Markets and States in Tropical Africa or American Government

Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies (California Series on Social Choice and Political Economy Series)

Author: Robert H Bates

Most Africans live in rural areas and derive their incomes from farming; but because African governments follow policies that are adverse to most farmers' interests, these countries fail to produce enough food to feed their populations. Markets and States in Tropical Africa analyzes these and other paradoxical features of development in modern Africa and explores how governments have intervened and diverted resources from farmers to other sectors of society. A classic of the field since its publication in 1981, this edition includes a new preface by the author.

See also: Globalisation et Travail :le fait de Démocratiser le Gouvernement Global

American Government

Author: James Q Wilson

In fourteen concise chapters, American Government, Brief Version, provides you with the essential information on constitutional foundations, national institutions, political processes, and public policy.

Presidential Wives or The Effective Public Manager

Presidential Wives

Author: Paul F Boller

As his previous books Presidential Anecdotes and Presidential Campaigns clearly prove, Paul F. Boller, Jr. has a remarkable eye for the telling details that vitalize and humanize history. Presidential Wives brings that gift to bear on the women our Presidents married by offering a poignant, amusing, dramatic, and illuminating biographical feast which covers every First Lady from Martha Washington to Nancy Reagan.
These vivid and entertaining pages offer encounters with Dolley Madison, whose "unfortunate propensity to snuff-taking" eventually had Washington's other women doing the same; Mary Todd Lincoln, whose harsh opinions of so many of her husband's appointments led him to tell her, "If I listened to you, I should soon be without a cabinet"; and Eleanor Roosevelt, who lamented on the night of FDR's election to his first term that she would no longer have her own identity and then became the greatest of all the women activists to occupy the White House.
As with his earlier books, Boller devotes a chapter to each of his subjects, including a biographical essay followed by a selection of revealing anecdotes. Portraying a diverse group of women--shrinking violets, passionate partisans, spotlight-loving hostesses, and devoted helpmates who remained silent in public but actively advised their husbands in private--Boller once again delightfully demonstrates how much the institution of the presidency and all that surrounds it tell us about ourselves as a nation.

"For anyone interested in a snapshot view of the presidency, this anecdotal history of American presidential wives...is important to read--and certainly fun....Boller's anecdotes are fascinating andamusing."--Letitia Baldrige, The Washington Post Book World
"Boller excels at illuminating the pathos and tragedy that suffused the lives of other presidential wives."--The Chicago Tribune
"Boller's deep insight into [these women's] lives and personalities...[adds] new historical detail to White House folklore."--Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Boller has splendidly fulfilled his purpose of producing a fascinating...account of what it has meant for a woman to be the wife of a president....This collective history of presidential wives calls attention to their significance in the nation's history."--Journal of American History

See also: Handbook of North European Garden Plants or Americas Best Brews

The Effective Public Manager: Achieving Success in a Changing Government

Author: Steven Cohen

Since it was first published more than a decade ago, The Effective Public Manager has become the standard manual for public administrators and students. This practical provides core concepts to help real-world managers and mangers-to-be meet the demands of their jobs head on rather than work around the constraints of government and gives them the tools to shape events rather than be shaped by them. This thoroughly revised third edition

• Presents an updated and detailed examination of management innovation

• Examines the centrality of government in an era of global communication and transportation, economic interdependence, and the threat of global terrorism

• Contains information on the opportunities and challenges of managing public policy from and with private and nonprofit organizations

Kapap Combat Concepts or The Uncertain Revolution

KAPAP Combat Concepts: Martial Arts of the Israeli Special Forces

Author: Avi Nardia

The fundamental aspects of Kapap, the martial arts system developed and utilized by Israeli special forces, are detailed in this handy manual. The defensive tactics, hand-to-hand combat moves, and self-defense methods that compose Kapap are all detailed, with special sections covering striking, grappling, pressure points, and weapon defense. Instructions are also provided for incorporating basic Kapap training methods and techniques into preexisting workout routines.

Interesting book: Terrorism or Products Liability

The Uncertain Revolution: Washington and the Continental Army at Morristown

Author: John T Cunningham

Without New Jersey's Watchung Mountains and the towns around Morristown, would the American Revolution have succeeded? Would George Washington's army have survived?

New Jersey's esteemed historian John T. Cunningham explores the harsh
circumstances and geography of this region during the War of Independence. It is an account of American history that has been overlooked and overshadowed until now. But this "geological fortress" — Washington and the Continental Army's winter quarters for four years —— may well be the place where America survived.

In The Uncertain Revolution, John T. Cunningham tells the story of those forgotten winters in Middlebrook and Morristown and of their critical importance to the course of the war. Geographically, the mountains made an excellent defensive position, hiding from the British the disarray of the American army and the horrific conditions. Reports of the strength and numbers of American troops fluctuated wildly as Washington and his officers tried to stave off desertion and mutiny. Washington's army survived a small pox epidemic at Morristown, a season of short supplies at Middlebrook, the most brutal winter of the war in 1779—80, and the war's most dire mutiny on New Year's Day 1781. There's drama —— including the cat—and—mouse game played with the unpredictable British general, George Clinton, and treachery —— with one of his favorite officers, Benedict Arnold. There's also the fierce performance of the New Jersey militia in defense of their homes and farms.

In The Uncertain Revolution Cunningham makes the case for the importance of Morristown and the mountainsto an understanding of the war itself. And just as the history of those harsh winters has long been neglected, so were the physical places over time. The soldiers huts in the mountains at Jockey Hollow disintegrated, and the houses that had served as Washington's headquarters were almost lost to neglect and development. The author's account of their reclamation and eventual incorporation into the America's first National Historical Park in 1933 is a fitting conclusion to his story of Washington in the Watchungs.

Funding Public Schools or Last Samurai

Funding Public Schools: Politics and Policies

Author: Kenneth K Wong

"Well conceived and well written, this pioneering work should cause much rethinking by both scholars and policy makers."—Herbert J. Walberg, editor of Advances in Educational Productivity

"A very compelling argument for a more effectively aligned and better 'integrated' structure of federal-state-local resource allocation for the schools by one of the most highly regarded scholars in this field. Timely and important, it will be widely read and extremely well received."—Robert Crowson, author of School-Community Relations Under Reform

"Fascinating and insightful. Joins two disparate traditions to bring new illumination about how our cities and schools work."—Terry Nichols Clark, editor of The New Political Culture

Author Biography: Kenneth K. Wong, associate professor in the department of education and the college at the University of Chicago, is the author of City Choices: Education and Housing and coauthor of When Federalism Works.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
1	Politics of Allocating Resources in Schools	1
2	Politics of Social Targeting at the Federal Level	18
3	Mapping Interstate Variation in State Aid to Schools	42
4	Politics of Leveling Up Spending at the State Level	71
5	The Emerging State Role in Social Targeting	91
6	Local Politics of Equalizing Class Size	122
7	Redesigning School Governance and Resource Allocation: Four Alternative Models	138
	Notes	163
	Bibliography	183
	Index	197

Interesting book: Noodle Know how or Pocket Guide to Good Food

Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori

Author: Mark Ravina

The dramatic arc of Saigo Takamori's life, from his humble origins as a lowly samurai, to national leadership, to his death as a rebel leader, has captivated generations of Japanese readers and now Americans as well - his life is the inspiration for a major Hollywood film, The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe. In this vibrant new biography, Mark Ravina, professor of history and Director of East Asian Studies at Emory University, explores the facts behind Hollywood storytelling and Japanese legends, and explains the passion and poignancy of Saigo's life. Known both for his scholarly research and his appearances on The History Channel, Ravina recreates the world in which Saigo lived and died, the last days of the samurai.

The Last Samurai traces Saigo's life from his early days as a tax clerk in far southwestern Japan, through his rise to national prominence as a fierce imperial loyalist. Saigo was twice exiled for his political activities -- sent to Japan's remote southwestern islands where he fully expected to die. But exile only increased his reputation for loyalty, and in 1864 he was brought back to the capital to help his lord fight for the restoration of the emperor. In 1868, Saigo commanded his lord's forces in the battles which toppled the shogunate and he became and leader in the emperor Meiji's new government. But Saigo found only anguish in national leadership. He understood the need for a modern conscript army but longed for the days of the traditional warrior.

Saigo hoped to die in service to the emperor. In 1873, he sought appointment as envoy to Korea, where he planned to demand that the Korean king show deferenceto the Japanese emperor, drawing his sword, if necessary, top defend imperial honor. Denied this chance to show his courage and loyalty, he retreated to his homeland and spent his last years as a schoolteacher, training samurai boys in frugality, honesty, and courage. In 1876, when the government stripped samurai of their swords, Saigo's followers rose in rebellion and Saigo became their reluctant leader. His insurrection became the bloodiest war Japan had seen in centuries, killing over 12,000 men on both sides and nearly bankrupting the new imperial government. The imperial government denounced Saigo as a rebel and a traitor, but their propaganda could not overcome his fame and in 1889, twelve years after his death, the government relented, pardoned Saigo of all crimes, and posthumously restored him to imperial court rank.

In THE LAST SAMURAI, Saigo is as compelling a character as Robert E. Lee was to Americans-a great and noble warrior who followed the dictates of honor and loyalty, even though it meant civil war in a country to which he'd devoted his life. Saigo's life is a fascinating look into Japanese feudal society and a history of a country as it struggled between its long traditions and the dictates of a modern future.

Library Journal

Known as the "Robert E. Lee" of Japan, Saigo- (1828-77) first helped overthrow the feudal Tokugawa regime and establish Meiji Japan in1868, then in 1877 led a bloody, futile uprising against the new government. He feared the impersonal, commercial, and centralized nation would destroy samurai traditions of personal honor, regional loyalty, and social service. Ravina (director, East Asian Studies Program, Emory Univ.) is a careful scholar who nevertheless writes an action-filled story that resonates today. He shows us that Saigo- was no reactionary, though he harked back to the tradition of the socially responsible Confucian warrior who valued community, not class exploitation or individual advancement. Especially interesting is Ravina's presentation of Saigo- 's legacy in popular culture, where he became a folk hero, forcing the government to elevate him posthumously to a reconciling national martyrdom. Fascists and right-wing patriots from the 1930s to today have evoked samurai tradition, but their efforts are exposed as tawdry exploitation by this engrossing and thoughtful history. Highly recommended for all college and larger public libraries. [Interest in this period may be driven by the new Tom Cruise film of same name and period, though it is not based on this book.-Ed.]-Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Missile Contagion or The Uprooted

Missile Contagion: Cruise Missile Proliferation and the Threat to International Security

Author: Dennis M Gormley

Most books on missile proliferation focus on the spread of ballistic missiles or cruise missiles, not both. Gormley's work, however, explains why cruise missiles are beginning to spread widely, but does so by explaining their spread in the context of ballistic missile proliferation. It therefore treats both ballistic and cruise missile proliferation as related phenomenon. This work also focuses evenhandedly on both nonproliferation and defense policy (including missile defenses and counterforce doctrines) to fashion a set of integrated strategies for dealing with ballistic and cruise missile proliferation. Signs of missile contagion abound. In this study, Gormley argues that a series of rapid and surprising developments since 2005 suggest that the proliferation of missiles capable of delivering either weapons of mass destruction or highly accurate conventional payloads is approaching a critical threshold. The surprising fact is that land-attack cruise missiles, not ballistic missiles, constitute the primary problem. Flying under the radar, both literally and figuratively, land-attack cruise missiles add a dangerous new dimension to protecting U.S. security interests and preventing regional military instability. Gormley asserts that cruise missiles are not destined to supplant ballistic missiles; rather, they are likely to join them, because when both are employed together, they could severely test even the best missile defenses. Worse yet, Gormley argues, land-attack cruise missiles are increasingly being linked to preemptive strike doctrines, which are fueling regional arms races and crisis instability. This work explains why an epidemic of cruise missile proliferation, longforecasted by analysts, has only recently begun to occur. After first assessing the state of ballistic missile proliferation, Gormley explores the role of three factors in shaping the spread of cruise missiles. These include specialized knowledge needed for missile development; narrative messages about reasons for acquiring cruise missiles; and norms of state behavior about missile nonproliferation policy and defense doctrine. This book then addresses the policy adjustments needed to stanch the spread of cruise missiles in the first place, or, barring that, cope militarily with a more demanding missile threat consisting of both cruise and ballistic missiles.

Table of Contents:

Pt. 1 The Proliferation Context 1

Ch. 1 Introduction 3

Ch. 2 The Ballistic Missile Context 16

Ch. 3 Ballistic Missiles and Regional Competitions 28

Ch. 4 Land-Attack Cruise Missiles - Signs of Contagion 47

Ch. 5 Regional Signs of Missile Contagion 66

Pt. 2 Proliferation Instrumentalities 83

Ch. 6 Knowledge 85

Ch. 7 Narrative 107

Ch. 8 Norms 123

Pt. 3 Policy Responses 147

Ch. 9 Nonproliferation and Defense Policy Responses 149

Appendix A Selected Cruise Missile Programs 177

Appendix B Selected Ballistic Missile Programs 181

Look this: Secrets of Good Carb Low Carb Living or Treasures and Pleasures of India

The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations That Made the American People

Author: Oscar Handlin

Awarded the 1952 Pulitzer Prize in history, The Uprooted chronicles the common experiences of the millions of European immigrants who came to America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries-their fears, their hopes, their expectations. In order to bring forward the human story recorded in government records, newspaper accounts, and personal correspondence, the author chose to write this history as a literary narrative unencumbered with notations and academic jargon. The result is literary history at its best. The New Yorker called it "strong stuff, handled in a masterly and quite moving way," while the New York Times suggested that "The Uprooted is history with a difference--the difference being its concerns with hearts and souls no less than an event."

The book inspired a generation of research in the history of American immigration, but because it emphasizes the depressing conditions faced by immigrants, focuses almost entirely on European peasants, and does not claim to provide a definitive answer to the causes of American immigration, its great value as a well-researched and readable description of the emotional experiences of immigrants, and its ability to evoke the time and place of America at the turn of a century, have sometimes been overlooked. Recognized today as a foundational text in immigration studies, this edition contains a new preface by the author.