I am thoroughly impressed with the author's ability to show us a detailed picture of everyday life in the Russian hinterlands. I never imagined people could still live that way in this day and age. We (Americans) are very much spoiled by what we consider "our necessities" in life. The emotions and visuals this book brought to me were so clear and real. I thought the last chapter written by the author's husband was a very nice touch. We have the story from both sides of this very adventurous couple! I was a little nervous about having to read about the Russian government/politial issues in this book, but was quite surprised and pleased to see it wasn't like any other book I've read about Russia. It is about the daily life of the everyday common person (or Americanski)in Pavlovo, Russia. Thank you for sharing your story, Missy Moore!

What a wonderful narrative of a present day adventure! Students often need material on Russia but are put off by lengthy books that are heavy on history and very short on interesting daily life. This book is perfect. It is like listening to a favorite relative tell about the trials of the depression and how it influenced all that came after.....

This is an invaluable book for those who complain about living in the USA, those interested in human nature, Russian travel or culture, or book lovers in general.

The most insightful comments about human nature: property that is owned by everyone is not kept up by anyone and its corollary, property that is owned by everyone is free for the taking by anyone. Her examples are poignant, especially her attempt to set an example.

Missy's love and concern for the ordinary people of the Russian hinterland overcame the deprivations and primitive conditions where they lived for 15 months. The isolation was intense, but expressed only in the context of overcoming it. The Russians responded to Missy with warmth that was in stark contrast to the very cold climate.

Not only did I greatly enjoy the book, but since I was away when it arrived, I had to wait for my husband and a friend (who is going to Russia) to finish the book first. Our friend immediately bought a copy for his wife.

I thought this was a wonderful book. I enjoyed Thayers use of poetry to exrpress the emotion in the story. The language used in the text is of very high quality and when read by an adult to a child, the child is able to thourghly understand. The illustrations play an important role with the text. They not only enrich the text, but they tell a story in itself. We can feel the emotion of the players and the crowd through Polacco's work. Overall I thought this was a wonderful book and reccomend it to a child of any age.

Thayer's classic ballad, 'Casey at the Bat,' is greatly enhanced by Patricia Polacco's brilliantly achieved, big-hearted illustrations. Ms. Polacco captures emotion, action, and character through wittily exaggerated, slightly loopy pictures, and through lots of uncrowded background shenanigans. It's very cinematic: She effectively isolates action through extreme close-ups, and extends time through a montage of events occurring within a single picture. Like the auteur she is, she even adds some opening and closing story elements (while leaving the poem intact) that augment the poem's appeal to the younger reader.

This book is simply great fun to read aloud; you'll find yourself wanting to memorize its evocative imagery and epic aspirations:

"Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt; Five thousand tongue applauded when he wiped them on his shirt. Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip, Defiance flashed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip."

You and your youngsters will love the humor and the drama in this a classic rendition of Thayer's beloved poem. Infants and toddlers will enjoy the bright pictures, and all readers will appreciate the perfect teaming of Thayer and Polacco.

Casey at the Bat tells about mighty Casey and his missing 2 strikes - like messing up in life.

I've never cried and laughed so much in the space of so few pages. Ms. Joseph has captured the heart of a writer in Ana Maria's lush, colorful words flung against the backdrop of the Dominican Republic. I have no critique or summary, only gratitude. This book wounded me sweetly.

The Color Of My Words By Lynn Joseph is a great book for all ages this book is about a Ana Rose who loves to exress her feelings by writing poems. She is has a crush on her brothers friend Angel. Her parents cant afford money to buy her a notebook so she steals her brothers. In this book Ana Rose goes threw lot from finding her real father and her brother dieing i gave this book 5 stars because it really makes you think of life in a diffrent way.
I would read this book over and over again i am hoping for this book to get lots of awards.

After travelling to the Dominican Republic, my mother bought me this book for Christmas. Of course it's for a younger audience, but none the less I enjoyed it thoroughly! It may be surprising to some, but it is quite an accurate depiction of typical Dominican life in some respects. The desire for the simple things, and the longing for some hope for tomorrow affects so many families in the Dominican. Many issues that plague this country, such as marriage and the family-unit, alcohol consumption, gambling, employment, and economics surround this story. But amongst the struggles, you see the love of a family, finding simple beauties that we as Americans tend to forget. You see into this little girl's heart as you experience the sites and sounds of the Dominican that she SO accurately describes! I can feel, taste and see all that I experienced just by reading this book.

I am currently going to college and I took a course on the Vietnam crisis and war, and Even the Women Must Fight was one of the last books that we read. After reading books that focused mainly or even completely on the American experience in Vietnam, it was extrmely interesting to read about how the Vietnamese saw and dealt with the war. The thousands of civilians who added such strength to the North Vietnamese war effort were people who had been described in all of the sources we read as 'coolie' laborers--people conscripted by the govenment to do necessary work. To read the accounts of women who fought in the war, or risked their lives to maintain the Ho Chi Minh trail simply added a new dimension to my understanding of the Vietnamese side, and indeed of the entire war itself.

As a college student studying the America's war with Vietnam, I was struck by the determination and nationalism that the Vietnamese displayed in their battles against foreign occupation. Seeking to further my study and learn more about the perspectives of the Vietnamese I turned to Turner's book Even the Women Must Fight. The information that I found in the book I could not have found anywhere else. Turner's extensive interviews and personal memoirs from women who fought in the Viet Cong opened up a previously unreported accounts of what Vietnamese women accomplished in their war with America. These women's successes are truly amazing and much deserving of a book documenting their vital contributions.

Karen Turner's book is a well researched, interesting and compassionate discussion of women who made up the backbone of Viet Nam's fighting forces. She does not overwhelm the reader with intellectual theory and in doing so she brings us closer to a source of history ignored and overlooked for decades. It's difficult to write about and interview former soldiers who continue to suffer the effects of such enormous violence, but Turner does it with great insight and awareness. This is the perfect book for history students or university faculty who want to hear the voices of Viet Nam's strongest fighters.

Chris Abani is that rare gift to the world -- someone who was born a writer and who suffered great atrocity. He has combined these two facts to bring back poetry from hell -- poetry that sings! that grieves! that laughs and rocks and wails! He breaks down walls and brings forth unimaginable pain only to lay it before you -- gracefilled and beating like an undeniable human heart. Here it is, he says, here is humanity in all its grand perversion and its unmistakable diginity and hope. I was lucky enough to see Abani read and he is someone who is in this closed off world who is out there sharing, must share, and he makes the world a better place by doing so. Let's only hope the world gives back to him now, finally, the rich fruits of kindness and love and understanding that he deserves! And he plays a mean sax too!!!

This book is a stunning achievement. I went from poem to poem in amazement at this writers ability to capture those moments of horror he endured as a political prisoner and transform them. Like Yeats said "a terrible beauty is born"

This is a splendid example of the poetry of witness and I think it belongs in the company of Akhmatova's Requiem. When she was asked "Can you describe all this/and I said I can".

That is what this writer did, with words of power and grace, that will linger in anyone's head. It is fortunate to come upon them.

The poems on London filled me with longing for that city one never tires of.

Buy this book. It will change your life.

Abani's book left me speechless. At the horror. The pain and the inhumanity of other people.

It also left me speechless with regard to myself. It reminded me of what is important in life and how important it is, at whatever level, to do the right thing, no matter how difficult.

The poet's tale of incaceration for his writing in Nigeria's old regimes is a humbling one. It is also an inspiring one. No other book in the last ten years has moved me as much.

The poems are beautifully balanced pieces with a clear narrative. The Language, while simple, achieves a complex poetic form - the rendering of life into words.

This book is a must read!!!!

In writing a Web biography of Julius Caesar, I read dozens of books trying to explain this chameleon man, probably the most famous Roman who ever lived. And after it all, I came back to this as my firm choice as THE book to read if you want a comprehensive, scholarly, yet still fascinating excavation of everything we truly know about Caesar.

Gelzer's book is a classic on everyone's list. First published in German in 1921, Gelzer labored and rewrote it over half a century, reading and rethinking all the time. It was finally translated into English in the 1960's. As he modestly concludes, "Much has been written about Caesar. The appearance of despotic rulers [Stalin, Hitler] of quite a different stamp has not always been favourable to the judgment passed on him. A fresh study of the sources has, on the whole, convinced me of the correctness of my interpretation." Gelzer makes those sources lucid, explaining contradictions, noting where a history is political rather than factual, smoothing out inconsistencies and providing copious notes for the reader who wants to learn more. There is a clarity and precision to his writing that is oddly restful, yet continually interesting, for which we must thank the readable translation by Peter Needham.

In recent years, it has become fashionable to dismiss Caesar as a power-hungry megalomaniac, to psychoanlyze him, to portray him from every vantage point; but no one can deny his genius. Gelzer, unlike some modern biographers of Caesar, never strays from the facts; his thoughtful and precise narrative of every scintilla of truth remaining to us, takes you as close to the man as you are ever likely to get. About the true nature of Julius Caesar, every thinking reader must make up his own mind. Gelzer will give you the best tools to do so, while painting an unforgettable portrait of the failing Roman Republic.

Do not buy this book if you're looking for gossip about Caesar's [love] life or his romance with Cleopatra. You're not going to find any dirt or gossip about his private life; just a very sober,well argued and researched political biography. Along the way you'll hopefully come to appreciate just how remarkable Caesar's accomplishments were, given the obstacles he had to overcome along the way. Among the points which Gelzer makes is how completely different the ancient Roman Republic was compared to our modern ideas of a democratic republic. In fact, it was nothing more than an oligarchy where leadership changed hands among a rich,and ambitious elite. By Caesar's time this political system was on its last legs and it was inevitable that a general leading an army was going to overthrow the whole system at some point. While it's true that Octavian(Augustus)deserves credit for creating the system of government which ruled the empire he inherited,it's also true that he wouldn't have been able to do this had Caesar not paved the way before him. Add to this the fact that he was able to do just about anything better than any of his contemporaries and you begin to see why has continued to remain such a fascinating (and controversial)figure down through history.

Gelzer produced a fantastic work with this seminal masterpiece. This is scholarship and historical analysis of the very highest order - ranks alongside Theodor Mommsen.

I've read no other work that measures up to Gelzer's biography of Rome's greatest citizen. His inspirational definition of what it is to be a politician versus that of Statesmanship is forever etched in my mind.

Those seeking contemporary pseudo-psychology, 'opinions and soundbites' need to look elsewhere as this is not Plutarch at his most irritating. A perfect counter-balance to the anecdotal and condensed approach of Plutarch.

Definitive and unsurpassed in its authority.

A very well written book, "Counterpart" is an interesting personal memoir of life in Vietnam and the ravaging affects of war. The book ends with his departure and fresh start in the United States. Having worked in the power industry with Kiem Do and Julie Kane for a number of years in New Orleans, I'm glad he has finally published his long awaited memoirs.

As a "young" Vietnamese -American who did not participate in the war, I find the book entertaining and educating. This is a book every family, especially Vietnamese American, should own because it is so well written with a sincere heart and offers an accurate realistic view from an ex Navy commander from South Vietnam. The more I read the more I admire and respect him for sharing all his invaluable experiences to subtly teach the American public as well as Vietnamese- American young generation about the truth of a major period in American history - the Vietnam war. I now clearly understand what our heroic South Vietnamese soldiers went through. Mr. Do Kiem was successful in restoring well -deserved honor to our patriotic South Vietnamese soldiers. It peaks my interest and leaves me wanting more when I finish reading . This is truly an amazing account! Somehow, it brought back to memory a poem, learned many years ago in high school, belonged to our national hero Dang Dung in his noble fight against the Ming dynasty's fiendish invasion in Vietnam in 1400's.

Revenge is not yet fulfilled, my lord! and hair already turned white. Too many times whetted my precious sword, under the shining moon light!

Dong Nhac

Some books about the Vietnam War are basically worthless, filled with "blasting machine gun fire" stories similar to Rambo, etc.

However, this book is refreshingly different. Officer Kiem Do reveals a story unheard by most Americans. Not only did he battle the communists, he constantly fought government corruption and bureaucratic interference from his (our) side.

This is a must read for anyone interested in Naval history.

If you are thinking of living abroad with your children, there are two compelling reasons to read this book. First, the author shares his and his family's real-life experiences, both good and bad. He reminds us that life anywhere is just that -- life, complete with victories and accomplishments, as well as mistakes and disappointments. His entertaining story of their year in Prague helped replace some of my romantic notions with visions of reality. I now feel more prepared to face the challenges of life abroad if and when we decide to "live outside the borders." The other reason to buy this book is its wealth of resources and practical tips. Although the organization was at times scattered, the appendices help to make up for this.

A Family Year Abroad: How To Live Outside The Borders is the story of the Westphal family. Chris and Stephanie Westphal wanted to travel, but since they had responsibilities to their children, the only way they could do so was to travel with the whole family. They rented their house, put their bank accounts in safekeeping, and moved to Prague, Czech Republic for a year. A Family Year Abroad is their story, packed with wisdom, experience, tips, and much more on such things as culture shock, foreign schools, traveling with kids and health and safety concerns. A lively, involving book, A Family Year Abroad is much more than just a family memoir, it also offers practical tips on how to successfully live in a foreign country and deal with changes in the family, health and safety concerns, insurance questions, the management of finances, foreign schools, and the inescapable phenomena of culture shock.

In _A Family Year Abroad_, Chris Westphal invites us into his experience with a dream many of us have had--living abroad in an exotic foreign country--but which most of us never get around to making real. He weaves together practical tips with a delightful narrative of his own adventures and misadventures as an expatriate family in Prague. Combining detailed, practical tips with insightful personal observations, Chris succeeds in bringing us along on an amazing trip into unknown--an unknown that, with Chris' help, is made known to us vicariously. Reading _A Family Year Abroad_ I really came to feel what it must have been like to "live outside the borders" for Chris and his family. And while not ALL of his adventures--a night at the "opera" that featured a midget pushing a wheelbarrow across a darkened stage, for instance--made me hunger for the expatriate experience, I certainly felt that they prepared me for taking my own family abroad should we be so bold as to try it. All in all, a great read: exciting, funny, helpful, practical, poignant, and witty. It's Rick Steve's _Europe Through the Back Door_ meets S.J. Perelman's _Eastward Ha!_ with a bit of Theroux's_Mosquito Coast_ thrown in for fun. Loved it!

Despite the work focusing on Poland and Czech, this work is useful regardless of geography. Its premise is simple: States that are both democratic AND have market economies can still have sound environmental policy if they accept the principle of sustainable development. That is a lesson for all of Europe and this hemisphere. The data assembled in this work is fascinating and the interpretation of the very technical by the author (whose background is probably the social sciences) is nothing short of remarkable. He has blended the hard sciences and the social sciences together in a way that marks the best effort to have true environmental analysis.

I have seen Dr. Sutherlin speak in Europe in different conferences over the past four years. This exceptional work reflects a true dedication to undertanding sustainable development and environmental policy making in Poland and the Czech Republic. There is no work in print that captures the research and analysis of Sutherlin. This work should be required reading for all interested in Central European environmental issues.

As a member of the environmental movement in Central Europe, I was most pleased to find someone from the West that really understands what has happened in Poland and the Czech Republic since 1989. There is no comparison to what Sutherlin has accomplished in this directly written book. I hope that he follows this work with similar efforts. This book is useful for those in classes, in environmental organizations or those wanting to understand policy making in Central Europe.

Unlike most significant histories of Latvia to date (with Bilmanis' seminal work of 1951 being arguably the most important in English), this one is written by a professional historian - and it shows. In addition, the end of the Cold War has facilitated a dispassionate yet well informed account of Latvia's history, so far totally unavailable to my knowledge. Prof. Plakans' insights have helped me to clarify, in my mind, things which did not quite make sense up until now.

I am the son of emigre Latvians, and for me the period 1918-1940 has always been of paramount importance. Latvia's history outside that period seemed somehow irrelevant. But times have changed. Plakans restores the balance and by the end we focus on Latvia of today, not some ever dimmer "ideal".

Initially Prof. Plakans' emphasis was hard to come to terms with. I was disappointed that the first independence period got only 25 pages out of 198 (c.f. Bilmanis' 100 of 408). Bilmanis does of course fill in the gaps to 1942, but his obvious and understandable bias, together with his florid style stand in stark contrast to Plakans' professionalism.

Prof. Plakans' work is of course a _short_ history. Perhaps he will publish a lengthier piece in the future and further share his insights with those of us hungry for them. This is nonetheless a highly recommended and challenging (though brief) introduction to Latvian history.

This is a nice book. It is well written and very informative. There are notes and a 19 page bibliography. This book is part of historiography on Latvia and the Latvians. Most historical writings can be divided as: the interwar period; post WW2 emigre writings; post WW2 Latvian SSR writings; and post 1991 writings.

The book attempts to cover the proto-Balt period to contemporary Latvia. One of the questions the book poses is at what juncture did the Lett tribes/clans consider themselves to be Latvians or "tauta." Unfortunately, unlike our fellow Balts, the Lithuanians, Latvians or Letts took longer to form that identity.

This book belongs in every library. I consider this a must read for those who wonder why their relatives left Courland or Livonia after 1905--discussed in Chapter 6.

The book is organized thus: 1 The Population of the Eastern Baltic Littoral; 2 Invasion, Conquest, the Creation of Livonia;
3 Politics, Economics, and Religion in the Sixteenth Century; 4 The Trifurcated Littoral in the Seventeenth Century; 5 The Baltic Littoral in the Russian Empire; 6 A Century of Reforms; 7 The Latvian Nation Acquires a State; 8 The Loss of Independence; 9 The Reemergence of an Independent Latvia; 10 Continuities and Discontinuities.

Latvian history is so often flawed with political ideology, personnal opinion or blatant ignorance. This is one of the only qualitative objective academic works out there. There is no better review of Latvian history. Even if Plakans himself is a Latvian WWII refugee, his life experience and opinions (whatever they might be) do not seem to color his text. Plakans' book however will not provide readers with profound analysis or long-winded dicussions of political regimes, cultural movements or wartime strategies. It is a simple but thourough review of the events and facts that lead Latvia and the Latvians to their contemporary position, politically, economically, socially and culturally. A recommended, quality read for anyone wanting to learn more about the Latvians.