Kosovo : Contending Voices on Balkan Interventions

Book Description

Powerful commentary on the most volatile international event of the year--the conflict in Kosovo.

This is the first book in any language to bring together--in powerful point-counterpoint format--political, ethical, and cultural commentary on the Kosovo conflict by internationally renowned contributors. Also woven into the book are moving firsthand stories of the suffering Balkan people.

Composed of some sixty essays written in dialog with one another, the book contains assessments by noted politicians and analysts (Henry Kissinger, Juergen Haberman, Zbigniew Brzezinski), government officials (Javier Solana, Kofi Annan, Vaclav Havel, Morton Halperin), award-winning journalists (Mark Danner, Tim Judah, Robert Kaplan), human rights advocates (Julie Mertus), theologians and ethicists (Jean Bethke Elshtain, Brian Hehir, David Little, Vatican Archbishop Tauran, Stanley Harakas), historians (Miranda Vickers), military leaders (General Wesley Clark), and many other key figures.

This book also includes photos, maps, a time line, a list of key names, NATO objectives, and online resources for further study of this critical regional conflict with worldwide implications.

Customer Reviews:

An Extraordinary Book - Will Enlighten and Challenge Us All.......2003-09-24

I could not put this book down. The author explores the various sides, themes, and politics of the Balkan crisis. No voice is silenced but all voices are given time to speak. It is fair, accurate, and unbiased in its look at the terrible crimes perpetrated on the Bosnian people. Beautifully written and full of compassionate insights.

China's New Culture of Cool: Understanding the world's fastest-growing market (VOICES)

Average customer rating:

China is changing fast
See all the happy consumers!
A fun, informative beautiful book
Informative and quick read on the Chinese market
New dimension in understanding China

China's New Culture of Cool: Understanding the world's fastest-growing market (VOICES)
LiAnne Yu , Cynthia Chan , and Christopher Ireland
Manufacturer: New Riders Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0321453441

Book Description

When China opened its borders to travelers and its economy to international trade, businesses all over the world took note. With well over one billion people, it represented a huge potential marketplace for goods and services. Huge as it is, however, China is not a monolithic culture. Though deeply rooted in native traditions, its contemporary marketplace is eclectic, combining Chinese regional styles with elements borrowed from foreign cultures. Most of all, it is evolving at a remarkable pace. To succeed in that dynamic emerging market, smart businesses need to understand its driving influencesâespecially its urban youth.

Authors Lianne Yu, Cynthia Chan, and Christopher Ireland bring their collective experience and perspective to this thoughtful, beautifully illustrated analysis of the world’s fastest-growing market. Focusing on four fundamental aspects of the consumer Chinese lifestyleâfood, style, home life, and mobilityâthey show how Chinese culture is speedily developing into a radically new form. Anyone who is interested in expanding his or her business in China should not miss this analysis.

Customer Reviews:

China is changing fast.......2007-01-10

Author discusses changes in young people's lifestyle over past decade in the big cities of China. I have seen a lot of these changes myself during recent trips over past 4-5 years . Groups of young people in China & here(U.S.) are very similar. The book reviews these advances through the themes of clothing,travel,music and other topics that young people have in common

See all the happy consumers! .......2006-09-27

I gave this book 3 stars because it is interesting and exciting to hear about China and what is happening with its youth. Unfortunately, the fact that the book seems to be solely written in order to allow Western corporations to infiltrate the Chinese market really cheapens the stories within.

The tone rarely strays from quotes such as: "China's young consumers face something their parents rarely, if ever, did: choosing which products and experiences best fit their personality and lifestyle". As well as statements like: "China's newest generation is proud of its country and optimistic about it growth to world leadership in this century". I am sure that this is true, that many of China's youth are proud and optimistic, but there should be some qualifiers to this - at least more than passing references to the censorship of the internet, the earlier student struggles at Tiananmen square... SOMETHING more than "As long as you are not disruptive, the government does not care. Our government wants to help us get rich" (p. 29)

I think what is ultimately dismaying that this book is published by New Riders - in general I expect more from them...

A fun, informative beautiful book.......2006-09-23

A very interesting book. In the end it shows the young people of China are no different from those anywhere else. The excellent photos make the book even more enjoyable.

Informative and quick read on the Chinese market.......2006-09-20

This book sets out to describe the younger Chinese consumers who are shaking things up - and along the way, brings them to life with good storytelling and lots of photos. If you don't know what Li-Ning, Yonghe, Baidu and QQ are or why they're important, you should - and this book will get you thinking about them.

New dimension in understanding China.......2006-09-20

After reading The World Is Flat, I have become much more aware of how important it is to recognize and understand other major economies beyond our own and how they affect us -- our work, our thinking and planning, and what our own future will be like. Clearly, understanding the culture of a people is seminal to understanding how their systems work and how they may be likely to evolve, affecting us. China's New Culture of Cool is definitely an important addition to that particular bookshelf of knowledge. The images are tantalizing, too.

The Voice of the Irish: The Story of Christian Ireland

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Irish Voices
Irish Voices
Whitewash

The Voice of the Irish: The Story of Christian Ireland
Michael Staunton
Manufacturer: HiddenSpring
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 158768022X

Book Description

2,000 years of Irish Christianity, from St. Patrick to the Peace Process. From early Celtic culture to St. Patrick, from everyday monks to the people now engaged in the Peace Process, this sweeping history of Irish faith offers a balanced account of the religious, social, and political life of the Irish people. Michael Staunton shows us the human face of Ireland, from the monk who wrote an ode to his cat in the margin of his illuminated manuscripts, to the dying friar who, in the midst of the Black Death, left a message for anyone surviving what he called the end of the world. The author traces 2,000 years of Irish Christianity, how it both evolved and differed from the Celtic culture of Ireland, and how it survived in its changing forms in the midst of the known Christian world through centuries of strife.

This engaging, accessible book provides:

* a meticulously researched account of Irish Christianity.
* the social, political, and religious panorama of a country in conflict.
* fascinating facts and little-known tales of everyday monks struggling to survive major world changes.
* cultural and literary Ireland, and the significance of W.B. Yeats and other writers and reformers during the "Irish Troubles."
* a fair and balanced account of the present-day Peace Process in Ireland.

Customer Reviews:

Irish Voices.......2005-07-19

This a great introduction to a fascinating but complex subject: the full sweep of Irish history from pre-historic to modern times. Not only that but it is also extremely entertaining and well-written. I was up till five in the morning last night simply unable to put the book down. Disregarding pmango's ludicrous assertions of pro-Scots-Irish bias let me tell you about the book.
Dr. Staunton takes as his main subject the three main strands of Irish Christianity: Catholic, Presbyterian and Anglican; and shows how important they have all been in shaping Irish politics, thought and character. He separates myth from fact and discusses the relevance of both. He shows how in recent times the Christian traditions' influence in dictating morality is on the wane and points to new opportunities for a gentler Christianity, more in tune with Christ's teaching, leading by example "in helping the homeless, drug users, refugees and asylum-seekers... at a time when champions of social justice are more needed than ever." Finally Dr. Staunton's book promotes a liberal vision of tolerance, mutual respect and hope that ultimately can be the only way forward towards the peace and prosperity that all the Irish peoples whatever their creed have a right to share in. If you are remotely interested in Irish history and culture, you should buy this book, read it and then lend it to your friends.

Irish Voices.......2005-07-19

Whitewash.......2004-06-17

Reader beware: a whitewash of Irish (and English) martyrdom under the Tudor dynasty, with a decidedly pro-Scots- Irish bent throughout. While occasionally informative, far better reads include:
1. "The Irish Race in the Past and the Present," by the Rev. Aug. J. Thébaud;
2. "Church and state in Tudor Ireland; a history of penal laws against Irish Catholics, 1534-1603," by Robert Dudley Edwards; 3. "Oliver Plunkett in His Own Words" by Desmond Forristal.

Gerald of Wales: A Voice of the Middle Ages

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Gerald of Wales: A Voice of the Middle Ages
Robert Bartlett
Manufacturer: Tempus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Medieval | World | History | Subjects | Books
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The History and Topography of Ireland (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 0752440314

Voices of Northern Ireland: Growing Up in a Troubled Land

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Voices of Northern Ireland: Growing Up in a Troubled Land
Carolyn Meyer
Manufacturer: Gulliver Books Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Europe | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0152006362

Book Description

“The author provides good historical background, which makes the origins of the troubles clear, and is sensitive to the ordinary lives of those who must live with the threat of violence.”--The Horn Book Bibliography; index; maps.

Average customer rating:

Wonderful!
Beautiful

Voices And Poetry Of Ireland
Folk Promotions
Manufacturer: Sourcebooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1402204043

Book Description

Over the centuries, Ireland has produced an astonishing wealth of writers, from Oscar Wilde and Patrick Kavanagh to W. B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney. An island steeped in literary tradition and inspired by its dramatic landscape, history and people, its rich and colorful heritage is celebrated in this unique compilation.

For the first time ever, more than 30 of Ireland's best-loved poems have been recorded by some of the most moving, resonant, and memorable voices to have ever come out of the country and are featured in this book and CD collection. From Bono to Pierce Brosnan, Maeve Binchy to Richard Harris, Colin Farrell to Bob Geldof, figures from every walk of Irish public life have given their own unique slant on poems ranging from classics from Padraic Colum and Patrick Kavanagh to contemporaries like Seamus Heaney and Brendan Kennelly. AUTHORBIO: Folk Promotions is donating all royalties to Focus Ireland, one of the leading charities in Ireland working with and for the homeless.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful!.......2007-01-11

This is a magical, beautiful book! The CD with Irish poets, actors, and others reading from the book is a wonderful edition. A treasure to any poetry collection.

Beautiful.......2006-01-30

Irish voices, Irish words. Bono, Richard Harris, Gavin Friday to just start the list of voices. My favorite poet, W. B. Yeats. For a brief moment, time stood still as I listened and read. Centered me, focused me. Nothing anyone could ever say will ever deter me from giving this book to those I love, again and again. The Irish write and sing from their hearts. This book is a small reflection of that. One for yourself, one for the one you love the most.

This Troubled Land: Voices from Northern Ireland on the Front Lines of Peace

Average customer rating:

Very good
Excellent read

This Troubled Land: Voices from Northern Ireland on the Front Lines of Peace
Patrick Rucker
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Non-US Legal Systems | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

When American journalist Patrick Michael Rucker learned of the Northern Ireland peace accord signed on Good Friday, 1998, he knew he had to return. Rucker had last seen this torn country in 1991, when “the troubles” raged at a fever pitch of daily bombings and murder. Could such a violently divided society truly live in peace? What had changed? In the fall of 1998, Rucker returned to Belfast to see for himself, and this stark, gritty, spellbinding book is his report.

A fearless and brilliant reporter, Rucker sought out victims and killers, leading IRA terrorists and the loyalist counterparts bent on assassinating them, British soldiers and innocent bystanders swept helplessly into an endless undeclared war. Rucker watched as Michelle Williamson chained herself outside a prison to protest the release of the IRA prisoner whose bomb killed her innocent parents. He visited the hospital room of Liam Cairns, a young man abducted by an IRA “punishment gang” and beaten beyond recognition. He tracked down the children of Jean McConville, a widow abducted and killed decades ago for aiding a British solider–a tragic mistake that the IRA finally was ready to admit. There are scores of encounters like these in the pages of This Troubled Land, shocking portraits of a society caught in a nightmare of rage and despair.

But as Rucker discovers, despair has now begun to give way to a different mood–not forgiveness and reconciliation, exactly, for the wounds are still too raw, but a weary longing for closure. Rucker sees glimmers of hope in a Protestant mother murmuring an apology to a Catholic widow, in talk of forgetting the past, in the jarring vision of a glass-roofed double-decker bus carrying tourists down Belfast’s Madrid Street, where just a few years ago bullets flew between the Catholics and the Protestants.

In vivid, electrifying prose, Rucker captures the soul of a country at a critical juncture, a country finally putting the darkest moments of its past behind and daring to look ahead.

Customer Reviews:

Very good.......2002-05-09

In the autumn of 1998, journalist Patrick Rucker returned to Northern Ireland to see how things have changed since the Good Friday peace accord. Interviewing many different people, he paints the picture of a land that is still not at peace, but filled with the bitterness from the long struggle, but too exhausted to keep the fighting up.

This book is quite interesting, showing the reader a side of Ireland that is just not visible in most books. Allowing the people to tell their own stories gives this book a powerful grip, which makes it hard to put down and harder to forget.

My one complaint is that Mr. Rucker focused heavily on the Catholic community, showing their bitterness against the Protestants, the British government and army, and against the IRA (which is painted in stark colors that are not flattering). However, even with those limitations, this is a very good book, one that I highly recommend to anyone interested in the condition of Northern Ireland.

Excellent read.......2002-04-06

Gripping, inciteful, fast moving account of daily life in N Ireland today. Can't put it down once you get in to the book. Great history lesson and description of how life is lived so soon after all the violence that occurred during the Troubles in Belfast and N Ireland

Vienna Voices: A Traveler Listens to the City of Dreams (Writing Travel)

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From a former student's vantage...

Vienna Voices: A Traveler Listens to the City of Dreams (Writing Travel)
Jill, Knight Weinberger
Manufacturer: Parlor Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Travel | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Austria | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1932559892

Book Description

Description A work of creative nonfi ction, VIENNA VOICES: A TRAVELER LISTENS TO THE CITY OF DREAMS offers a nuanced portrait of the enigmatic "City of Dreams," whose intellectual and artistic culture reached its height at the end of the nineteenth century, only to be eclipsed in the twentieth by the collapse of the Habsburg empire and the rise of National Socialism. Inspired by Jill Knight Weinberger's twenty-year acquaintance with the city and the story of her husband's family, who as Viennese Jews were forced to fl ee in 1938, the book portrays two spheres of acquaintance with Vienna. There is the city of legendary charm and reverence for the arts, the city of Mozart, Schubert, Klimt and Freud; there is also its darker character, hedonistic and intolerant. Weinberger family history, historical anecdote, and personal observation are woven into a segmented structure that allows the reader to discover Vienna much as Weinberger did, in a juxtaposition of "voices" heard in the city's poetry, everyday language, history books, period documents, and as recalled by its citizens, past and present. About the Author Jill Knight Weinberger (PhD, University of Connecticut) is an Associate Professor of English at Central Connecticut State University, where she teaches courses in creative writing and American literature. Her travel writing has appeared frequently in the New York Times, Boston Sunday Globe, and Los Angeles Times. In 2000, the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation recognized her writing with a Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism. Series: Writing Travel Edited by Jeanne Moskal

Customer Reviews:

From a former student's vantage..........2006-05-17

Weinberger's glimpse into Vienna's rich cultural and historical life serves as a launching point for researching her in-laws' past. Though well-off and industrious throughout the late thirties, the onset of World War II forced them to flee, uprooting their lives and sense of identity like thousands of other Jews in the city.

Weinberger's smooth writing style makes it easy to envision sitting in one of the city's countless coffeehouses on a mild spring day. Yet simultaneously, it is impossible to ignore its undercurrent of war-related anxiety, a constant reminder that a war continues to ravage its victims' lives long after its end.

Although Weinberger's work might be classified as travel writing by some, she encompasses aspects of many other genres -- history, memoir, nonfiction, humor -- creating a memorable read.

Average customer rating:

This belongs in every library...
Voices from Vilna

Voices from Vilna
Helaine Shoag Greenberg
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Jewish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Former Soviet Republics & Siberia | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0595397379

Book Description

To my great joy, I found poignant letters in my family home describing my father's and his family's life and current events from 1930 to 1940 in Vilnius, Lithuania. On a "roots trip" there in 2000, the letters were shown to the Director of the Vilna Gaon Museum who thought them valuable. Voices is a creative, non-fiction memoir told from the perspective of a first generation 'child'. The letters are arranged chronologically, interspersed with letters to my father telling him what I found. Sadly, new photographs show evidence of ongoing anti-Semitism. I wrote this story as a memorial to the letter writers.

Chapter One contains love letters to my mother from my father. It also describes his desperate attempts to leave the country. Chapter Two shows how hard my father tried to get some of his family out, especially his sister married to a rabbi. Rabbis were targets of oppression. Chapter Three illustrates how difficult life became in Vilna even before the Holocaust. It was a cry for help. They knew what was coming, yet kept hope alive. I'm glad my father could not go back with me because the experience would have been too painful for him.

Customer Reviews:

This belongs in every library..........2007-05-10

Jack Bershad's review is right on the button. It is everything he said it was, and more. Dr. Greenberg's Voices From Vilna is poignant, and priceless. It brings you to tears, while revealing the courage of everyday heroes. It is a book everyone should read.

Voices from Vilna.......2007-01-04

Ms. Greenberg's assembly of these letters and her brief and pointed comments communicate a love affair in a distant time across the world and the love of Ms. Greenberg of her antecedents. All of this in the context of one of the many times of horrific turmoil in the 20th Century. A worthy companion to Anne Frank's Diary and other personal accounts by victims of tyrants, who, notwithstanding their suffering, look to the future with optimism.

The Irish Voice in America : Irish-American Fiction from the Eighteenth Century to the Present

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The Irish Voice in America : Irish-American Fiction from the Eighteenth Century to the Present
Charles Fanning
Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0813109701

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