Geography Books

Book SynopsisThe developing countries are recelvmg generous Government Offices, and commercial organizations attention from experts, officials and academics drawn deserve our sincere thanks for their attention to our from a wide spectrum of specialist interests. Some of this many enquiries. In particular, we would like to thank effort is directed towards a solution of several of the the officials of the Planning Board and the Central world's most pressing problems, including ill-health, Statistical Office, Kuwait Municipality, University of under-nourishment, and rapid population growth, but Kuwait, and the Kuwait Oil Company. The following other workers are more concerned with the less immedi- individuals deserve our special thanks: Mr. Ahmad al- ate but nonetheless very significant theoretical aspects Duaij, Mr. Fouad al Hussaini, Mr. Hamid Shwaib, Mr. of the developing countries. This book is an attempt to Abdulaziz aI-Hamdan, Mr. Fouad Haddad, Mr. Ahmad bridge the gap between these two approaches. al-Haj, Mr. Marwan 'Adra', Mr. Muhammad Sukhon, At this present juncture in time we are faced with Professor Abdul Fattah Ismail, Professor Dawlat Sadiq, the realization that the experience of Europe or North Professor Muhammad Mutwalli, Dr. Muhammad Shar- nubi, His Excellency Ibrahim Shatti, Dr. Noel Brehony, America may be of limited assistance in the interpretation Professor W. B. Fisher, Dr. John Brebner, Dr. Alan of current trends in the developing world. Not only is Horan, Mrs.Table of ContentsThe relation of Kuwait’s development to Europe and Far East.- Discovery of oil reserves outside the Middle East.- Arab nationalism.- Great Britain’s responsibility.- Inapplicability of laws and generalizations of developed world.- General lessons of value to others.- Kuwait a testing ground.- 1. Urbanization and Population Growth in the Middle East.- 1. Definitions.- General statements on nature and causes of urbanization.- Historical connections.- Development of civilisations.- Technical innovations.- Sources of labour.- Population increase, food supplies, general educational advances.- 2. Middle East Urbanization: Extent and Special Characteristics.- United Nations’s statistics.- 3. Levels of Urbanization in the Middle East.- 4. Elements Peculiar to the Urbanization of the Middle East.- Social and political urbanization.- Defence role.- Religion.- Oil.- Investment capital.- Israel.- Foreign aid.- 5. Conclusion.- II. The Urbanization of Kuwait. Prosperity alternating with hardship.- 1. The Environment. Physical geography.- a) Summer.- b) Winter.- c) Daily weather.- 2. Water Resources.- a) Occurrence.- b) Development.- 3. Power.- 4. Agriculture.- a) Farmers.- b) Nomads.- 5. Fishing.- a) Pearling.- b) Fishing.- 6. Mineral Resources Industries.- Industries.- Distribution of labour force.- Restriction of economic opportunity.- III. The Early History of Kuwait.- IV. The Economic Development of Kuwait.- V. Population Growth in Kuwait. Twelve hundred per cent increase in 60 years.- 1. Introduction.- Preponderance of non-Kuwaitis.- Nationality law.- Duality of national life.- 2. Population Expansion by Immigration.- a) War-time immigration.- b) Post-war immigration.- c) Factors involved in immigration.- d) The Alien population 1957–1965.- aa) Sex ratios.- bb) Age structure.- e) Permanency of migration to Kuwait.- f) Arrivals after 1965.- 3. Population Expansion by Natural Increase. Introduction.- a) Vital statistics in Kuwait.- b) Natality, mortality and the population cycle.- c) Health facilities in Kuwait.- aa) Growth.- bb) Effect.- d) Age structure of the Kuwait population.- aa) The Kuwaitis.- bb) The Non-Kuwaitis.- e) Natality and fertility.- aa) Kuwaitis.- bb) Non-Kuwaitis.- f) Mortality.- aa) Kuwaitis.- bb) Non — Kuwaitis.- 4. Conclusions - Natural Increase.- a) Kuwaitis.- b) Non-Kuwaitis.- VI. The Ecology of Daily Life.- A. The Rural Community.- Agriculture.- Water resources.- Pastoral nomadism.- Cultural legacy of the Badu.- Religion, fasts and feasts.- Emphasis on kinship.- Hospitality, manners and modes.- B. The Urban Community.- Post-War Expansion of the Built up Area.- 1. Kuwait City Before Oil Discoveries.- a) Extent.- b) Internal characteristics and differentiation.- 2. Kuwait City after the Discovery of Oil.- Rising revenues and immigration.- 3. The Government Land Purchase Scheme.- 4. Planning and Urban Expansion.- a) The 1952 plan.- b) Physical expansion of the city structure.- c) Subsequent plans.- 5. The Contemporary City.- a) The Old City.- b) The Kuwait neighbourhoods.- c) Hawalli and Salimiya.- d) Abruq Khaitan and Farwaniya.- e) Ahmadi and Fahahil.- C. Population Distribution and Density within the Urban Areas.- 1. Changing Patterns of Population Distribution.- a) Before the first census.- b) Effects of oil discoveries.- c) Population distribution in 1957.- d) Population distribution in 1965.- D. Population Composition and Social Areas within Kuwait.- 1. “Western” and “non-Western” Cities.- 2. Land Use and Urban Ecology.- a) Methods.- b) Selection of variables.- 3. The Distribution of Individual Variables.- a) Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis.- b) Illiterates.- c) Employees in construction.- d) Professional and temnical workers.- e) Administrative workers.- 4. The Analysis of Groups of Variables.- a) Method.- b) Variables.- 5. The Factors: Their Composition and Distribution.- a) Factor composition.- b) The distribution of factors throughout Kuwait.- 6. The Geographic Distribution of Individual Factors.- 7. Combinations of all 3 Factors.- a) Group 1.- b) Group 2.- c) Group 3.- d) Group 4.- 8. Factor Analysis and the Structure of Kuwait City.- 9. Social Areas in Kuwait City.- a) The Old City and other areas of immigrant invasion.- b) Areas under construction with low-status immigrants.- c) Strongly Kuwaiti areas.- 10. International Parallels.- 11. Conclusion.- VII. Health and Disease.- 1. Introduction.- a) Pseudo-urbanization.- b) The health of the Badu.- c) Effects of urbanization.- d) Integration of planning for social and environmental manges.- e) The importance of integrating disciplines beyond fringe of medicine.- f) Adaptation of the individual to meet the new stresses.- g) Alterations in disease patterns.- h) Definition of Medical Geography.- 2. Specific Problems of Kuwait.- a) Training for responsibility.- b) Infectious disease.- c) Infant gastro-enteritis.- d) Kuwait as an epidemiological listening post.- e) Genetic disease.- f) Environmental influences.- g) Blindness.- VIII. Preventive Medicine in Kuwait.- 1. Preventive Medical Service.- a) Establishment: urban planning: water supplies; killing of animals.- b) Structure of Ministry of Public Health.- c) Growth of services.- d) Communications.- e) Health education.- f) Inspection of buildings and regulations.- g) Private industrially financed medical services of the oil companies.- 2. Infectious Diseases.- a) Comparison with other geographic areas.- b) Leprosy.- c) Hepatitis.- d) Rabies.- e) Malaria.- f) Poliomyelitis.- g) Bacillary Dysentery.- h) Amoebic Dysentery.- i) Worms.- j) Schistosomiasis.- 3. School Medical Services.- a) School population.- b) Development of service.- c) Epidemiology.- d) Nutrition.- IX. Treatment Services.- 1. Traditional Medicine.- a) Badu practices.- b) Branding.- c) The history of Arabian medicine.- d) The Nestorians and Persians.- 2. Modern Treatment Services.- a) European influence in the Gulf.- b) The Political Agency and the American Mission.- c) The Government and oil companies.- d) Professional medical associations.- e) Medical facilities and services.- f) Laboratory services.- g) Tuberculosis diagnostic laboratory.- h) Blood transfusion services.- i) Relative paucity of published clinical eports until 1968.- X. Trauma, Temperance, Tuberculosis and Toxoplasmosis.- 1. Trauma.- a) War and wounds.- The last battle of Jahra 1920.- Dr. Mylrea’s account.- b) Deaths and accidents on the roads.- c) Statistics.- Industrial and domestic accidents.- 2. Temperance.- Religious law and alcohol.- Different countries’ experience.- Prohibition in Kuwait.- The position for non-Moslems.- Illegal distilling.- Smuggling.- Effects of alcohol intoxication.- 3. Tuberculosis.- Experience of the Badu.- Infection in older people.- Population sampling.- Treatment facilities.- Visit of WHO in 1961.- B.C.G. vaccination.- Conversion rates.- Non -pulmonary tuberculosis.- 4. Toxoplasmosis.- Epidemiology elsewhere.- The study in Kuwait.- Clinical findings.- Significance of endemicity in local sheep and goats.- XI. Psychiatric Illness.- The pattern in Kuwait.- Traditional practices.- Hospital facilities.- Incidence of disease.- Use of drugs.- Sexual deviation and homosexuality.- Emancipation of women and psychoneurotic effects.- The effects of industrialisation.- XII. The Haemoglobinopathies.- 1. First Recognition in Kuwait.- World distribution.- Source of Kuwait’s population; migrations.- 2. Sickle-Cell Anaemia.- 3. Thalassaemia: definition.- Clinical and laboratory studies: treatment.- 4. Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency of the Red Blood Cells.- XIII. Heat Illness and Desert Survival.- Comparative physiology in man and animals.- The Badu: conservation of energy, comfort and discipline.- Heat gain and loss.- Investigations in Kuwait, and elsewhere on the Badu.- Types of heat illness.- Heat-illness among oil tanker crews.- Heat-stroke in Kuwait.- Steps taken to combat effects of heat stroke.- Factors affecting heat control.- XIV. Occupational Health.- 1. Epidemiology.- Development of government and oil company services.- Establishment of standards.- Liaison with I.L.O. and other countries.- Education of doctors and other health workers.- 2. Petroleum and its Hazards to Health in Kuwait.- The history of petroleum and its development.- Use and destination of Kuwait products.- Use of natural gas.- Medical uses of petroleum.- Hazards of petroleum manufacturing to workers and public; explosive and toxic.- Additive effects of sun and petroleum on skin.- Possible long-term carcinogenic effects on various body organs.- 3. Secondary Industries.- Development and pattern.- Asbestos.- Training for industry.- Health education.- XV. Air Pollution.- The desert air, sand, dusts, spores and fungi.- Cigarette.- Urban planning.- Industrial air pollution.- Petroleum products, combustion.- Legislation.- WHO advice.- Investigations of pollen production, Prosopis spicigera.- Air-conditioning of houses.- Atmospheric ionisation.- XVI. Conclusion.- Comparision of urbanization today with nineteenth century Europe.- Kuwait’s anomalous development in Eastern Arabia.- The intrusion of “foreigners” and internal schisms.- Disease as a measure of the problem.- The danger of dualism.- The lessons of enlightened colonialism.- Kuwait’s limited man-power pool.- Diversification of trade and industry.- Oil as a political weapon.- Need for an understanding of ecology by Kuwait’s children.- The problems of citizenship.- The importance of a “cross-cultural” outlook.- Kuwait as a study of enlightened development.- References.- Illustrations.

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Book SynopsisOne of the major findings in the 1992 IPCC report and the 1994 World Meteorological Organization's Ozone Assessment report was the identification of possible climatic effects over the last few decades resulting from anthropogenic ally-induced changes in atmospheric ozone. The initial quantitative estimates of their direct climatic effects indicate significant impacts, though large uncertainties exist and studies using general circulation models are needed. A point that needs to be addressed in particular is that atmospheric ozone differs from greenhouse gases in that it is formed and destroyed by chemical processes in the atmosphere due to interaction involving a large number of source gases (e. g. H0, NO ' CO, 2 x NMHC, N0, CH and the CFCs). Therefore, the indirect effect of climate-chemistry 2 4 interaction involving atmospheric ozone is an important aspect for consideration in general circulation models. During the last few years, there have been several international workshops related to atmospheric ozone. In 1987, a NATO workshop on atmospheric ozone was held in Lillehammer, Norway. More recently, two workshops were organized to discuss the topic "General Circulation Model Study of Climate-Chemistry Interaction. " The first was held August 19-21, 1992, in Oslo, Norway, and the second held May 26-27,1993, in Albany, New York, USA. The two workshops were IAMAP activities under the Trace Constituent Working Group.Table of Contents1 Session Summaries.- I: Upper Tropospheric/Lower Stratospheric Ozone Climatology.- II: Chemical Modeling.- III: Climate Modeling.- IV: Issues Relevant to the Development of Coupled Chermstry/Climate Models.- 2 Research Studies.- Climate Change and Its Effect on Tropospheric Ozone.- Simulations of Stratospheric Ozone in a Climate Model.- GCM Modelling of the Stratospheric Dynamics and Its Coupling with Chemistry.- Analysis of 25 Years of Regular Ozone Soundings at Uccle (Belgium).- Concurrent Ozone and Temperature Trends Derived from Ozonesonde Stations.- Responses in Tropospheric Chemistry to Changes in UV Fluxes, Temperatures and Water Vapour Densities.- On the Interrelationship Between Recent Climate Trends, Ozone Changes and Increased Greenhouse Gas Forcing.- Mid-Latitude Stratospheric-Tropospheric Ozone Exchange — A Trend Study.- Radiative Forcing by Tropospheric Ozone Changes Due to Increased Emissions of CH4, CO and Nox.- The Role of Convection in the Vertical Distribution of Ozone and Precursors in the Troposphere.- Effects of Aqueous-Phase Chemistry on Tropospheric O3 and Odd Hydrogen.- Ozone Chemistry Changes in the Troposphere and Consequent Radiative Forcing of Climate.- A GCM Study of the Climatic Effect of 1979–1992 Ozone Trend.- Ozone Monitoring in Taiwan.- Experimental Determinations of Meridional Distribution and Long Term Evolution of Tropospheric Ozone — Consequences on Radiative Forcing.- Challenges in Tropospheric Ozone and Predicting Its Future Trend.- Chemistry of Ozone in the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere: Perspectives from Laboratory Studies.- Stratospheric Ozone Research in Finland, Focusing on Atmospheric Modelling.- Radiative Forcing Due to Changes in Ozone: A Comparison of Different Codes.- Ozone Trends from Satellite Data.- Connections Between Atmospheric Ozone, the Climate System and UV-B Radiation in the Arctic.- Tropopause Fold Formation in an Explosive Cyclogenesis.- Development of Coupled Models at LASG.- The Recent Variability of Atmospheric Ozone in the Middle Latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere and Solar Ultraviolet Radiation.- Studies on Atmospheric Ozone over China.- Authors and Participants.- Author Index.

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Book SynopsisDas Handbuch vermittelt die Grundlagen wie das thermische Regime der Erde, die oberflächennahe Geologie, geologisch-geophysikalische Grundlagen, zugrunde liegende mathematische Methoden, Risikomanagement und Bohrtechniken. In den angewandten Kapiteln geht es konkret um Geothermieprojekte aus der Sicht eines Bauherren, u.a. um Heizlastberechnung und die hydraulische Abgleichung, daneben um das Projektmanagement, zu berücksichtigende Umweltaspekte, Finanzierung und Fördermöglichkeiten und die Dimensionierung von Anlagen. Auch Verfahrenstechnische Grundlagen, die Maschinentechnik, die Qualitätssicherung und Fragen der Kommunikation und Akzeptanz wie auch der Arbeitssicherheit und des Gesundheitsschutzes werden behandelt. Auch wenn der Schwerpunkt des Handbuches auf Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz liegt, so wird auch auf die Oberflächennahe Geothermiebranche weltweit eingegangen und Herausforderungen wie auch Chancen und Perspektiven aufgezeigt.Table of Contents

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Book SynopsisDieses Buch ist ein Bestimmungsatlas, der hilft, Minerale, Gesteine und die wichtigsten Fossilgruppen im Gelände zu erkennen und zu beschreiben. Aber nicht nur das. Zusätzlich wird eine Reihe von wichtigen geologischen Strukturen beschrieben und in zahlreichen Fotos dargestellt. Dadurch werden Sie eingeladen, die Geologie hinter Landschaften und Gesteinen draußen im Gelände aufzuspüren. Denn die Geologie ist eine Wissenschaft, die erst richtig lebendig wird beim Wandern in der Natur, z. B. an der Küste oder durch Nationalparks. Mit wenig Wissen werde Sie die Landschaft anders erleben. Die Gesteine werden quasi lebendig und Sie werden die Geschichte wie ein Buch lesen können und die Vielfalt und Komplexität von geologischen Prozessen verstehen. Solche Prozesse – ein Wechselspiel von Magmatismus, Tektonik, Metamorphose, Klima und Sedimentation – haben die heutige Erdoberfläche geformt. Das Buch wendet sich an die geologisch interessierten Leser und Studierende, denen das Werk als Begleiter bei Ausflügen durch die Natur gute Dienste leisten wird.Table of ContentsÜberblick.- Minerale.- Magmatische Gesteine.- Metamorphe Gesteine.- Sedimentgesteine.- Fossilien & Paläoökologie.

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Book SynopsisRapa Nui, die Osterinsel, ist einer der abgelegensten bewohnten Orte der Erde und auch für manchen erfahrenen Weltenbummler eine noch unerfüllte Wunschdestination. Wer die weite Reise hierher auf sich nimmt, kommt wohl vor allem, um den kulturellen Schätzen und Einmaligkeiten nachzuspüren, die seit 1995 zum Weltkulturerbe der UNESCO gehören. Bekannt und berühmt sind die gigantischen Steinfiguren, die moai, die den Forschern noch immer viele Rätsel aufgeben. Doch gibt es noch weitaus mehr zu entdecken: Prähistorische Monumentalbauwerke, wundervolle Steinbilder, geheimnisvolle Höhlensysteme, steinerne Gärten und unzählige Relikte alter Wohnstätten. Manchmal wird Rapa Nui als das größte Freilichtmuseum der Erde bezeichnet, ein Attribut, das der unglaublichen Fülle an Kulturrelikten geschuldet ist. Jedoch ist die Insel keineswegs nur ein Museum, sondern Lebensraum liebenswürdiger und gastfreundlicher Menschen. Der Ökologe Andreas Mieth und der Geograph Hans-Rudolf Bork forschen seit vielen Jahren auf der Osterinsel. Aus erster Hand bieten Ihnen die Autoren verständlich aufbereitetes und hervorragend illustriertes Hintergrundwissen, sei es zu den Schätzen der Vergangenheit oder zu den Phänomenen der Gegenwart. Mit dem vorliegenden Buch sind Sie ausgezeichnet für eine Reise auf die Osterinsel gerüstet. Und auch wenn Sie noch keine konkreten Reisepläne hegen, wird Ihnen der Band zumindest eine spannende virtuelle Reise auf die östlichste Insel Polynesiens eröffnen.Trade ReviewEin rundherum gelungenes Buch, das dem Leser zwar nicht beschreibt, wo der nächste Cola-Automat steht, ihm aber mit vielen Farbphotos und einer kompakten, aber kenntnisreichen Darstellung dieses faszinierende Reiseziel erschließt.Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau, November 2012, Cornelia Clauss und Prof. Dr. Wolfgang ClaussAus Sicht der Verfasser ist das Buch mehr als ein gewöhnlicher Reiseführer. Denn neben vielen praktischen Hinweisen, etwa zum Wetter und zur besten Reisezeit, schildert das Werk sehr anschaulich eine spannende Kultur- und Naturgeschichte, die keineswegs nur Fernreisende faszinieren wird.Kieler Nachrichten, 13.04.2013Mit dem neuen Werk von Andreas Mieth und Hans-Rudolf Bork wird die ansonsten recht zwiespältige Osterinselliteratur um ein wissenschaftlich fundiertes und interessantes Buch mit zahlreichen Fakten erweitert.Die Autoren können auf jahrelange und vor Ort erworbenen Kenntnis der Osterinsel auf zahlreichen Gebieten zurückgreifen. ... Das aktuelle Standardwerk über die Osterinsel ist allen Freunden der Insel und ihrer Kultur zu empfehlen.Osterinsel-freunde.de, August 2012Table of Contents1.Rapa Nui: Eine einzigartige Insel entdecken und verstehen.- 2. Die geologische Entstehung: ein untermeerisches Hochgebirge im Pazifik.- 3. Milde Temperaturen, Wind, Sonne und Regen.-4. Die Seereisen der Ozeanier.- 5. Die Besiedlungschronologie im Südpazifik.- 6. Landschaft, Flora und Fauna vor der menschlichen Besiedlung.- 7. Der frühe Gartenbau im Palmenwald.- 8. Die Auslöschung des Palmenwaldes.- 9. Die Steinstatuen der Osterinsel.- 10. Steine lassen Früchte wachsen .- 11. Bilder auf Stein, Holz und Haut.- 12.Der Wettbewerb um das Ei: Gebräuche und Relikte der Vogelmannkultur.- 13. Geheimnisvolle Höhlen.- 14. Europäische Besucher und Kolonialisierung.- 15. Schafe, Rinder und Pferde –Weidewirtschaft zerstört Vegetation, Böden und Kulturdenkmäler.- 16. Probleme des Naturschutzes.- 17. Die Steinfiguren verlieren ihr Gesicht: Die Gefährdung der Kulturgüter.- 18. Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung und Perspektiven.

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Book SynopsisGeorges Benko «Societies are much messier than our theories of them» Michael Mann The Sources of Social Power 1 Towards a unified social theory Why are there communication problems between the different disciplines of the social sciences? And why should there be so much misunderstanding? Most probably because the encounter of several disciplines is in fact the encounter of several different histories, and therefore of several different cultures, each interpreting the other according to the code dictated by its own culture. Inevitably geographers view other disciplines through their own cultural filter, and even a benevolent view remains 'ethnocentric'. It was in order to avoid such ethnocentricity that Femand Braudel called for more unity among the social sciences in 1958 : «l wish the social sciences . . . would stop discussing their respective differences so much . . . and instead look for common ground . . . on which to reach their first agreement. Personally I would call these ways : quantification, spatial awareness and 'longue duree'». In its place at the center of the social sciences, geography reduces all social reality to its spatial dimensions. Unfortunately, as a discipline, it considers itself all too often to be in a world of its own. There is a need in France for a figure like Vidal de la Blanche who could refocus attention away from issues of time and space, towards space and social reality. Geographic research will only take a step forward once it learns to address the problems facing all the sciences.Table of ContentsPart I: Introduction. 1. Geography, history and social sciences: an introduction; G.B. Benko. Part II: Spatial Thinking in History. 2. Lefebvre, Lacan and the production of space; D. Gregory. 3. World time and world space, or just hegemonic time and space? M. Santos. 4. The language of space; M. Foucault. 5. Geography before geography: Pre-Hellenistic meteors and climates; J.-F. Staszak. 6. Geographical systems and the order of reality; M. Hampl. Part III: Cities and Landscapes in Time. 7. Landscapes as overlapping neighbourhoods; T. Hägerstrand. 8. The urban and the rural: an historical-geographic overview; C.M. Weaver. 9. Space and creativity. `Belle Epoque' Paris: genesis of a world-class artistic centre; P. Claval. 10. From Weimar to Nuremberg: social legitimacy as a spatial process in Germany, 1923-1938; U. Strohmayer. Part IV: Economics. 11. Contemporary acceleration: world-time and world-space; M. Santos. 12. Structural change, theories of regulation and regional development; M.F. Dunford, D. Perrons. 13. Theory of regulation and territory: an historical view; G.B. Benko. Part V: Politics. 14. Territoriality and the state; R.J. Johnston. 15. The spatial and the political: Close encounters; J. Levy. 16. Space and communication: a brief analytical look at the concept of space in the social theory; J. Lazar. Part IV: Conclusion. 17. Conclusion: the spatialization of thesocial sciences; U. Strohmayer. List of figures. Contributors. Index.

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Book Synopsis"Global sex is the first major work to take on the globalization of sexuality, examining the ways in which desire and pleasure - as well as ideas about gender, political power, and public health - are framed by a global economy in which varied cultures are moving into closer contact.Trade Review"This valuable resource is compelling and easy-to-read, accessible to anyone interested in how technology and the global economy are shaping the ways we think." - Booklist "Altman is a wonderfully clear writer and thinker with a magpie skill for accumulating relevant nuggets of information. This makes Global Sex both illuminating and fascinating.... It is dazzlingly ambitious in its scope, ranging from fellatio in the White House and bulimia in Fiji to AIDS in Africa and transgender in Taiwan." - New Internationalist "A gripping portrait of a world barely able to keep pace with enormous, rapid-fire changes.... Offering neither a dire warning nor a reason to rejoice, his savvy, energetic book truly maintains a global perspective." - Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisHow does democracy fare when the people governed insist they live in a world with witches? If the government of a people afflicted by witchcraft refuses to punish witches, how does it avoid becoming alienated from the perceived needs of its people or, worse, seen as being in league with witches? In Soweto, South Africa, the constant threat of violent crime, the increase in black socio-economic inequality, the AIDS pandemic, and a widespread fear of witchcraft have converged to create a pervasive sense of insecurity among citizens and a unique public policy problem for government. In Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa, Adam Ashforth examines how people in Soweto and other parts of post-apartheid South Africa manage their fear of 'evil forces' such as witchcraft. Ashforth examines the dynamics of insecurity in the everyday life of Soweto at the turn of the twenty-first century. He develops a new framework for understanding occult violence as a form of spiritual insecurity and documents new patterns of interpretation attributing agency to evil forces. Finally, he analyzes the response of post-apartheid governments to issues of spiritual insecurity and suggests how these matters pose severe long-term challenges to the legitimacy of the democratic state.

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Book SynopsisThis volume tells the story of David Chaffetz's experience of Afghanistan shortly before the Soviet invasion. His account is an intimate portrait of the Afghan people and the vast landscape which surrounds them.

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Book SynopsisGrady Clay looks hard at the landscape, finding out who built what and why, noticing who participates in a city's success and who gets left in a 'sink,' or depressed (often literally) area. Clay doesn't stay in the city; he looks at industrial towns, truck stops, suburbsnearly anywhere people live or work. His style is witty and readable, and the book is crammed with illustrations that clarify his points. If I had to pick up one book to guide my observations of the American scene, this would be it.Sonia Simone, Whole Earth ReviewThe emphasis on the informal aspects of city-shapingtopographical, historical, economic and socialdoes much to counteract the formalist approach to American urban design. Close-Up...should be required reading for anyone wishing to understand Americans and their cities.Roger Cunliffe, Architectural ReviewClose-Up is a provocative and stimulating book.Thomas J. Schlereth, Winterthur PortfolioWithin this coherent string of essays, the urban dweller or observer, as

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Book SynopsisMarty Crump has searched for salamanders along the Amazon River; surveyed amphibians and reptiles in hostile Huaorani Indian territory; and had run-ins with an electric eel, a boa constrictor and a bushmaster viper. This is a detailed chronicle of Marty Crump's adventures as a field biologist.

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Book Synopsis'Toward a Geography of Art' offers essays that examine the intricacies of accounting for the geographical dimension of art history during the early modern period in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

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Book SynopsisMore and more men and women in China are having sex before marriage, creating a new youth sex culture based on romance, leisure and free choice. Farrer explores this change by tracing the basic elements in talk about sex and sexuality in Shanghai.Trade Review"Opening Up conveys a panoramic, vivid, and fully convincing picture of the changing scene in China with remarkable assurance. James Farrer draws on extensive research and interviews with Chinese youth, revealing a rich and deep mastery of his subject. This is an extraordinary new book." - Ann Swidler, author of Talk of Love; "I can think of few books that offer such a layered appreciation for the textures of everyday life in urban China. Written in a hip and contemporary style, Opening Up is a pleasure to read." - Michael Dutton, author of Streetlife China

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Book SynopsisIn the mid 1800s, a group of High Anglicans formed the Universities Mission to Central Africa, bringing education, medical care and the Church to rural Africans. This work traces the mission's history and its lasting impact on public health care in South Central Africa.

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Book SynopsisBlues recording artist and critic Adam Gussow begins his story in the 1890s, when the spectacle lynching of blacks became an insidious part of Southern life. Gussow identifies veiled references to real life incidents of these lynchings within the words of Blues songs and literature.Trade Review"Beneath the effusive and effervescent tone of Mister Satan's Apprentice lie gnawing questions of race and identity, of cultural imperialism and human connection. And precisely because Gussow stays close to his story, with all its eccentricity and youthful abandon, he arrives at a kind of profundity that eludes [most] commentators." - Samuel G. Freedman, Washington Post Book World

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Book SynopsisLong considered both best friend and worst enemy to humankind, fire is at once creative and destructive. In the endangered tropical paradise of Madagascar, the two faces of fires have fueled a century- long conflict between rural farmers and island leaders.

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Book SynopsisThis work is the author's record of the time he spent in the remote area of the Australian rainforest and his run-ins with plant, animal and human species alike. He found hemself at the centre of a bitter battle over conservation strategies and became the object of many residents' hatred.

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Book SynopsisThis premise allows him to unlock for readers the historical process that started with Islamic modernism and ended with fundamentalism.Trade Review"This is an ambitious and important book that offers a unique combination of historical depth and comparative range. It provides much more than a historical survey of the subjects analyzed, expounding a rigorous, comprehensive, and consistent explanatory paradigm for the evolution of modern Muslim discourses." - James P. Jankowski, University of Colorado at Boulder"

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Book SynopsisWriters know only too well how long it can takeand how awkward it can beto describe spatial relationships with words alone. And while a map might not always be worth a thousand words, a good one can help writers communicate an argument or explanation clearly, succinctly, and effectively. In his acclaimed How to Lie with Maps, Mark Monmonier showed how maps can distort facts. In Mapping it Out: Expository Cartography for the Humanities and Social Sciences, he shows authors and scholars how they can use expository cartographythe visual, two-dimensional organization of informationto heighten the impact of their books and articles. This concise, practical book is an introduction to the fundamental principles of graphic logic and design, from the basics of scale to the complex mapping of movement or change. Monmonier helps writers and researchers decide when maps are most useful and what formats work best in a wide range of subject areas, from literary criticism to sociology. He demonstrates, for example, various techniques for representing changes and patterns; different typefaces and how they can either clarify or confuse information; and the effectiveness of less traditional map forms, such as visibility base maps, frame-rectangle symbols, and complementary scatterplot designs for conveying complex spatial relationships. There is also a wealth of practical information on map compilation, cartobibliographies, copyright and permissions, facsimile reproduction, and the evaluation of source materials. Appendixes discuss the benefits and limitations of electronic graphics and pen-and-ink drafting, and how to work with a cartographic illustrator. Clearly written, and filled with real-world examples, Mapping it Out demystifies mapmaking for anyone writing in the humanities and social sciences. A useful guide to a subject most people probably take too much for granted. It shows how map makers translate abstract data into eye-catching cartograms, as they are called. It combats cartographic illiteracy. It fights cartophobia. It may even teach you to find your way.Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

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Book SynopsisA rising star in geography shows how Shakespeare’s plays can be understood through the concept of territory, which emerged in its modern form during Shakespeare’s lifeTrade Review"Shakespearean Territories offers illuminating analyses of Shakespeare's works that are immersed in relevant scholarship on the colonial, geophysical, and corporeal aspects of territory. This is a fascinating textual analysis that builds upon the concept of territory with Elden's characteristic nuance and depth."--Garrett Sullivan, Penn State University "A work of meticulous scholarship, Shakespearean Territories teases out and explains a wide range of geographical themes present in Shakespeare's plays with finesse and profound interpretation. Beyond the specific insights he offers on territory and geography as refracted through Shakespeare's plays, Elden displays the substantial value of bridging literary and historical-geographical analysis."--Alexander Murphy, University of Oregon "Shakespearean Territories is a truly groundbreaking volume that enriches our reading of Shakespeare at the same time as it illuminates our understanding of the nature and history of territory. An insightful and engrossing work, Shakespearean Territories demonstrates Elden's unquestionable position as the most significant thinker of territory and the geographic working today--and in relation to the literary and dramatic no less than the political."--Jeff Malpas, University of Tasmania

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Book SynopsisA rising star in geography shows how Shakespeare’s plays can be understood through the concept of territory, which emerged in its modern form during Shakespeare’s life.Trade Review"Shakespearean Territories offers illuminating analyses of Shakespeare's works that are immersed in relevant scholarship on the colonial, geophysical, and corporeal aspects of territory. This is a fascinating textual analysis that builds upon the concept of territory with Elden's characteristic nuance and depth."--Garrett Sullivan, Penn State University "A work of meticulous scholarship, Shakespearean Territories teases out and explains a wide range of geographical themes present in Shakespeare's plays with finesse and profound interpretation. Beyond the specific insights he offers on territory and geography as refracted through Shakespeare's plays, Elden displays the substantial value of bridging literary and historical-geographical analysis."--Alexander Murphy, University of Oregon "Shakespearean Territories is a truly groundbreaking volume that enriches our reading of Shakespeare at the same time as it illuminates our understanding of the nature and history of territory. An insightful and engrossing work, Shakespearean Territories demonstrates Elden's unquestionable position as the most significant thinker of territory and the geographic working today--and in relation to the literary and dramatic no less than the political."--Jeff Malpas, University of Tasmania

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Book SynopsisMany Americans imagine the Arctic as harsh, freezing, and nearly uninhabitable. The living Arctic, howeverthe one experienced by native Inuit and others who work and travel thereis a diverse region shaped by much more than stereotype and mythology. Do You See Ice? presents a history of Arctic encounters from 1850 to 1920 based on Inuit and American accounts, revealing how people made sense of new or changing environments. Routledge vividly depicts the experiences of American whalers and explorers in Inuit homelands. Conversely, she relates stories of Inuit who traveled to the northeastern United States and were similarly challenged by the norms, practices, and weather they found there. Standing apart from earlier books of Arctic cultural researchwhich tend to focus on either Western expeditions or Inuit lifeDo You See Ice? explores relationships between these two groups in a range of northern and temperate locations. Based on archival research and conversations with Inuit Elders and experts, Routledge's book is grounded by ideas of home: how Inuit and Americans often experienced each other's countries as dangerous and inhospitable, how they tried to feel at home in unfamiliar places, and why these feelings and experiences continue to resonate today. The author intends to donate all royalties from this book to the Elders' Room at the Angmarlik Center in Pangnirtung, Nunavut.

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Book SynopsisSince its origin, opera has been identified with the performance and negotiation of power. Once theaters specifically for opera were established, that connection was expressed in the design and situation of the buildings themselves, as much as through the content of operatic works. Yet the importance of the opera house's physical situation, and the ways in which opera and the opera house have shaped each other, have seldom been treated as topics worthy of examination. Operatic Geographies invites us to reconsider the opera house's spatial production. Looking at opera through the lens of cultural geography, this anthology rethinks the opera house's landscape, not as a static backdrop, but as an expression of territoriality. The essays in this anthology consider moments across the history of the genre, and across a range of geographical contextsfrom the urban to the suburban to the rural, and from the Old world to the New. One of the book's most novel approaches is to consider interactions between opera and its environmentsthat is, both in the domain of the traditional opera house and in less visible, more peripheral spaces, from girls' schools in late seventeenth-century England, to the temporary arrangements of touring operatic troupes in nineteenth-century Calcutta, to rural, open-air theaters in early twentieth-century France. The essays throughout Operatic Geographies powerfully illustrate how opera's spatial production informs the historical development of its social, cultural, and political functions.

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Book SynopsisMaxwell Street sheds light on a historic Chicago neighborhood and offers a new model for how to write about place, approaching the study of place as an assemblage of things, meanings, and practices.

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Book SynopsisUses the historic rise, alarming fall, and equally dramatic renewal of Chicago's North Kenwood - Oakland neighborhood to explore the politics of race and class in contemporary urban America. This title explores the battles between haves and have-nots, home owners and apartment dwellers, and newcomers and old-timers.Trade Review"A century from now, when today's sociologists and journalists are dust and their books are too, those who want to understand what the hell happened to Chicago will be finding the answer in this one." - Chicago Reader "To see how diversity creates strange and sometimes awkward bedfellows... turn to Mary Pattillo's Black on the Block." - Boston Globe"

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