Of the thirteen essays in this collection, one is an introduction to the book, another is a thought provoking epilogue to the collection, and the third is an introduction to the history of feminism is classical art and archaeology. The essays are well-written and arranged in a chronological order that crosses the Greek and Roman lines as it should while the essays themselves recognize the often ignored fact that societies change over time and thus we do not have the Christians compared to Homer's heroes -- a serious problem in some classical studies. These essays challenge many of the assumptions about antiquity including the use of grave goods to determine the sex of the buried. The collection, however, is not for just anyone interested in gender, sexuality and art history or archaeology. In order to benefit the most from this book one needs to be at least casually versed in the issues and debates about ancient Greece and Rome.

This book is one of the top 5 ethnology books I have read. The fact that it is an anthology covering virtually every topic and region of concern in South America makes it even easier to read. Despite the fact that the book is more than 15 years old it still seems to be pertinent information. A must for anyone interested in learning more about the people and history of South America.

My almost-4-yr.-old and his nursery class love this book. The words detail a meal of bugs and "puddle ink" to drink, but the pictures really capture all the fun of pond exploration. It's a quick read, yet the children go back to it by themselves to look at the illustrations more carefully.

Painting Dreams: Minnie Evans, Visionary Artist is an excellent book for children - not to be sterotyped because of its place in the African-American artisan series. I would love to have the book contain more of Evans art but would not give up the text. Mary Lyons has conveyed the social difficulties of being African-American in the early twentieth century not by "preaching" but by letting the story speak for itself. The result is a book that is appealing both for its art and for its social conscience.

This book is a middle school history book. As such, it's simplistic and abridged, just as our own middle school history books are. That said, I learned a great deal about World War II I never knew before, and even more about how the actions of the US played to non American people. I only read one thing in this book I considered and out and out lie (the Soviets were in fact "Liberating" those Polish people they attacked). I did read a lot of history interpurted differently than I had been taught, in ways not so flattering to my country, and not necessarily incorrectly (Did we delay invasion of Europe to weaken the Soviet Union? I can't swear that isn't true). Also oddly enough, the book makes a great distinction between the actions of the US government and the morals of it's people, perhaps they do overestimate the "Noble workers yearning to be free as their Soviet brothers" a bit, but it seems to give the people the benifit of the doubt. All in all, a very interesting read.

Sometimes the old stuff is the best stuff. That is certainly the case with Nick Lyons earliest fly fishing collection, The Seasonable Angler. While Lyons recent works are, in the main, slightly different versions of his monthly column in Fly Fisherman Magazine, this slim volume seems fresh and original. Lyons writes about his fish-crazed childhood, about finding time to fish as a young father and family man, and about his evolution from a spin and bait fisherman to the fly rod. There is a wonderful tale about one opening day when Lyons was a little shaver. Loaded down with enough gear to mount an Arctic expedition he takes the train to his favorite river and proceeds to catch "green perch"; in fact, out of season bass...as a somewhat intimidating game warden explains.

In The Seasonable Angler there is little of the sanctimony that mars and marks much of what is found in today's fly fishing writing. Lyons is not rabid about "catch and release", he occasionally takes a few fish for the frying pan. Nor is he a "fly rod snob" who groups spin/bait fishermen in the same category as Neanderthals.

The writing in this book is fresh, there's barely a whiff of a "formula". The Seasonable Angler feels like writing for writing's sake, not another collection of 1,500 deadline-driven words. Thoughtful, humorous, somewhat nostalgic, this might be my favorite of Lyons works.

"The Second Coming" is an interesting and fairly accurate description of Satanism as it was at the time the book was written. The author avoids moral condemnation of the topic, and usually avoids the sensationalization that Satanism is often subjected to.

I emphatically agree with the book's central message: Small schools are greatly preferable to large. (I went through public school in L.A.; I should know.)

The book gives many wonderful examples of how small schools have revolutionized education in a number of places where public schools had been failing their students. The authors were among those dedicated enough to see through the building, running, and nurturing of such places of learning.

The book also gave a glimpse of what education is meant to be-- intense investigation, asking endless series of questions addressing issues of student interest, a process of learning for teacher as well as student--and contrasted this with what goes on in a typical factory-model school. Hurrah!

Unfortunately, the book made two glaring omissions (thus the four stars, not five). First, there was extremely little discussion of the resources needed to make this happen, and the corresponding lack of political will. It is easy to point out that wealthy school districts think $12,000 a student-year is an appropriate amount to spend for top-flight education, and that the special needs of poor districts suggest that even more is needed there. (And this is still mostly using the factory- model school for middle and high school.) But it is another thing altogether to develop a political strategy to deal with the discrepancies.

Second, I believe that the factory-model school is actually failing almost everyone, not just the poor in the city. Ideals of education are met no better in Novato, CA, than in Oakland. School is an impersonal waste of time in Novato, too. Issues of social justice are nowhere on the radar screen there, either. Kids go to "civics" class, biology, etc. Curriculum never changes, kids do not get to develop major educational programs based on their interests.

We need to find ways of encouraging everyone to engage in a discussion of social justice. Reagan and his welfare queen, Bush and Willie Horton, and years of perverse race-based criminal justice approaches (most notably the war on drugs), have set us back immeasurably. Milton Friedman has won; all the progressive tax systems are being whittled back; social services--from health care to welfare to, you guessed it, public education--are on the out.

Everyone should be in on this mission. I think the book speaks far too narrowly to the inner city and not broadly enough. (An important question here is whether we are asking city schools to perform wildly different functions from suburban schools, and if so, whether this is serving either of these populations.)

In 'Surveillance Society', David Lyon takes a closer look at the level of surveillance we are really under as individuals, and takes a fresh look at the relationship between technology and society. As most of us are already aware, personal data is collected from us all the time, whether we know it or not (and, often, whether we like it or not). Identity numbers, camera images, fingerprinting, retina scans, DNA samples, customer fidelity cards, credit cards, mailing lists, consumer groups, Internet activity, computer cookies - there are numerous ways that the ordinary life of citizens and consumers is examined by computer databases as we participate in contemporary society.

David Lyon argues that to understand what is happening we have to look even beyond the Orwellian warnings and the cries for more privacy. He argues that such watchfulness is not only an intrusion on our personal privacy, but that it also reinforces divisions by sorting people into social and political categories.

'Surveillance Society' is great thought fodder. It'll make you think about the society we live in and the one that's just over the hill. How much surveillance is acceptable, and how much isn't. Most of us would accept that a car park under the watchful eye of a supervisory camera is a good thing. It can help protect the individual and their property. But Lyon raises the question - how much 'surveillance' is there just for show? Are there really public-spirited overlords who can control a city at the touch of a mouse? Such absolute power is scarcely conceivable. The sheer mass of data would be impossible to handle. So what is useful and what is not? What can we accept and what must we reject? What choice do we have?

Impressively illustrated with glorious full color photographs of the many trees and shrubs of Washington, serene woodlands carpeted with lush plants, this is the one to read and study. If you know of anyone with trees and shrubs on their minds, this is a unique book for identifing Washington trees and shrubs. I give it four starts only because it could use more pictures to help in the identification of trees and shrubs. It is one of the easiest books to use. Very well done!