DK's India is a work of joy. Very thorough and informative (including phrase books for five languages and tons of practical tips). Bought it in India and browsed through it as we visited places doubling the wonder of each experience. Written and put together by obviously a great team of writers, illustrators, art historians, photographers, editors and seasoned travellers. I am now finding that it is great for easy-chair travel around India also.
Wonderful. Shabash!

As an Indian and Indophile, I found the layout of this book quite unique. It is not only a travel guide but also a concise historical, cultural and culinary guide.
The photographs, plans and descriptions are so well done that I am reading it as I would a novel, reveling in every page!
I am learning so much about the land of my birth through this book.
Thanks to the writers and the editor for a magnificent job.

Krishna Jayaraman

I was delighted to read your review of the Eyewitness Travel Guide to India. As the project editor of this title, I would like to add a few words on why this guide is special. First, it is the only international guide to India written entirely by Indians. This makes it more accurate, more authentic and more full of insights into Indian culture, customs and lesser known aspects of the country than any of the other guides. Apart from the well known sights, this guide also covers fascinating off-the-beaten track places and subjects that most other guides do not cover. Our special features on themes such as religion and iconography, Indian music and dance, and the great epics make these complex subjects easily accessible to a foreign visitor. This guide is like a visual encyclopedia, and is as much a book for the armchair traveller, or an India enthusiast, as for the first time traveller.
Please do however give the correct names for the editors of the 2 Eyewitness travel titles on India. The editor of the Delhi, Agra Jaipur Eyewitness Guide is Aruna Ghose. The editor of the India Eyewitness Travel Guide is Nandini Mehta.
I look forward to reading reviews of these titles by your readers.

Wow!! What a book. Focusing on the Eastern Colonization of America, Daniel Richter provides an extremely powerful and even handed view on Native American - European interaction between the years 1620 and 1812. I loved this book. You will to.

There are far too few books like this, that dare to make the imaginative leap to express the point of view of another culture. Mr. Richter's achievement is to give us a way to stand in the "shoes" of those who greeted us when we arrived on these shores, tried to understand us and live with us, and ultimately were decimated by the policies that we, as immigrant peoples, put in place. I would highly recommend that readers pair this with Kent Nerburn's Neither Wolf nor Dog, another work that takes us deep inside the hearts and minds of those who inhabited this land before us. We need more books like these. They show that it is not impossible to enter into the self consciousness and self understanding of people who see the American experience through very different eyes.

Facing East From Indian Country is a scholarly survey of American Indian history up to the early 19th century and will appeal to college-level students of Native American history and culture. The tone of this history differs from most in keeping Native experience and perspectives in the forefront of the story: the result is a better understanding of Native perceptions and events in early America.

This book lends incredible insight into the life of a Russian Refusenik under the oppressive Soviet system. Sharansky's mental tricks that sustained him during his years of horrific incarceration as well as his genius and amazing memory impressed the hell out of me.

Learning how one man could take on the KGB and outsmart, outwill, and outlast them is a truly uplifting experience.

Sharansky's autobiography is one of the most compelling works of literature that I have read. This is literature - it made me pause to think and reflect on what he said frequently, and my copy is well-thumbed. The story is of a spiritual journey, as the young Sharansky's awareness of his Jewishness de-Sovietizes him and leads him into the Gulag - willingly, as he forknew the risks of protesting Soviet emmigration policy. His voluntary civil disobedience seperated him from his bride, Avital, physically for a decade, but the growing intensity of the spiritual forces working within and through him bonded them ever more securely. The moral courage demonstrated by one of the most celebrated of the Refusniks is evident on nearly every page. The spiritual uplift that Sharansky found came from his faith, and from reading the classics, one of the few liberties permitted him in the Gulag. (Looted libraries and personal collections left the prison system well-stocked for this purpose.) The comments on how he was encouraged by his encounter with Aristophanes, when he understood the connection between himself and a character in a 2,500 play through a joke that he finally 'got,'are among the most uplifting in the book. Sharansky recounts how that joke opened a floodgate in his mind, through which came pouring the voices of Rabelais, Cerevantes and other great classics, reminding him of his humanity and the ways of man. The climatic chapter, "The Interconnection of Souls," should be re-read many times. -Lloyd A. Conway

It's hard to believe that one person could morally and intellectually defeat the KGB all by himself, to preserve his identity and his integrity despite all odds. There are many lessons for our everyday life that one can learn from this book. I recommend it very highly.

I grew up around the area he is speaking of in this book. I remember many of these things happening myself. I was so glad to know I was not the only one to experience these strange things. I loved this book! I can't wait to buy more!

This is a fascinating book. The places are real (and some are rather creepy) and the stories are supposedly true. Every story will draw you in. The history and research the author did was extensive. This is a book you could very well (regretfully) finish in one sitting.

I was born and raised in Kingsport and I even met the author of this book when he came to my high school in 1996. The name is a little hokey but the book is extremely well written and the research is very good, it even includes some newspaper clippings. This book is well worth the price and the read!

I enjoyed reading this book. I bought it for my husband as a gift, but I read it before he did. The photographs and stories were about at least one family from each North and South American country. Wide range of lifestyles, from tribal Amazonians, peasants in Mexico, poor and rich of Brazil, single mother families in West Indies, farmers in Canada, and urban folks from Chicago. The book covers their diligences and futilities in this world as a family unit.

This type of book should never be allowed to go out of print. It should be available for all to read and learn from. In it, Helene Tremblay offers a fascinating insight into the ordinary lives of various people from The Americas and The Caribbean by spending a typical day with a typical family. In a beautifully illustrated book, sensitively written, Ms Tremblay gently pushes opens a window into their different worlds, eating, resting and working with the families. There is no feeling of intrusion, just an unspoken respect for their way of life. It is at once humbling, honest, moving and utterly compelling. It is a book I refer to many times and can highly recommend.

I've already given a review for the first book which is on this page for some reason... so I wholeheartedly agree that the book on Asia and the Pacific is just as spectacular as the book on the Americas... It was out of print and I was amazed when Amazon.Com came through with a used copy that was in beautiful condition! I was very pleased and impressed and am delighted to have this book in my collection... I was very intrigued by the families in Asia and the exotic Pacific! Very much worth the wait!

I used this field guide during my recent trip to Kenya and Uganda. Although it is by all means an excellent fieldguide I do have some remarks. A number of the plates contained errors, suggesting the artists didn't see these birds in the field. I realise it is virtually impossible for artists to see all species featured in a book such as this in the field, so that a lot of plates are drawn from skins. It is important however to use skins from the region itself, this may make a lot of difference. We came to the conclusion that for a number of species skins from west Africa were used. Especially the greenbuls had some misleading plates. For a number of species the Kenyan Zimmerman-book is probably better, although those plates lack in other respects.
In addition a number of the maps were incorrect, especially for Uganda.
Still, if you go to the region for birding, make sure to get this book, because it is definitely the best field guide around.

This book really sets a very high standard and we can only hope other parts of the world's tropics will get similar guides in due time. The plates are just about as superb as one could possibly wish for. When you compare this book with the new field guides that have recently come out for South America, it seems like there are two worlds! Just compare the flamingos, the osprey, or the parrots with the pictures you find in "The Field Guide to the Birds of Peru" and you know what I mean! There is also an excellent lay-out, with helpful concise text and useful range maps all neatly placed together. And the book is still amazingly compact.

After years of having one of the world's worst bird books, East Africa now has two of the best. The Zimmerman/Turner book on Kenya and Northern Tanzania, the work of 30 years, set a new standard of scholarship and illustration. This book draws on that one, but is even better for the tourist and field birder. It covers all of Uganda and Tanzania, as well as Rwanda and Burundi. It is smaller and lighter to carry. And the illustrations and their placement in related groups on the same page are simply outstanding. This is one of the best bird books in the world and will dominate the market for years to come.

In her first book, THE BRIDE WORE RED, Robbie Clipper Sethi established herself as a skilled cultural translator as she explored the lives of three American women and the families of the Indian men they married. Now, with FIFTY-FIFTY, she introduces her readers to yet another Punjabi Sikh family, this one spread over four continents and struggling to adapt to their adopted lands. Told with startling compassion and insight, this novel offers a complex and realistic view of what it means to be an immigrant.

Like Sethi's first book, which was described as a "novel-in-stories," FIFTY-FIFTY is told through multiple voices, each with its own titled chapter. From the Gill family matriarch Biji to her four children to her grandchildren, they each tell their part of the family history. Although the chapters could stand alone as short stories, their real power comes from their compilation. The best chapters are "Exile," "Three Sisters," "The Curse of Life," and "Double Mind." Sethi writes with a no-nonsense style; however, the moments she chooses to reveal are lyrical. I could not help feeling for every one of these displaced individuals. By the time I finished FIFTY-FIFTY, I did not want to leave these self-exiled characters who, despite all that they have suffered, continue to harbor hope.

I highly recommend this for readers of literary fiction and those interested in cross-cultural and immigrant issues.

Just finished Robbie Sethi's novel FIFTY-FIFTY. Enjoyed the voyages per chapter. I felt i have just returned from a world that I am happy to know more about, especially because I am intent upon trying to open myself to what may be exotic, foreign, or so much like what i know that I am blind to sameness. What branching lineage for each chapter. What a tour de force of novelistic orchestration! Seventeen main characters interacting or ignoring or judging and showing up and disappearing. I feel my first and strongest and most lingering impression is how different the expectations are when families are internationally mobile and also realistically skeptical about how secure life and status can be where ever one lives. Of course, the novel intends to show that, but I feel for the first time I came to understand why, frankly, I have so often been intrigued by and alienated from recently arrived immigrants--and even those who have settled close to me in New York City. At least in the Punjabi heritage it was made clear how dependent relatives are and also thwarted, made proud, and confused. Felt the love affair between Natisha and Lalita was finely drawn, and the author captured the attitude and dilemma of the African-American father of Kunti's baby devastatingly accurately based on my experience. Too many young men now handle their lives just as he tried to. Captured Kenya well also, a rather schizophrenic society I was not comfortable in--and for some of the same reasons as the Kaurs and Singhs!
I thought a lot about the Indian and Pakistani students I have taught and how what is occurring at home and in their communities shapes how they may think and behave. They are often the most mysterious group in my experience--and the novel enabled me to comprehend how social and economic and cultural pressures and expectations distinguish them from many other ethnicities. I am being rather sociological in my appreciation, but that is how I was most directly impacted. Robbie Sethi can enter into other cultures so confidently and empathetically? empathically? I admire that very much. I wanted to thank her for writing FIFTY FIFTY, and I hope she reads these comments.

Fans of The Bride Wore Red will love Sethi's gem of a novel about complex multicultural relationships. In Fifty-Fifty, Sethi writes in the voices of an American teenage girl, her Punjabi Sikh grandmother, aunts, and other relatives. Sethi's lively writing makes the characters' individual stories sing. A fun book from a small press hitherto unknown to me.

Until the publication of this volume, it was difficult to find a book on the geology of Egypt, and impossible to find one at an affordable price. "A Traveler's Guide to the Geology of Egypt" truly fulfills a need. A few brief introductory chapters put the newcomer to geology in a position to better understand what follows. As a further aid, technical words that appear in boldface are found in a helpful glossary. The main body of the book describes the geology of Egypt, and its impact and influence on the development of the ancient civilization, from Lake Nasser to the Delta and east to Sinai. The size of the book and the arrangement of the information within make it an ideal companion to the traveler wishing to understand not only the surrounding physical landscape, but the cultural interaction with that landscape from pharaonic times through the present. This book is clearly written, and plenty of maps, diagrams, and photos compliment the text. The extensive bibliography provides a good tool for further research. While it makes a good bookshelf reference, I look forward to taking this book with me to Egypt.

"A Traveler's Guide to the Geology of Egypt" is well written and extremely readable. Designed for people who have little or no prior knowledge of geology, it is still loaded with information that even professional geologists will find of great interest. As an archaeologist and a frequent traveler to Egypt, I will never again go to Egypt without rereading and carrying a copy of this book. Nor, I think, should any first-time tourist. It's definitely a 5-star publication.

This book belongs on the shelf of every student of ancient Egypt. It is a book I didn't think we needed, but after reading it, I realize how important geology was to the development of ancient Egypt and its monuments. Aswan, for example, existed for one reason: granite -- boulders in the river and stone in the quarries. Again, the location of monuments, and the materials they were made of, were directly related to the availability of building stone. The author's writing style is clear and straightforward -- painless reading for a non-scientist such as myself. Dr. Sampsell explains all of the technical terms she uses (and includes a helpful glossary), and she avoids the common tendency of academics to sound "scholarly." My only suggestion for enhancement in future editions: Although there is a section of color photos, I would have liked more illustrations (and would have been willing to pay more for them). I will definitely pack this book with me on my next trip to Egypt.

I would request some alternatives through which we or those who would like to know more about the true faith that mankind surpose to follow,should have access to the books contents specially the spiritual ones through the internet rather than commercializing them.however,I am not aginst sales but atlease those who can buy or order the book can do so but we have to consider them who are home like Africa in which shipping is not efficient and also money is the problem.We beleive the word of Jah is already spread in the entire world but yet mankind need constant reminder and through the books,and other spiritual words. we could feed the nations spiritually and the message of ONE LOVE inculcated into the hearts of all mankind.
Back to the book, I have really not yet read the contents of the book to comment on it.
Thank

This unique book of 38 pages will assist any one, at any level, to understand the Rastafari religion. It begins , as we did, with Adam and Eve. Using biblical quotations throughout, author John Moodie, or Prince Michael as he is spiritually Known, provides an understanding of the linage of Haile Selassie 1 from the very begining. Chapter One presents the trial and tribulation of Ham, Shem, and Japhet, their curses and their blessings followed by Moses and the Burning Bush, the betrayal of Samson by Delilah and the shearing of Samson's seven locks. You probably already know about David and Goliath, but did you know about Davids youngest son Solomon anh how he seduced Sheba? Chapter Two sheds new light on Jesus Christ and what he had to endure due to his belief in God. The death that he suffered in being crucified on the cross makes one wonder why some religions continue to use the cross as a sign that is representative of ones faith. The cross was used to crucify people and yet now it is a sign of worship. The cross is a sign of death and destruction, a burning one designates the nefarious Ku Klux Klan. It is by all means, a graven image that Moodie exemplifies in his writing. " The gun today is a symbol of death, just as the cross was 2000 years ago. the cross as risen to become a symbol of holiness; will the gun in the next century become a symbol of holiness?" In Chapter Three we are educated on Haile Selassie 1."Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn an oath to David that of the fruit of thy loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on David's Throne"(Acts 2:30). H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie 1 fulfills this prophesy by returning to sit on David's throne. Read on in Chapter Three to learn what Selassie 1 went through during his reign as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of Judah. "Rastafari has survived the afterbirth grime that the system has placed on H.I.M;" explains Moodie, "and today is classified by a Catholic Commission as a valid religion" ( Report of Catholic Commission on Racial Justice in Britain and Jamaica). With several photos of Haile Selassie 1, some interesting art work to embellish the words, some excellent inspirational poetry interspersed and significant insightful information, John Moodie has written a fine piece of literature that is inspired from the heart and soul. When Mr. Moodie visited the Reggae Report offices recently his spiritual vibe was omnipresent. Not only is Hath...The Lion Prevailed...? an excellent primer for the newcomer, it is enjoyable reading for all who wishes to learn more about the origins of Rastafari.

Haile Selassie the First is KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS and this truth is revealed in "Hath...The Lion Prevailed..?" Whoever does not already know that Haile Selassie is the Lion of Judah who did open the seven seals of REVELATION ...READ this BOOK and the BIBLE, You will Truly find it out. Ras Tafari is his name. If only the Black world knew that Jesus was a Nazarite Dreadlocks Rasta, crucified. Jesus said "I and my Father are one" and Jesus would not lie. If you want to be one with the Trinity and seek a better understanding of the BIBLE read " HATH ... THE LION PREVAILED? ". JAH LIVE

Almost 5 stars!

This atlas gives exactly what it promises: The history of the lands between the German and Italian-speaking peoples in the West and the boundaries of the former Soviet Union in the East - in short: "East Central Europe". Not to be mistaken with "Eastern Europe", which can exactly be defined by the European area of the former Soviet Union, or Russia, Belorussia and Ukraine of today.
Beside East Central Europe, the atlas also covers the Balkans.

This is the best English-language atlas of it's kind at the moment.
Balanced history telling, which tries to present both sides of disputed topics, illustrated by beautiful - although sometimes rough - maps.
This work presents the finest of Anglo-Saxon mapmaking.
To be used together with the series "A History of East Central Europe", and to be compared with the "The Times Atlas of European History".

Review based on first paperback edition, 1995

From the Baltic to the Balkans and from 400 A.D. to 1992 A.D., this atlas colorfully covers the territory in the best possible way.

Researchers with Slavic, Germanic, Jewish, Greek or other ancestry from east central Europe will find this historical atlas invaluable.

It contains 89 wonderful maps which show useful details such as the Catholic diocese and archdiocese as they appeared in 1900, the tremendous populations movements from 1944 to 1948, Jewish settlement, and of course the ethnic composition of the region at various periods. Each map comes one or more pages of explanatory text as well.

I find this atlas to be a constant help in my struggle to understand the changing borders of the region throughout history. You can't understand family history if you don't have an understanding of the history of the family's place of origins. This atlas is an ideal way to better understand the history of east central Europe.

Excellent reference for genealogical research. A very broad collection of maps makes it useful for a wide rage of topics (religion, ethnic population distribution, politcal boundary shifts in a place where someone's always fighting over boundaries and control). A timeless reference....