Now in an updated and expanded seventh edition, Michigan Vacation Guide: Cottages, Chalets, Condos, B&B's presents updated information on rental properties, regional attractions, tours, wineries, casinos, and a whole lot more that would make any vacation or business trip in Michigan simply unforgettable. The collaborative, painstaking effort of Kathy Tedsen and Bev Rydel, the Michigan Travel Guide is enhanced with black-and-white photographs and offers the traveler a wealth of information about various featured sites. The Michigan Vacation Guide a truly first-rate and highly recommended resource planning out an itinerary whether it be for a day-trip, getaway weekend, or an extended vacation.

I have an older version of this book and love it! Have just ordered the new edition and will be waiting for it to arrive. You will not be led astray!

The average Westerner has far too little knowledge of the Middle East and North Africa and the author offers a superb and timely analysis of this area. His style of posing questions, both geographical and cultural/political, then answering them in detail gives the reader, both novice and expert, information rarely seen in one tome. Dr. Weatherby's description of the ancient history of the area and how it relates to the present is brought to life by his photography and the detailed maps.

It's hard to imagine a more readable and informative text on the subject.

This is the first book I have found that explains the politics, religions, and cultures of this region in language that I can understand. The writing is vivid and clear. The book uses a historical perspective, which really helps the current events make sense. I gained a new perspective on terrorism. The importance of western colonialism is well covered. Good maps are used effectively. Interesting pictures are included, most of which were taken by the author. Another noteworthy feature is a chapter containing capsules about each of the more than 20 countries covered. This is a handy reference when reading about world events. The book is a good primer for an ordinary person wanting to understand factors affecting world affairs.

This book is an in depth account of middle eastern minorities betrayed by European colonizers. Very relevant to today's problems in the Middle East.

By Bat Yeor

To the average observer, the Middle East appears to be a homogeneous,
gigantic Arab-Muslim continent. Under this heavy blanket of uniformity,
however, the remnants of colonized, extinguished nations, crushed and
dispossessed by imperialism, survive in pain and anguish. These peoples -
Kurds, Alawites, Copts, Jews, and others - have withstood jihad, genocides,
persecutions, and continual sociopolitical repression. Yet their hearts
still beat, inspired by the hope of freedom and survival.
It is their history that Mordechai Nisan tells, combining clear scholarship
with a perspicacious sensibility. Who are these peoples? In his subtle
analysis, Nisan demonstrates that they represent diverse ethnic groups, with
unique historical experiences. The author constructs a fascinating mosaic of
peoples, beliefs, and intertwined histories. This work expands upon a 1991
study, with much new material.
Nisan begins by specifying the characteristics these people share in their
diversity. What inner forces of cohesion shaped their resistance to the Arab
and Islamic onslaught on their lands and civilizations from East Persia to
North Africa? The factors promoting survival are neither fixed nor stable.
Throughout the political dynamism of historical events, each of these
peoples has preserved a collective self-consciousness that spans millennia.
"The crux of a minority struggle," writes Nisan, "often revolved around the
ability to define identity from within as a matter of group
self-articulation, and not be the victims of a superimposed identity from
without." Crushed by cultural and religious Arab-Islamic imperialism, the
group's identity and cohesion is a testimony to its indigenous uniqueness.
But can this human and cultural diversity of the Middle East survive after
millennia of hardship, unforeseen challenges, and resistance?
One discovers, for instance, beneath the uniformity of Arabism a
substructure of living, resistant, minority peoples cultivating their
pre-Arab and pre-Islamic native languages, cultures, and religions. Nisan
organizes the groups into four main categories: (1) the Islamized peoples
who resisted Arab/Muslim colonialism and kept their own culture and
languages, like the Kurds (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Turkey), the Berbers (Algeria,
Tunisia, Morocco), and the Baluch (Pakistan); (2) the heterodox Muslim
minorities who were Arabized but resisted Islamization by keeping their
ancestral beliefs and customs under a Muslim veneer, like the Druzes
(Levant) and the Alawites (Syria); (3) the Christian minorities: Armenians,
Assyrians, Copts, Maronites, and Sudanese; and (4) the Jews, the only
minority who succeeded in liberating a part of their historical land from
Arab-Islamic imperialism.
Nisan describes the rich history of each group and the inevitable tensions
that accompany cultural, linguistic, and religious resistance to
Islamization. Their histories include the difficulties entailed in
maintaining the history and culture of the group, the processes of survival
they adopted, the modalities of adaptation, and the compromises employed to
save a modicum of freedom without disappearing. This analytical survey
carries us through several levels of understanding, from the policy of
conquest and domination that included spoliation, slavery, deportation, and
genocide to the various mechanisms of survival adopted by each crushed,
humiliated, oppressed, or tolerated community. Not every group developed the
same self-consciousness of its history, culture, and ethnic characteristics,
but all resisted.
The political and social tensions highlighted by Nisan are most urgent and
topical for the West. In our age of multiculturalism, which has seen the
recent development in the West of large immigrant communities, what does
integration mean? Can some groups integrate more easily than others? Can
integration succeed when fundamental values clash? Nisan's sober and
scholarly analysis of the conflict between territorial ethnicity and
religious imperialism is of great relevance to the West.
In history, chance is a fugitive fairy that rarely passes twice. The light
of freedom sparkled for the oppressed Christian minorities in the Middle
East after World War I. It was quickly extinguished by France and Britain in
their eagerness to appease Muslim hostility in their Arab colonial
dominions. Sacrificed were the legitimate aspirations of the Armenians,
Kurds, Assyrians, and Copts.
Their ancestral homelands were arbitrarily lumped into enormous Arab-Islamic
entities, while concessions to Islamic demands violated their rights. Some,
like the Armenians, Assyrians, and Jacobites, were simply abandoned to
bloody reprisals, while the promises they had been given were broken. Only
the Maronites and the Jews were given a chance; even for these, it was a
delusion and a snare. British pro-Arab policy in the 1930s in Palestine, the

gestation of the Shoah in Europe, and the closure of all routes of escape
for the Jews at the Evian Conference in 1938 seemed to have delivered the
last blow to the Zionist dream of national liberation. The Maronites had to
wait a generation to experience the bitterness of world abandonment and the
betrayal of their friends. Hence, among all the dhimmi peoples, only Israel
survived the lethal Euro-Arab alliance against the indigenous Middle Eastern
minorities.
This history of blood, hope, and massacres that Nisan recalls in a masterly
way is not over. The martyrdom perpetrated on the Lebanese Christians by the
Palestinians and their Muslim allies, generalized jihad, the slavery and
butchery inflicted on the rebellious non-Muslim Sudanese populations, the
oppression of the Copts and the Assyrians, the massacres of the Kurds, the
negation of the Berber's cultural rights, the jihad Intifada against Israel
- all are ignored or explained away by European governments and the media.
Do these ancient and courageous peoples still have a chance to deliver
themselves from the shackle of dhimmitude, and the manipulations of Eurabia
? Now that a new Middle East is
being projected, in spite of old Europe's lethal alliance with the most
repressive regimes, maybe the good-luck fairy will pass a second time, to
console and redress the cynical injustice inflicted on vulnerable and
martyred peoples. Nisan's book is invaluable for a fuller understanding of
Middle East history, past and present.
In the mid 19th century, the French Turcophile writer Abdolonyme Ubicini
(translation from The Decline of Eastern Christianity
) described the subjected dhimmis of the
Ottoman Empire - Christians and Jews - awaiting liberation despite centuries
of oppression:
The history of enslaved peoples is the same everywhere, or rather,
they have no history. The years, the centuries pass without bringing any
change to their situation. Generations come and go in silence. One might
think they are afraid to awaken their masters, asleep alongside them.
However, if you examine them closely you discover that this immobility is
only superficial. A silent and constant agitation grips them. Life has
entirely withdrawn into the heart. They resemble those rivers which have
disappeared underground: if you put your ear to the earth, you can hear the
muffled sound of their waters; then they emerge intact a few leagues away.
Such is the state of the Christian populations of Turkey under Ottoman rule.
Will his observations prove relevant today for the Christian and other
ethnic minorities of the Arab-Muslim dominions?
- Bat Yeor is the author of three books on jihad
and dhimmitude. Her latest study Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations
Collide

Mission Improbable gives a very accurate and comprehensive history of the UN operation in Somalia from the historical, political, operational, bureaucratic and personal levels. It describes the anguish of a people struggling to cope both with their own fragmented leadership and with an alien monolith, represented by UNOSOM, in their midst.

The book details the minutiae of a UN bureaucracy at its best and at its worst. On the one hand, it shows how a group of dedicated people representing virtually every culture from around the world can establish themselves in a particularly harsh and dangerous environment, risking their lives to help a desperately needy country get back on its feet and restore its social, economic and political infrastructure.

On the other hand, it demonstrates the ill-preparedness of the Organization, as a reflection of the ill-preparedness of its member state components, to truly understand and to effectively deal with the unique Somalian culture whose goals were essentially parallel to, if not identical with, the UNOSOM mission.

The book touches repeatedly upon the day-to-day frustrations of a transplanted UN bureaucracy, including the furiously circuitous paths that must be taken to get seemingly simple things accomplished, from procuring toilet paper for personal use to trying to explain the whereabouts of a suddenly missing $4 million in cash.

The author explains the conflicts between the age-old Somali clan system, the glue that holds the Somali people together, and the upstart international presence. Most importantly, she explains that this was the fundamental reason behind the inability of the two cultures to communicate meaningfully with one another and which led to the collapse of the international effort to resolve the problem. Nevertheless, as is repeatedly intimated, the Somali people represented by the opposing factions and left to their own devices, are making headway in the formation of a new government which will bring an end to their years of misery.

Overall, this book provides an absolutely unique insight into the UN operation in Somalia and serves to place in a remarkable light the peace that the Somalis are trying to achieve after an important jump-start from the United Nations.

The author's experience as an information officer with the United nations Mission in Somalia (UNOSOM) provides accurate information for the public on the achievement of the UN/US intervention in Somalia. Her narrative puts the record straight by correcting sensational and incomplete international media reports which helped create the impression that the intervention was a failure. With numerous examples such as the prevention of famine, the checking of cholera, the development of markets, the promotion of cattle and fruit exports and the non-retrogression into total anarchy when the UN pulled in March 1995, Fogarassy points out that these significant developments were ignored by the international media because they lacked commercial newsworthiness.

By introducing a Media Unit as part of its operation in Somalia, the UN was capable of more effective communication with the Somalis by radio and print. The services of the Media Unit were invaluable in assisting the Somali reconciliation meetings in Kismayo, Mogadishu and Nairobi. Additionally, the Media Unit complemented the operations of other UNOSOM departments (Justice, Political, Humanitarian and Disarmament, Demining and Demobilisation), as well as those of other international organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The UNOSOM operation highlighted a number of shortcomings in the UN's efficiency in managing field operations needing review, including in recruitment, management and control. Frequent changes in top management undercut mutual trust between Somalis and the international community while disruptive rivalries between the Media Unit chief and the spokesman led to dysfunction in processing and distribution of information, one reason for the international media not obtaining wider coverage of UNOSOM activities.

The UNOSOM compound facilitated the harmonious co-existence of people from diverse cultures, who realised that racial and cultural stereotyping masked much in common to all societies regardless of religion, race or culture. This awareness helped to appreciate that adversarial politics and political party organisations, the basis of democratic systems in western society, are not readily applicable to the Somali context where individualism and communalism are the norms, with decisions reached after extensive consultations among clans and factions. The international community found it convenient to look to Aidid and Ali Mahdi, the principle leaders of two main groups of clan and factional alliances, and they held these two responsible for agreements entered into on behalf of their allies. It was not appreciated that both leaders had very lax disciplinary power over their allies, unlike in a traditional developed country political party organisation. By the same token, the international community, especially the US, was impatient with the long Somali process of consultations and hence, the premature abandonment of the Mission when dividends from the intervention were yielding fruit.

One important lesson from the Somalia operation was that treating the host country with condescension prevented the international community from understanding the Somali psyche. It hindered a faster rate of progress in the restoration of peace and stability. Using utilitarian instruments of incentives and sanctions to achieve goals was counter-productive, yet when funds and facilities for reconciliation meetings were offered, a number of initiatives for reconciliations emerged. Reconciliation that could have led to the formation of a national government was slowed by the Somalis trying to settle historically outstanding clan differences that ranked higher in their priorities.

This book is a didactic source of information on what transpired in Somalia. It makes the case that the intervention was successful and it appeals for a tapping of the UN's extensive facilities for information the commercial media can use.

This book is an excellent account of the rise of the most important opposition movement in Egypt since the 1952 revolution. While its discussion of the last 8 years is unfortunately a bit truncated, this is probably one of the best texts out there to study a major islamic political movement in its proper context. What the author successfully does is not only take the study of social movements outside of its standard western milieu, but also look at the critical role ideology plays in mobilizing particular segments of the population to support and join a (r)evolutionary movement.

While political economy explanations can show the context that leads to the creation of a potential audience for a message of social justice and transformation of society from below, it doesn't explain why people would do so when the costs of such action in an authoritarian country are so high. Usually survival is the paramount concern of most in society outside the coopted elite, unless an opportunity for change occurs. But such was not the case in Egypt in the 1970s and 80s, not one sufficiently great in and of itself anyway, to mobilize the disaffected semi elite who did join and became the backbone of the Brotherhood. What was needed also was a message of hope, social justice, and fairness, and that message was supplied by moderate political islam. The opportunity of course was facilitated by the traditional failure not only of the state's own neopopulist economic, social, and educational policies, but also of the main other opposition socialist movements. Moderate political islam provided the answer for many.

It should be noted that this book, unlike many other studies of egyptian political islam by authors like Barry Rubin and Mary Anne Weaver, does not focus on the more violent offshoots of the Brotherhood, Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and Al Qaeda. Ergo this is not a book about terrorism. But that's kind of the point, this shows the fact the even now (at least before 9/11) mainstream political Islam in most Moslem nations in the Middle East and beyond are quite moderate and while wanting to create a Moslem state in the long run (i.e. over decades) are willing to do so from below. Wickham quotes a female activist in the book who says precisely that, i.e. that by teaching children about the religion, its values, and goals, as well as their mothers and fathers, that over time this will help build support for the movement until it grows to a large enough popular majority to overtake the state peacefully. This could be called revolutionary in the sense that the long term goal is change of the state and society, but it is neither a top down, not militant movement, but rather one that seeks to achieve its goals at the ballot box, in the mosques, schools, health care centers, sports clubs, newstands, in professional associations, and such rather than with weapons. It therefore very much is a study of a movement in a major Moslem nation that joins a growing list of outstanding works in English on the subject from other countries such as Jenny White's "Islamist Mobilization in Turkey" about Turkey's AK party, which recently came to power and Robert W. Hefner's "Civil Islam" about Indonesia's Nhladatul Ulama of former President Abdurahman Wahid.

If you want to understand what mainstream political islam stands for and is seeking to achieve, in the most important Arab nation at that, this is probably the most important book you could read.

I am an avid reader of books about religion and political science, and am most concerned with the impact of religion on a nation's policies and politics. Dr. Wickham's book is the most interesting and profound book on modern Islam I have read. She has the ability to allow the reader to understand Islam from the inside out and therefore to make sense of what we Westerners often feel is not logical. The author held my attention from beginning to end with a style that was both interesting and informative. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about Islam and it's impact on the United States and the world today.

Some of the poetry in this volume are works that western readers would never have the privelege of reading and would have been otherwise deprived of the beauty of this work. A sensitive translation that involved each poet. Discover the voices of arab poets in this volume.

According to Jayyusi view, the cultural bias favoring the group over the individual remains constant, with the poet seen as "a worker producing for the group" with the poetic "product" limited by what the group can accept and utilize. Jayyusi believes poetry is thus driven by a social functionalism expressed in two main directions "one ideological of religious origin and the other musical, in the form of singing and tarab."

In other words, poetry must serve a cause, and ideology in the first case, while in the second, and in fact the more keenly felt and popularly enjoyed function, the purpose is sheer pleasure and jubilation. Ideally, the two functions concur--this is the goal of such a poetry.

Jayyusi emphasizes that "tarab," i.e. singing, remains fundamental, indeed intrinsic to Arabic poetry past and present. Poetic verse is always subject to this standard. "Don't we notice that the Holy Koran today, for example, is a matter of audition or tarab for most Muslims more than a matter of reading, and comprehension and contemplation," Adonis writes.

Jayyusi points out that the two elements, "song" and "function (the serving of a cause)" are so fundamental that any poetic expression not embracing them is culturally relegated to the status of "philosophy," something deemed complex and remote from the people. Thus, unrhymed, non-musical poetry, poetry based on "contemplation and examination of inner worlds" lies so outside Arabic poetic taste as to be utterly marginalized, removed from any but a tiny, refined audience.

Jayyusi sees a conflict between this cultural reality and his own conviction that poetry must challenge boundaries and establish new aesthetics. This poetic effort means embracing rather than spurning the difficulty and ambiguity of meaning. "The problem in this context, lies in the refusal of Arabic poetic taste to place poetry at par with the great cognitive and discovery intuitions."

As Jayyusi points out, poetry continues to be judged by the causes and concerns it champions, and by the author's affiliations and ideologies. "Original readings concern themselves not with the essence of poetry but with its 'soil' and the 'climate' in which it is produced."

This phenomenon, according to Adonis, will only be reinforced by society's increasing domination by the non-literate media, TV in particular. Thus, modern communications technology only serves the religious and social traditions already so profoundly established. This leads Adonis to an equally profound pessimism regarding the present and future chances of Arabic poetry to escape its traditional limitations.

This is one of the rare judo books that deal with the sport in a sincere way. Others should try to approach matters (not only judo) in the same spirit, and the world might be better place.

Peter Seisenbacher is one of the great judo champions. George Kerr was his coach and a judoka (judo student) trained in the old, traditional style of judo. Both present their ideas and views about judo in this well written text. Judo students will gain a deeper understanding of the philosophy and principles of judo from two different perspectives. The book begins with George Kerr telling about judo and his training. Peter Seisenbacher then writes about his ideas and understanding of judo. The contrasting views provide the reader with insight and a better understanding of judo philosophy. In addition, Peter Seisenbacher presents invaluable commentary on the techniques and tactics that made him so successful in sport judo. This book will be an invaluable addition to any judo students library.

David Morgan's hisory of the Mongols is a "must read" for anyone serioussly interested in Mongolian history and culture. This is a well written, highly readable and comprehensive study of the largest empire the world has ever seen.

I believe this is the book I read about the Great Mongol hordes several years back. The authors name does appear to ring a bell in my head. I know the book was simply titled "The Mongols". I have looked around for it, and can't find it now. So, it would be a safe assumption that it is out of print, as this book is.

The Mongols were one of the oddities of history. A people that conqoured most of the world. Note, they didn't become the rulers of just a large part, or all the world they knew about. But pretty much all the of the world. From Korea and China in the east, to Eastern Europe in the west. With Persia, Iraq, Russia, northern India, and of course, Mongolia, all inbetween. Alexander the Great's Empire was small in comparision... and Alexander ruled a lot of the world.

It was the Mongol empire that brought about the downfall of the power structures that held up the Islamic States in the middle east and persia. China was brought to a realitive low point in her power. India, Russia, Poland, Mummaluke Egypt, China, and the Byzantine Empire were all brought to their knees in the face of the Mongols.

Also, the Mongols brought an early version of free trade to bare from China to Europe and all parts inbetween. People knew that folks thosands of miles away had good stuff to trade for. The lack of political boarders made this possible.

The nations of Western Europe were pretty much the only peoples who didn't have the fire and sword of the Mongols lowered on to their heads. Because of this, the back water that was Western Europe was able to reach out to the world, and finding a lot of weak nations conquorer and control much of what they found there.

The Mongol's got bad press for years, as they were the stuff the legends of evil hordes were made of. This world would be a very different place if Ghengis Khan and the rest of them were to have never existed. Understand them is something every true student of world history needs. This book can provide a very good start to understanding the Mongols and what they did.

Great book, well written, easy to read, good humor.
Smart layout enables you to xerox the two facing pages to have a complete map and guide for each ride.
The reference section at the end of the book gives you phone number and other info for hotels, restaurants, dealerships, chamber of commerce, etc.; very convenient.

Highly recommended.

I first read about this book in an article in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution and had to buy a copy. It was a little hard to find. After reading and taking in many of the adventures listed in the book by Hawk Hagebak, I must say that it is the most insightful and intelligent Motorcycle Guidebook I've ever read. The author uses his experience as a former motorcycle cop to give practical (and humorous!) advice for everything between avoiding a ticket to handling a breakdown. He's really funny! The book is broken into 20+ chapters, each chapter is a ride. The rides include restaurant recommmendations, road descriptions, a map and often some interesting information about the area. My favorite quote from the book is on page 9 where the author is telling the reader how to embellish a "road lie". "I was riding Mile High and the abominable snowman came out of one of the scenic overlooks and chased me all the way into Robbinsville!" The author continues, "Lesson learned? Other than the obvious hazard of a slick road, there's an abominable snowman to contend with, and who wants that?" Another funny quote is in Ridge and Valley Chapter. That ride cuts through a town named, "Sublinga". The author pokes fun at the name by saying, "No, not the medical word- Doctor, my Sublinga is swollen!" The maps are great and they're next to written directions to the right of the maps. I found the rides easy to find and easy to follow. He even includes the mileage from point to point (you can reset your odometer at the start of the ride to keep up with the map mileage). If you are new to the area or have been living in the region for several years (myself for 7 years). I thought I knew all the mountain roads, I do know a lot of them, but not with the detail provided in the book. Very handy, if only the area for the book were larger..... Maybe he will put out another motorcycle guide book? A great buy, even if you are not a biker like me. Just stick your head out the window to act like you're on a bike.... Enjoy...I sure did.

This is a book that any mountain biker in Indiana, Eastern Illinois, or Northern Kentucky should have. Dozens of trails, helpful directions, and contour maps. There are a number of terrific, yet out of the way single-track trails included. The only negative is that it is a bit dated.

Layne Cameron has truly given Indiana cyclists something to be proud of. He has displayed, with inciteful commentary and fun humor, the best mountain biking Indiana has to offer and the interesting monuments these trails have near their locale.This book is an all-terrain cycling Bible with wonderful maps and excellent directions. Thanks Layne!