David Shannon ("No David") channels the spirit of Gaugin in this book. You can hardly believe it's the same artist. The story is thematically challenging for the early reader (6+). The protagonists are asked to place their trust in a shark god, which is portrayed with a touch of quiet malevolence. Yet they are rewarded for their kindness and faith. A beautiful, haunting story.

As Y.C. Fung put it, biomechanics is a field characterized by a vagueness of definitions and abundance of literature. I was feeling hopelessly lost trying to get a handle on both the engineering aspects and biological phenomena. Martin and Burr have summarized the entire field very efficiently. It would help if you have a previous background in solid mechanics, but even that has been explained in a simple fashion. The exercises at the end are what attracted me most. They look very similar to actual problems in research and doing them sincerely is sure to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the field. A must have for the researcher/Grad.student in biomechanics/bioengineering.

Myers does a magnificant job of depicting the human mind, and the surroundings that affect are daily lives. He brins up theories and thoughts that most would have never considered. It is a bit of a Higher Level book. Recommended to anyone who has ever had in interest in psychology, or social psychology.

Space Gladiators is full of great short stories by Brain W. Aldiss, Ben Bova, David Drake, Keith Laumer and more. Edited by David Drake, this is one in a series. There is also SPACE DREADNOUGHTS and SPACE INFANTRY (also edited by David Drake).

What is clear from the accounts of Garbus' battles for freedom of speech is that the struggle to be free or to remain free will never end. Garbus also shows how one person (or a few) can make a huge difference in the free society we enjoy today. The book portrays many heros, several scoundrals, and events in the past that all jump off the page in a new light. I've added Martin Garbus to my top-ten list of people I would most like to have dinner with because I'd like to find out much more about his exploits in defending our right to hear and read anything others have to say.

Collaboratively written by Ron Bernstein, David Binns, Marshal Hyman, and deftly edited by Martin Staubus, Transitioning Ownership in the Private Company: The ESOP Solution examines leveraged employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) as a means of allowing employees to purchase and own a corporate divestiture or a production plant or facility chosen for closing by the parent company. Examining the tax benefits, empowerment benefits for employees, usefulness, and facilitation of ESOPs, Transitioning Ownership In The Private Company is a carefully researched, superbly presented, and thoroughly "user friendly" information guide and reference. Simply put, Transitioning Ownership In The Private Company is a "must-read" for anyone involved in or considering an ESOP solution in acquiring a private company, plant, or facility.

This book is a wonderfull display of british artwork, it is also extremely informative and a trully usefull and pleasurable book to have. I can not recomend it highly enough.

Robert Carlsen: The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya Town, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.

E. Michael Mendelson writes: The subject of this extremely well written and readable book is Santiago Atitlan, the largest town of the Tzutujil Indians on one of the world's most beautiful volcanic lakes: Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. The town has long been famous with tourists and with anthropologists who have been studying it since at least the Nineteen Twenties. One of the principal deities in the Maya-Christian religious syncretism of Atitlan-the Maximon or Mam-even made Time Magazine coverage when it was attacked by Catholic clergy in the 1950s.

In a sense, the attempted conquest of the Maya and Maya resistance to it have continued from the 16th century Spanish Conquest down to the 20th century Civil War (in most ways a war against the Maya Indians) and Carlsen does a brilliant job of investigating four centuries of both continuity and change. In the last half century, a major crisis has been developing on the lake due to increased population and shortage of land. The move of so many local Maya from agriculture to commerce may be the reason why, Carlsen argues, traditional native religion-agriculture based-is having a hard time surviving against Orthodox and Charismatic Catholicism, militant Evangelical Protestantism, and contemporary media-driven culture. Commerce is not doing sufficiently well to save the town when set in the context of Guatemalan capitalism, itself vulnerable to increasing globalization. Further undermining the situation has been the Civil War, culminating in the December 2nd 1990 massacre of civilians by the Army-though local pride in forcing the Army out the town as a result of the massacre remains strong.

While this is Carlsen's main concern here (one is sure there will be further books), he manages to include a great deal of fresh and resonant information on Atiteco traditions. There is, among much else, a wonderful chapter on the central Tzutujil concept of "Flowering Mountain Earth," linking Sun, Corn, and Humans in an ideology descended straight from the great pre-Spanish classic text Popol Vuh, as well as a condensed but most insightful essay on the continuing cult of Sacred Bundles in Atitlan. Like all good anthropologists, Carlsen achieves a delicate balance between empathetic participation and objective study. His long dedication to the town is evident in the depth and warmth of his vision. The book is blessedly free of jargon and is illustrated with a wealth of excellent photographs. It cannot be too highly recommended.

Martin provides much need insight into this poorly understood theatre of World War II - the Balkans. Using recently declassified British intelligence documents and radio transmission transcripts from the field, Martin builds a strong case for the defense of General Draza Mihailovich, the Serbian guerilla leader who was abandoned by the British in favour of the Communist leader Tito. British field documents show that Serbian Chetnik forces carried out large scale attacks against German and Croat Nazi units up to 1944 - long after they stopped getting Allied aid. Importantly, they continued rescuing downed Allied airmen, culminating in the rescue in June, 1944 of more than 500 US and British airmen who were evacuated by US Airforce aircraft from Serbia in an operation codenamed "Halyard" - the largest rescue in US Airforce history. All round a tremendous contribution to WWII history. I might add, that just last year, more than 50 years after the fact, the official British archives have admitted that Communist moles working for SOE (Special Operations Executive) manipulated and falsified field transcripts from the Serb Chetniks thereby resulting in official British support switching to Tito. Martin's thesis has been proven correct. Nicholas Tintor Toronto

Few children's stories are more affecting than those concerning mother and child. Add to that scenario an adorable baby duck, and you have a sure winner. Such is the case with Martin Waddell's latest.

When tiny Webster J. Duck became restless he tapped on his eggshell with his beak. Crack went the shell and Webster got his first glimpse of a very large world. But Webster was puzzled because he didn't see his mother, and he thought that all baby ducks had a mother. He quacked and quacked, but she didn't come so he set off to find her.

In his search he found friends with wiggly tails, and wool for coats. Webster was sure none of them were his mother. Of course, the story has a happy ending, and is reassuring to young ears. It's a warm, fuzzy reminder that mother's love them and are nearby.