humorists to carry the readerinto the very heart of antebellum culture..What does it mean to be a man in the pre–Civil War South? And how can we answer the question from the perspective of the early twenty-first century? John Mayfield does so by revealing how early nineteenth-century Southern humorists addressed the anxieties felt by men seeking to chart a new path between the old honor culture and the new market culture. Lacking the constraints imposed by journalism or proper literature, these writers created fictional worlds where manhood and identity could be tested and explored.Preoccupied alternately by moonlight and magnolias and racism and rape, we have continually presented ourselves with an Old South so mirthless it couldn't breathe. If all Mayfield did was remind us that Old Southerners laughed, he would have accomplished something. But he also offers a sophisticated analysis of the social functions humor performed and the social anxieties it reflected.

Negotiating Urban Space: Urbanization and Late Ming Nanjing


Si-Yen Fei - 2009
    Yet its impact is heatedly debated, although scholars agree that it triggered neither Weberian urban autonomy nor Habermasian civil society. This book argues that this conceptual impasse derives from the fact that the seemingly continuous urban expansion was in fact punctuated by a wide variety of “dynastic urbanisms.” Historians should, the author contends, view urbanization not as an automatic by-product of commercial forces but as a process shaped by institutional frameworks and cultural trends in each dynasty.This characteristic is particularly evident in the Ming. As the empire grew increasingly urbanized, the gap between the early Ming valorization of the rural and late Ming reality infringed upon the livelihood and identity of urban residents. This contradiction went almost unremarked in court forums and discussions among elites, leaving its resolution to local initiatives and negotiations. Using Nanjing—a metropolis along the Yangzi River and onetime capital of the Ming—as a central case, the author demonstrates that, prompted by this unique form of urban–rural contradiction, the actions and creations of urban residents transformed the city on multiple levels: as an urban community, as a metropolitan region, as an imagined space, and, finally, as a discursive subject.

Archaic State Interaction: The Eastern Mediterranean in the Bronze Age


William A. Parkinson - 2009
    This book is an attempt to redress these issues. By shifting the theoretical focus away from questions of state evolution to state interaction, the authors develop anthropological models for understanding how ancient states interacted with one another and with societies of different scales of economic and political organization. One of their goals has been to identify a theoretical middle ground that is neither dogmatic nor dismissive. The result is an innovative approach to modeling social interaction that will be helpful in exploring the relationship between social processes that occur at different geographic scales and over different temporal durations. The scholars who participated in the SAR Advanced Seminar that resulted in this book used a particular geographic and temporal context as a case study for developing anthropological models of interaction that are cross-cultural in scope but still deal well with the idiosyncrasies of specific culture histories.

Ancient Warfare Special 2009: The Varian Disaster


Jona LenderingCarlos de la Rocha - 2009
    

Through The Jade Gate To Rome: A Study Of The Silk Routes During The Later Han Dynasty 1st To 2nd Centuries CE


John E. Hill - 2009
    This book is the product of 30 years of research on a key Chinese document based on a report to the Chinese Emperor in 125 CE, with a few later additions. It contains the earliest geographical, historical, political and cultural information in Chinese on the Roman Empire, India, Parthia, and many other kingdoms; their products, and the routes to them. A draft version of the book was posted on the University of Washington's 'Silk Road Seattle' website in 2000 with a plea for readers to send any criticisms or comments. The author has since been contacted by hundreds of scholars worldwide and their generous contributions have helped make this book an authoritative and useful historical source. This translation, the first in English, of the 'Chapter on the Western Regions' from the Hou Hanshu, is faced with the original Chinese, and is amply annotated for those wanting further information. There are also 20 appendices and two convenient maps at the end showing the main centres and routes.

Some Like It Hot!: Yellowstone's Favorite Geysers, Hot Springs, and Fumaroles, with Personal Accounts by Early Explorers


Susan M. Neider - 2009
    This stunning portfolio of photographs by Susan M Neider is uniquely organized by geographic region, so it's easy to find specific geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. Fascinating historical descriptions by early explorers of the geyser basins--including General H.D. Washburn, F.V. Hayden, and famed conservationist John Muir--accompany these vibrant images and emphasize the timeless beauty and wonder of Yellowstone.

Let's Visit Spain


Susie Brooks - 2009
    This informative book explores the geographical and cultural highlights of this beautiful country. Students are encouraged to make their own journey memorabilia.

Forbidden Places: Exploring our Abandoned Heritage


Sylvain Margaine - 2009
    Head off to explore the filming location of 12 Monkeys, Michael Jackson’s hometown turned ghost town, Berlin’s 1936 Olympic Village, deconsecrated churches, forgotten castles, deserted train stations, prisons and mental asylums, a cemetery of rusted locomotives, abandoned steel factories, phantom metro stations, and more.For 10 years, Sylvain Margaine has traveled the world in search of these forbidden and forgotten places.  An exceptional photographic report.

Weather and Climate (Britannica Illustrated Science Library)


Encyclopædia Britannica - 2009
    The Britannica Illustrated Science Library is a visually compelling set that covers earth science, life science, and physical science in 16 volumes. Created for ages 10 and up, each volume provides an overview on a subject and thoroughly explains it through detailed and powerful graphics-more than 1,000 per volume-that turn complex subjects into information that students can grasp. Each volume contains a glossary with full definitions for vocabulary help and an index.

Ireland


Libby Koponen - 2009
    - Clean new design for easy readability and comprehension- Updated text presented in a lively, continuous narrative- New center-spread sidebar feature presenting material in a fun, creative way- Excellent age-appropriate introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects- Important Words glossary clarifies subject-specific vocabulary- Resources section encourages independent study- Index makes navigating subject matter easy

From Rhodesia To Mugabe's Zimbabwe


Nick Tredger - 2009
    He takes the reader through the last days of Rhodesia and the first four years of Robert Mugabe’s disastrous rule of an independent Zimbabwe .

Restricted Nations: Iran


The Voice of the Martyrs - 2009
    How can it be? Read seven testimonies of Muslims who found true freedom.

Once I Was a Cardboard Box...But Now I'm a Book about Polar Bears


Anton Poitier - 2009
    Kids will learn everything from how polar bears hunt and how wide their paws are to where they live and what they eat in this unique look at one of the world's most beloved endangered species. Also, a side panel on each page tells the story of how this book was made from the recycled paper of a cardboard box, teaching children the process of recycling and showing them what they can do to save the planetand the polar bears! Going green has never been a bigger issue, and with this bookmade of recycled materialkids get to help save the planet and the polar bears by putting into practice what they've just learned!

Oh, Canada!


Per-Henrik Gürth - 2009
    Like the other bestsellers in the Canada Concept Books series, this book is not only an introduction to Canada, but also a popular souvenir book for tourists and an ideal gift. Bike along PEI's red dirt roads, set sail in Quebec City, help with the harvest near Saskatoon or hike a glacier in Yukon Territory in the company of the familiar lovable cast of animal characters. Along the way, children will learn about the flags and the official trees, flowers and birds of each province or territory. A more immediate and memorable introduction to the imagery of Canada -- and to what makes our country unique -- has never before been published.

Good Night World


Adam Gamble - 2009
    Fostering an appreciation for natures beauty with a message of conservation and environmentalism, the journey takes place through the passage of both one day and the four seasons of a year while visiting amazing natural environments, including oceans, lakes, rivers, mountains, deserts, rainforests, and arctic regions. Rhythmic language guides children through encounters with a diverse community of people across the globe while saluting the iconic aspects of each place.

The United States Of America (Learn Discover Explore) With Fun Flaps!: 50 Flaps (Let's Grow Smart! Age 3+)


Creative Edge - 2009
    

Constructing the Nation: A Race and Nationalism Reader


Mariana Ortega - 2009
    In particular, the contributors examine how normative concepts of American identity and unity come to be defined and defended along increasingly racialized lines in the face of national trauma, and how nonnormative Americans experience the mistrust that their identities and backgrounds engender in this way. The volume takes an important step in recognizing and challenging the unreflective notions of nationalism that emerge in times of crisis.

Perilous Place, Powerful Storms: Hurricane Protection in Coastal Louisiana


Craig E. Colten - 2009
    In Perilous Place, Powerful Storms, Craig E. Colten traces the protracted process of erecting massive structures designed to fend off tropical storms and examines how human actions and inactions left the system incomplete on the eve of its greatest challenge.Hurricane Betsy in 1965 provided the impetus for Congress to approve unprecedented hurricane protection for the New Orleans area. Army Engineers swiftly outlined a monumental barrier network that would not only safeguard the city at the time but also provide for substantial growth. Scheduled for completion in 1978, the project encountered a host of frustrating delays. From newly imposed environmental requirements to complex construction challenges, to funding battles, to disputes over proper structures, the buffer envisioned for southeast Louisiana remained incomplete forty years later as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the city.As Colten reveals, the very remedies intended to shield the city ultimately contributed immensely to the residents' vulnerability by encouraging sprawl into flood-prone territory that was already sinking within the ring of levees. Perilous Place, Powerful Storms illuminates the political, social, and engineering lessons of those who built a hurricane protection system that failed and serves as a warning for those guiding the recovery of post-Katrina New Orleans and Louisiana.

Public Space and the Ideology of Place in American Culture


Miles Orvell - 2009
    And often its use has been contested. These new essays, written for this volume, approach public space through several key questions: Who has the right to define public space? How do such places generate and sustain symbolic meaning? Is public space unchanging, or is it subject to our subjective perception? Do we, given the public nature of public space, have the right to subvert it? These eighteen essays, including several case studies, offer convincing evidence of a spatial turn in American studies. They argue for a re-visioning of American culture as a history of place-making and the instantiation of meaning in structures, boundaries, and spatial configurations. Chronologically the subjects range from Pierre L'Enfant's initial majestic conceptualization of Washington, D.C. to the post-modern realization that public space in the U.S. is increasingly a matter of waste. Topics range from parks to cities to small towns, from open-air museums to airports, encompassing the commercial marketing of place as well as the subversion and re-possession of public space by the disenfranchised. Ultimately, public space is variously imagined as the site of social and political contestation and of aesthetic change.

The Polycentric Metropolis: Learning from Mega-City Regions in Europe


Kathryn Pain - 2009
    This book describes and analyses eight such regions in North West Europe. It shows how businesses interrelate and communicate in geographical space - within each region, between them, and with the wider world.

Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia


Dietmar W. Winkler - 2009
    This volume contains the most recent cutting edge research on this very Church in China and Central Asia. World-renowned scholars from universities and institutions in China, India, Europe and North America contributed to the study of this fascinating chapter of the history of Christianity. They come from various disciplines such as Religious and Ecclesiastical History, Philology (Sinology, Syrology), Archeology, Theology, and Central Asiatic Studies.

Discover the Oceans: The World's Largest Ecosystem


Lauri Berkenkamp - 2009
    It illuminates some of the most incredible and surprising plants and animals as well as how to survive and navigate these vast expanses.

Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide 2nd Edition


Cindy Wiggers - 2009
    That attitude could change with this product, brainchild of Maggie Hogan (co-author of Hands-on Geography) and Cindy Wiggers (of Geography Matters). This curriculum is designed to incorporate geography with other school subjects so that it will be relevant and memorable, not isolated and disjointed. First, the authors impart enthusiasm for the subject matter, give the teacher a refresher course, and then provide workable, interesting, even (dare I say it) fun ways to intertwine geography with other subjects. Included are teaching tips, geography basics, lesson plans, reproducible activity pages and outline maps, timeline with 300+ figures, all in a non-consumable format. You will need to find a copy of Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates, a basic resource used in the program. As protection for the overachieving teacher, a scope and sequence limits the amount of activities to be used in any one year. To save you from mounds of copying, a CD-ROM has been included with over 200 reproducibles from the book, including worksheets, forms, timeline figures and more. CD-ROM is Mac and PC compatible; requires Adobe Reader 5.0 or above (which is included on CD-ROM). This looks to be a well-designed and helpful product.

Encyclopedia of Islands


Rosemary G. Gillespie - 2009
    This authoritative, alphabetically arranged reference, featuring more than 200 succinct articles by leading scientists from around the world, provides broad coverage of all the island sciences. But what exactly is an island? The volume editors define it here as any discrete habitat isolated from other habitats by inhospitable surroundings. The Encyclopedia of Islands examines many such insular settings—oceanic and continental islands as well as places such as caves, mountaintops, and whale falls at the bottom of the ocean. This essential, one-stop resource, extensively illustrated with color photographs, clear maps, and graphics will introduce island science to a wide audience and spur further research on some of the planet's most fascinating habitats.

Companion Environmental Geogra


Noel Castree - 2009
    Cross-cuts several areas of a discipline which has traditionally been seen as divided; presenting work by human and physical geographers in the same volume Presents both the current 'state of the art' research and charts future possibilities for the discipline Extends the term 'environmental geography' beyond its 'traditional' meanings to include new work on nature and environment by human and physical geographers - not just hazards, resources, and conservation geographers Contains essays from an outstanding group of international contributors from among established scholars and rising stars in geography

Nebraska


Jim Ollhoff - 2009
    - Full-color Photographs- Table of Contents- Glossary- Index- Quick Facts- Detailed State Map- Did You Know?- Timeline- Historical Photos and Illustrations

The Myth of the Addicted Army: Vietnam and the Modern War on Drugs


Jeremy Kuzmarov - 2009
    More specifically, it has persisted as an explanation for the U.S. defeat, the symbol of a demoralized army incapable of carrying out its military mission. Yet as Jeremy Kuzmarov documents in this deeply researched book, popular assumptions about drug use in Vietnam are based more on myth than fact. Not only was alcohol the intoxicant of choice for most GIs, but the prevalence of other drugs varied enormously. Although marijuana use among troops increased over the course of the war, for the most part it remained confined to rear areas, and the use of highly addictive drugs like heroin was never as widespread as many imagined. Like other cultural myths that emerged from the war, the concept of an addicted army was first advanced by war hawks seeking a scapegoat for the failure of U.S. policies in Vietnam, in this case one that could be linked to "permissive" liberal social policies and the excesses of the counterculture. But conservatives were not alone. Ironically, Kuzmarov shows, elements of the antiwar movement also promoted the myth, largely because of a presumed alliance between Asian drug traffickers and the Central Intelligence Agency. While this claim was not without foundation, as new archival evidence confirms, the left exaggerated the scope of addiction for its own political purposes.Exploiting bipartisan concern over the perceived "drug crisis," the Nixon administration in the early 1970s launched a bold new program of federal antidrug measures, especially in the international realm. Initially, the "War on Drugs" helped divert attention away from the failed quest for "peace with honor" in Southeast Asia. But once institutionalized, it continued to influence political discourse as well as U.S. drug policy in the decades that followed.

The Sands of Time Revisited: An Introduction to the Sand Dunes of the Sefton Coast


Philip Smith - 2009
    Lavishly illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams, The Sands of Time introduces the interested general reader to the origin and land use history of this coast and shows how sand dunes are formed and develop over time. The reader is also offered a unique insight into the animals and plants that live on the sand dunes as the author examines how this internationally important area is being conserved and managed for the future.

United States


National Geographic Kids - 2009
    Large maps pinpoint the physical features, capitals, and other towns and cities of each state. Key points reflect the latest information about land and water, animals, and people and places. Children can access a wealth of information including state flags, birds and flowers.Throughout the atlas, maps, photographs, and text reinforce one another, making this an exciting round-the-country adventure and a fun-filled learning experience. This is a must-have addition to libraries, classrooms, and homes nationwide; when it comes to America, young minds deserve the guidance of the acknowledged experts in all matters national and all things geographic.

Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001-2005


Michael D. Cadman - 2009
    This book is a must for everyone interested in birds, Ontario, and the natural world."-- Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, author ofThe Bedside Book of BirdsThe most authoritative and up-to-date resource on the birds of Ontario. Ontario's boreal forest is the breeding area for most of North America's songbirds. More than 3,000 birders contributed to this book by surveying the province from Lake Erie to Hudson's Bay. With 400 color photographs, the atlas provides detailed information on the distribution and population status of all the birds that breed in Ontario, which then migrate all over the continent.The 900 maps illustrate and record the breeding population for all the species and their range changes since the first atlas was published 20 years ago. Special "new abundance" maps and population estimates for many species reveal how numbers vary across the province's vast and diverse landscape.The atlas reveals the 10 most populous species in Ontario:Nashville warbler Chipping sparrow Dark-eyed junco Golden-crowned kinglet Magnolia warbler White-throated sparrow Yellow-rumped warbler American robin Red-eyed vireo Swainson's thrush.Among the interesting discoveries these birders brought to light: the Canada goose and the house finch experienced the greatest increases in population, and the common nighthawk and chimney swift experienced the greatest decreases.The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario is the definitive reference for birders, biologists and any general reader with an interest in nature and the state of the environment.