| |||||
Books: Travel: American Samoa
Lonely Planet Tonga (Lonely Planet Tonga)by Matt Fletcher Available from Amazon $2.95 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Book Description Treat yourself to a slice of heaven – tuck into Tongas turquoise lagoons, vibrant coral reefs, deserted beaches and tropical rainforest. From kava to lava, this indispensable guide reveals the secrets of this South Pacific gem.
|
In the Arms of Africa: The Life of Colin Turnbullby Roy Richard Grinker Available from Amazon $17.00 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review Colin Turnbull (1924-94) made his reputation with two bestselling works of popular anthropology that tell diametrically opposed tales. The Forest People (1962) holds up the central African Pygmies as examples of the human capacity for communal goodness and love, while The Mountain People (1973) argues that Uganda's Ik tribe, threatened by a killing famine, had cast aside those qualities in favor of soulless individualism. Turnbull's life was as controversial and rife with contradictions as his books, fellow anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker reveals in this absorbing biography. Born in England, Turnbull roamed the world and eventually made his home in America. Product of a conventional, privileged upbringing, he saw himself as a champion for the world's oppressed. He infused anthropology with a passion some deemed unscientific but general readers found electrifying. He was openly homosexual despite the threat this posed to his academic career, which was never his top priority. The love of Turnbull's life was an African American man; he proclaimed Joe Towles's brilliance but was ambivalent about his lover gaining financial independence, and their 29-year relationship was marred by violence and infidelities. Nonetheless, Joe's 1988 death devastated Turnbull, who also succumbed to AIDS six years later. Grinker displays both discernment and critical sympathy in this gripping chronicle of a tumultuous life. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly Cultural anthropologist Colin Turnbull (1924-1994) earned his reputation with bestsellers like The Forest People, his classic study of African Pygmies. In this groundbreaking biography, Grinker sheds much light on Turnbull's largely hidden private life. The London-born son of a possessive Irish mother and a stern Scottish father, Turnbull rebelled against his privileged background, identifying with non-Westernized peoples whom he saw as oppressed or marginalized. After graduating from Oxford, he went to India in 1949 and lived in the ashram of his female guru, Sri Anandamayi Ma. Grinker, who holds Turnbull's former chair as anthropology professor at George Washington University, suggests that this experience later inspired Turnbull consciously to try to join the people he studied. On the more intimate side, Grinker also chronicles Turnbull's 30-year love with Joseph Towles, a young African-American actor with whom he lived openly as a gay, interracial couple in a conservative rural Virginia town. Though Turnbull idealized the relationship, Grinker reveals that it was marked by violent fights, plus Towles's abuse of drugs and alcohol; he also portrays Turnbull as a domineering partner who pushed Towles into an anthropology career. Among the other little-known facets of Turnbull's life and work that Grinker illuminates in this fair-minded, superb biography is his advocacy on behalf of death row inmates. Yet Grinker does little to enhance Turnbull's stature as an anthropologist; he contends that Turnbull, who greatly exaggerated the amount of time he spent living among the Pygmies, often simplistically used noble "primitive" societies merely as a foil to condemn Western civilization. Photos. (Aug.) Copyright 2000 Reed business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned (Don't Know Much About...)by Kenneth C. Davis List Price: $13.95 Available from Amazon $10.74 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review Finally, someone who tells history like it was, without the old textbook gloss that's put so many students into premature naptime and misinformed the few who stayed awake. Davis corrects the myths and misconceptions from Columbus up through the Clinton administration, and shows that truth is more entertaining than propaganda. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Amazon.com Audiobook Review Kenneth Davis's aim in this program, as it is in all the titles of this popular series, is to make learning relevant and fun. He succeeds marvelously. Davis has an easygoing style and a good sense of humor. And most importantly, he knows how to present the "big picture." His history of the United States is not a series of isolated incidents that happened long ago with no bearing on contemporary American life. Listening to this presentation, we recognize patterns, notice how problems of the past resurface in our own present, and realize that history is what makes us today. We are also presented with a look at American history that is far more honest than anything gleaned from traditional textbooks. Heroes and villains alike are presented, warts and all, and the "less savory moments" in America's past are discussed frankly. For, as Davis explains, "the real picture is much more interesting than the historical tummy tuck." The theme running through the program, from pre-European settlement to the Reagan years, is the struggle for power--the never-ending battle between the haves and have-nots that is the "essence of history." Six hundred years of history are broken up into manageable segments though a series of questions (spoken in a number of different voices to help distinguish them from the main narration), each of which is given a specific answer and then discussed in the context of its contemporary setting and perhaps past and future events. This is a crash course that focuses on the basics but will inspire listeners to want to know more--which is really what learning's all about. (Running time: six hours, four cassettes) --Uma Kukathas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
A History of the American Peopleby Paul M. Johnson List Price: $20.00 Available from Amazon $13.00 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page Product Review Paul Johnson, whose previous works include the distinguished Modern Times and A history of the Jews, has produced an epic that spans the history of the American people over the past 400 years. The prolific narrative covers every aspect of U.S. history, from science, customs, religion, and politics to the individual men and women who have helped shape the nation. His detailed, provocative examinations of political and social icons, from Lyndon Johnson to Norman Rockwell, are especially strong. Johnson's text is intelligent and rich with detail, and yet extremely accessible for anyone interested in a reinterpretive analysis of America's past. What makes this book unique is Johnson's approach to this self-professed Herculean task. The prevalent tone throughout is optimism. Whether he's discussing race relations, industrialization, the history of women, immigrants, Vietnam, or political correctness, Johnson--a staunch conservative who was born, bred, and educated in England--is openly enamored with America's past, particularly the hardships and tribulations that the nation has had to overcome. He sees this story as a series of important lessons, not just for Americans but for the whole of mankind as well. At a time when other contemporary scholars find it easier to bemoan the past, Johnson offers the reader "a compelling antidote to those who regard the future with pessimism."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
|
1,000 Places to See Before You Dieby Patricia Schultz List Price: $18.95 Available from Amazon $12.32 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly This hefty volume reminds vacationers that hot tourist spots are small percentage of what's worth seeing out there. A quick sampling: Venice's Cipriani Hotel; California's Monterey Peninsula; the Lewis and Clark Trail in Oregon; the Great Wall of China; Robert Louis Stevenson's home in Western Samoa; and the Alhambra in Andalusia, Spain. Veteran travel guide writer Schultz divides the book geographically, presenting a little less than a page on each location. Each entry lists exactly where to find the spot (e.g. Moorea is located "12 miles/19 km northwest of Tahiti; 10 minutes by air, 1 hour by boat") and when to go (e.g., if you want to check out The Complete Fly Fisher hotel in Montana, "May and Sept.-Oct. offer productive angling in a solitary setting"). This is an excellent resource for the intrepid traveler. Copyright 2003 Reed business Information, Inc. Book Description Introducing the Eighth Wonder of travel books, the New York Times bestseller that's been hailed by CBS-TV as one of the best books of the year and praised by Newsweek as the "book that tells you what's beautiful, what's inspiring, what's fun and what's just unforgettable everywhere on earth." Packed with recommendations of the world's best places to visit, on and off the beaten path, 1,000 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE is a joyous, passionate gift for travelers, an around-the-world, continent-by-continent listing of beaches, museums, monuments, islands, inns, restaurants, mountains, and more. There's Botswana's Okavango Delta, the covered souks of Aleppo, the Tuscan hills surrounding San Gimignano, Canyon de Chelly, the Hassler hotel in Rome, Ipanema Beach, the backwaters of Kerala, Oaxaca's Saturday market, the Buddhas of Borobudur, Ballybunion golf club-all the places guaranteed to give you the shivers. The prose is gorgeous, seizing on exactly what makes each entry worthy of inclusion. And, following the romance, the nuts and bolts: addresses, phone and fax numbers, web sites, costs, and best times to visit.
|
Additional Pages: 1 2 3
Other Shops:
Books
Resources
Most Watched Book Auctions
American Samoa at Sduf
Book Review Directory
Reviewed Authors
Reviewed Titles
Review List
Site Map
