Most books approach the subject of development with a relatively narrow focus. Some books provide a broad-based approach to economic development, others address environmentally sensitive development, and a few broach the subject of equitable development. This book effectively meshes these often divergent subjects into one general, but ultimately workable, approach to economic development.

Certainly, no single book provides the necessary backgound to assist practitioners, elected officials, or community activists. However, this book provides a good starting point for a general, self-education in development issues.

A very informative theoetical examination of what works in development based on thoughtful analysis of what has worked and what has not worked. Breaks the stereotypes of polictics and ideology that have been so central to development. Combines economic, political and social perspectives that remind me of the best of Max Weber. Wonderful book! A must read.

This is a study guide, and it teaches through essays, followed by questions. The subjects are thought-provoking, and are presented in a preview/questions/review-and-explanation format. The writing is thought-provoking: How, one is asked, has God spoken to you, personally? Faith is presented as a process, one which is life-long. This book is not meant for a solitary reader, it is meant to be taught to a group which is guided by an educated director. Also, it is meant to cover certain basic doctrines, not to be a complete catechism. I wish I could find a class with whom I could share this book. It is a good experience when read alone, but it would be greatly enhanced by group discussion and sharing of thoughts.

I have used this book for the past five years in teaching an adult confirmation class in my parish. I especially like how it is organized: essay, questions about the essay, responses to the questions, the experience of the Christian community, and personal profile. Best of all it quickly gets to the heart of Christian Faith - one's relationship with God and in particular Jesus. I have yet to have a class that did not benefit from using Becoming Catholic.

GURPS Alternate Earths 2 may be made to order for a dimension hopping campaign such as GURPS Time Travel, but I believe it also gives gamers another opportunity to see how our own world "might have been" if just one event in history was changed. And it provides more opportunities to set whole adventures, and even whole campaigns in those worlds.

The six different "Earths" in this book are more examples of the now popular "What If" line of SF stories. The first world, "Cornwallis", give us a good idea as to what might have happened if the British had won the American War for Independence. The second world, "Ming 3" gives us a look at a world under the Chinese Dynasty. The third world, "Midgard", assumes the Viking fury caught fire and captured most of the known world. The fourth world, "Caliph", assumes the Muslim faith converted the world. The fifth world, "Aeolus", has details for a strange Earth where the might of the English and French monarchs is unsurpassed.

The final world is the "opposite" of the one in GURPS Time Travel. Fans of that game have wanted to see "Centrum" for a long time, and this supplement does not disappoint. The overwhelming thought on Centrum is "The Ends Justify The Means" and all the possible terror that this political theory causes. Although the book also gives an opportunity to make Centrum a nicer place, GM's for GURPS Time Travel will welcome the chance to design NPC's that will be a thorn in the players sides for adventure after adventure.

There are even more ideas for adventures, characters, and even whole campaigns for each of the worlds, including several paragraphs about more strange worlds that diverged from these six again. These "reality seeds" give creative GM's even more alternate worlds to explore.

People wishing to use books like Mike Resnick's wonderful alternate series need look no further for ideas of how to recreate those books for a parallel worlds campaign. Highly recommended for GURPS GM's and recommended even to SF fans wanting to explore the ramifications of what might happen if...

After the fun GURPS Alternate Earths 1, Steve Jackson Games publishes another volume with six different alternate histories: Worlds that resemble Earth, but whose history diverge from our own after a certain point in time. This time, it includes the following:

- Midgard, a world where the Vikings successfully plundered Byzantium, and went on to build successful colonies in North America and elsewhere.

- Caliph, an Islam-dominated world where the early invention of the moveable type printing press allowed an early scientific revolution, and in which several other solar systems are being colonized - but Earth itselfs is on the brink of a global war after centuries of peace.

- Cornwallis, a world where the American revolution never happened. Now the corrupt monarchies of Europe and revolutionary Russia face each other and wait for the first shot to start a world war.

Each alternate history gets about twenty pages. This is sufficient to get a good general impression of the world, but I often wished that this world had been made into w sourcebook of its own...

The alternate histories are all fairly logical, and suspending one's sense of disbelief isn't difficult. In my opinion, they are even better than the ones in GURPS Alternate Earth 1 - some of the worlds in there (especially Reich-5 and Dixie) were too stereotyped for my taste (though still well executed).

There is something in this book for most gamers. Do you want a fantasy world? Use Midgard and change it slightly to make it more magical? Do you want an innovative SF background? Use Caliph. Do you want to play a fighter for freedom and democracy? Play in Europe of Aeolus and fight the evil Hapsburg empire...

Jacquelyn Dowd Hall and the other writers of _Like a Family_ created a tour-de-force study of cotton mill towns in the American South. It is a very rare book that captures such a clear, complex sense of history; Hall balances a careful sense of detail with a sweeping picture of life in the cotton-mill South by using a combination of oral and written sources. This book is perfect for scholars and non-scholars alike, and richly conjures a full picture of this period in American history.

Like a Family interestingly and accurately portrays life in southern cotton mills and mill towns in the central southeast, primarily North Carolina. The book examines family, work and community life; it is a social, cultural and political history. Working in the mills was harsh, dangerous and monotonous. Most employees left farms and a rural way of life to toil in the mills; for these people living under the constant eye of mill management was humiliating at times. The mills controlled not only the worker's jobs, but their housing, churches, schools, entertainment and shopping through company stores. It is important to note that this book does not leave out women's perspectives, as many mill workers were young women and working mothers.

A great deal of the content of this book was provided by interviews done in the 1980's of people who worked in the mills and lived in mill communities. This oral history is both fascinating and priceless. Most of the mills have closed and the memory and history of them is becoming scarcer to find as most of the mill workers who lived during the era portrayed in this book have died.

While most of the mills have closed, central North Carolina is dotted with the communities that are remains of old mill towns. I am from this region and my mother lives in Bynum, NC, a mill town dating from the mid-19th century. Several of her neighbors were interviewed for and written about in Like a Family. The old company store still serves as a post office and the mill community's church has regular worshipers. Unfortunately the rest of the community from the mill days, including the mill itself (which closed in the early 1980's and has burned down recently), have succumbed to time and aging from the elements.

I, myself, recall this story from my childhood and it is told with such simplicity and grace. The illustrations are done so beautifully as they should be to accompany such fine story-telling. As all fairy tales, this one has an important lesson to be learned. A story to transcend all cultural boundaries.

This is an old tale retold in a gentle, charming way. It teaches the all important lesson of caring, sharing and kindness towards those less fortunate then we are. The tale is non violent, never overbearing. The illustrations are beautiful Chinese style paintings. It enthralled our three children aged 3, 5 and 8. A great plus in any child's collection.

One of my friend's dads gave me this book to read and it was fantastic. Mike has great opinions on all subject that has to do with current issues. Liberals won't like this book but I think they should read it to get a great argument to their ideas. Mike writes as if he's right there talking to you. It's a good book explaining a lot of "conservative" ideas in detail. Easy reading and full of insight. It didn't get my 5 stars because Mike tends to use a lot of numbers and figures when proving his points. I know people say the numbers don't lie, but I just think people can use numbers to their advantage to easily.

Although Mike gives us a glimpse into the events which shaped his life, most readers will probably be more interested in the events that shape their lives, and Mr. Reagan has plenty to say about that. Most political and social liberals will probably not enjoy this book, but it should be must reading for everyone interested in the socio-political scene. Mike compiles info on a number of important subjects that seldom get this thorough a treatment, and that is what makes the book spellbinding, relevant, and overdue. Don't even think about not reading this one!

I bought this book for my History course and its absolutely Great ! All the main points have been neatly written on the side, which makes reading very easy. If you are purchasing this book, you may also want to buy the Study guide which comes along with it.

This book lets you know all the concepts just by reading it through. I bought it for the history class and this is by far the best book i've ever read in the classes.

This is collection of short stories that offers a wide mix of speculative genres. Fantasy, SF, horror, and just plain weird. The stories run the gambit and most are good. "Jeo Defined" and "Moon Warrior" were excellent stories and well worth purchasing the book. Even just the so-so stories were enjoyable and all the authors are names to keep a look out for. In the end, this is a book of up and coming writers and a few of them will no doubt be big names someday.

I didn't know what to expect from this collection of short stories but I was happily surprised. The stories cover a wide range from fantasy, science fiction, and horror to those hard to classify strange stories. Each one is worth reading. My favorites were the one about a radio personality who was singing the Siren's song and the one about a criminal who is forced to undergo "augmentation" to control him. Some wild stuff for a great read.

This tape is well done. The sound effects create an atmosphere that draws in the listener. The actors are dramatic, but not overly so. The short stories themselves are well written, delivering edge-of-the-chair suspense (or knee-slapping comedy, as the case may be).

As most net surfers are aware the Sci-Fi Channel's web site has included a section devoted to science fiction radio drama...Seeing Ear Theatre. One aspect of which includes originally produced productions cerated especially for the site and which has featured performances by many well-known SF actors as Micheal O'Hare,Mark Hamill,Marina Sirtis,and others. With a few exceptions, a lot of the dramas are based on recent short stories by SF writers such as Terry Bisson, Allen Steele, John Kessel and Gergory Benford. With the release of this audiobook editon(which includes introductions by SF's resident angry young{sic}man Harlan Ellison)now one can listen to these stories anytime you want. The best stories(IMO)are the Three Odd Comedies and The Death of Captain Future (which despite the pulpish-sounding title is a darkly humorous tale set in the future history of Steele's previous works such as Orbital Decay and Clarke County,Space). If you like audio drama-- especially newly produced audio drama...you'll love this collection and you may also want to check out Vol. 2 which should be on sale soon(I know I can't wait).

WOW what a story! Brian Smith could sell this as a short story by itself it is so good IMO. I just wish they sold a hard copy of these writings--not just audio! I have been reading Sci Fi for a long time. This guy is great! Reminds me of 2001, a space odyssey a bit. Worth the price just for this one folks! I noticed there are no other books by Brian Smith for sale on Amazon. What's up with that? He needs to write books, and Amazon needs to sell them--geez, do I make myself clear?