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Americans have long been fascinated by the Upland South, a regional band of great natural beauty and a rich, archaic cultural landscape that runs from Virginia and North Carolina west through Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and their bordering states. Celebrated for its distinctive culture in the movie and soundtrack O Brother, Where Art Thou? and in enduring popular parodies such as the Beverly Hillbillies, Dukes of Hazard, and Mayberry R.F.D., the region is home to a way of life grounded in the singular character of its people.

Tied to the land by a mixture of hardscrabble farming, free-range hill herding, hunting, gathering, and fishing, the region's inhabitants have perpetuated traditional handicrafts and passed on a complex folklore. They speak a distinct nasal dialect and compose and play a "mournful" genre of country music. Their adherence to an emotionally vigorous Calvinism does not stand in the way of their production of moonshine whiskey, and they bury their dead in graveyards that reflect a particular deathlore.

In The Upland South, the geographer Terry Jordan-Bychkov explores the region's character through an analysis of its traditional cultural landscape. Seen through Jordan-Bychkov's eyes, the built environment and its artifacts--houses, barns, town plans, graveyards, church structure, fences, and the like-- reveal much about the nature and distribution of Upland South life and culture.

The Upland South is an uplifting, informative, and richly illustrated book about a distinctive region in America. It is sure to be a welcome addition to the literature of the South, for scholars and general readers alike. ... Read more

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A look at the various wonders of Australia, including culture, geography, economy, politics, history, and possiblefuture. ... Read more

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A house is a site, the bounds and focus of a community. It is also an artifact, a material extension of its occupants' lives. This book takes the Japanese house in both senses, as site and as artifact, and explores the spaces, commodities, and conceptions of community associated with it in the modern era.

As Japan modernized, the principles that had traditionally related house and family began to break down. Even where the traditional class markers surrounding the house persisted, they became vessels for new meanings, as housing was resituated in a new nexus of relations. The house as artifact and the artifacts it housed were affected in turn. The construction and ornament of houses ceased to be stable indications of their occupants' social status, the home became a means of personal expression, and the act of dwelling was reconceived in terms of consumption. Amid the breakdown of inherited meanings and the fluidity of modern society, not only did the increased diversity of commodities lead to material elaboration of dwellings, but home itself became an object of special attention, its importance emphasized in writing, invoked in politics, and articulated in architectural design. The aim of this book is to show the features of this culture of the home as it took shape in Japan.

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Islam's Role in Shaping the Iranian War Effort
In this book, Saskia Gieling examines how the Iranian leaders sacralized, or gave the Iran-Iraq war a religious dimension. She seeks to answer the question of which Islamic beliefs and symbols were used in the sacralization of the conflict. Her study focuses on the central themes of the war rhetoric, mainly the justification of the war and the mobilization of the Iranian population for warfare. As a result of her analysis, Gieling hopes to "contribute to a better understanding of the way Islam is used for political action in Iran" (1). In order to investigate this topic, Gieling adopts a content analysis approach. She analyzes the speeches concerning the war by the ruling elite of Iran, which she defines as those individuals able to frequently transmit positions on foreign policy to unknown persons.
Gieling begins the book with a brief chronological overview of the Iran-Iraq war. In this chapter she details the origins of the conflict, Iraqi offensives and Iranian counterattacks, the role of the international community, the political, economic and social effects of the war on Iran, and the cease-fire negotiations. Gieling then discusses the Islamic theological and doctrinal issues dealing with war among Muslims and how Iranian leaders used these concepts to convey their belief that the war was fought in line with Islamic doctrine. In particular, Gieling looks at how Iranian leaders used Islamic Shî`a beliefs to justify a war they fought against other Muslims and to mobilize the Iranian people to fight against these Muslims. She argues that Iranian leaders justified the war and considered it a jihâd because it was a defense against an attack on Islam, Muslims, and the Islamic republic by Saddâm Husayn, whom they regarded as belonging to the category of bughât or dissenter. She concludes that waging war against Iraq was "therefore justified on grounds that fighting the bughât falls into the category of jihad" (50).
Gieling then looks at specific Qur'ânic terms and notions that played a significant role in Iranian war rhetoric. She argues that Khumaynî divided the war into two sides - Islam and kufr, thus making clear that the war was a religious conflict instead of simply a territorial dispute. For the Iranian leadership, kufr represented all the states and ideologies which opposed the Islamic republic and its ideology. According to Gieling, kufr was essential in drawing the boundary between the Islamic republic and its enemies. As she states, "kufr was used frequently for non-Muslims and for Muslims like Saddâm Husayn, Saddâm-I kâfir (Saddâm the unbeliever)" (82).
Gieling also argues that the Iranian leadership drew on important historical analogies. She notes that the leaders often compared the war to the wars fought by the Prophet in that they were fought to prevent the destruction of Islam. The leadership also drew on the Karbalâ' paradigm. Husayn and his struggles for Islam were held up as a model for Iranians, while Yazid, the alleged murderer of Husayn known for his anti-Islamic attitude, was identified with Saddâm Husayn. As Gieling concludes, "Iranian leaders sacralized the war, by identifying with historical figures who are venerated or, in contrast, despised much in Shî`îbelief, but also by association with historical Islamic events in order to make clear that the war with Iraq had strong resemblances to these events" (130).
Gieling notes that there was a significant universalist and religious-national dimension to Iranian war rhetoric. The war was justified because it threatened the survival of the Islamic republic and the universal aspects of the Islamic revolution, mainly the spread of Islam to other countries. Gieling argues, however, that when Iranian leaders talked about Islam it was in reference to `their' Islam, that which was observed in the Islamic republic. Religious remarks were also sometimes tainted with nationalist sentiments. As Gieling notes, "Nationalist remarks by leaders had a religious basis and focused on the idea that Iran was the Islamic country par excellence" (149).
Gieling also analyzes the religious arguments which Iranian leaders used in opposition to peace and those they used to justify their acceptance of UN resolution 598. Gieling argues that Khumaynî, in his speeches, emphasized that peace with the Iraqi regime was against the principles of Islam since it would be peace with immoral people. As Iranian fortunes soured, however, the leaders focused on new messages to pave the way for a cease fire. For example, the leaders drew on the treaty of Hudaybiya concluded between Muhammad and the Meccans in which peace was made with unbelievers to ensure progress. In fact, Gieling argues that the leaders presented the UN resolution as ensuring the survival of the republic and the spreading of the revolution.
Saskia Gieling does a good job supporting her claim that the Iranian leaders sacralized the Iran-Iraq war. She shows how important beliefs and symbols were incorporated into speeches to justify and mobilize the populace for war. It is clear that she has performed extensive research on the subject and has drawn from numerous speeches to support her arguments. Gieling's conclusion, however, merely rehashes her argument and fails to extend it further. While it is interesting to learn the specific methods Iranian leaders employed to sacralize the war, her work is more descriptive than analytical. She does not address important issues such as whether or not the rhetoric was in line with the Iranian leaders' true beliefs or was it merely used as a tool to motivate the people. Similarly, she never addresses the impact that the sacralization of the war had on the people ofIran. While readers learn about the symbols and beliefs involved, they are left guessing about the impact that these symbols and beliefs had on Iranians. The reader never learns if religion was truly a driving force for the Iranian population during the war or if it can be extrapolated that religion has played a similar role in the lives of Iranians in the years since the war. ... Read more

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Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Planet Earth.
This book, Understanding Earth, is a wonderful book to read even if you are not taking a course in Geology.If you are interested in the history of the Earth and what's happening today with our glaciers, groundwater,tectonic plates, volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and more, this is the book to read.The publisher lists it as having 70 pages, but that is an error.There are 567 pages as well as 6 appendices, glossary, and index.

A Great Geology Textbook
This 4th edition of Understanding Earth by Press, Siever, Grotzinger and Jordan is an up-to-the-minute comprehensive review of the history of Earth from the beginning to the present as geologists understand it.
It contains 567 pages plus glossary, index and appendices. ... Read more

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Delivering a synthesis of almost one hundred and fifty years of research into the Jordan Rift Valley, this genuinely comprehensive text presents a model explaining the tectonic evolution of this part of the Syrian-African Rift Valley, which may affect opinions regarding the geotectonic pattern of the entire western Levant.
Also including datings and paleoenvironmental reconstructions for all important phases in the history of the Jordan Valley, particular focus is placed on the last two million years, when numerous habitation sites, the oldest of which represents the initial spread of Man out of Africa, indicate the region was almost continuously populated. ... Read more

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Fenno-Indric Influence on American Frontier Culture
What the initial reviewer fails to mention is the authors' fascinating premise -- that the predominant mid-Atlantic (read Pennsylvania) thrust of frontier expansion has at its roots the mingled culture of the southern Lenape Indians (aka Delaware) and the Savo-Karelian forest Finns who were encouraged to settle in the remote regions of western Sweden on the Norwegian border & who were no longer wanted with the rise of iron production making the Finns ideal candidates for New World colonisation. Their prior experience trading with the alien Rus'ian and Lapp peoples, their adaptation to forested frontier conditions including slash & burn agriculture, log building technology based on mastery of the felling ax, their early use & manufacture of the rifle as a hunting tool, their unconcern for environmental destruction, their readiness to incorporate useful new plant, animal, & survival knowlege & skills from other peoples, and their remarkable hardiness made them the core culture in the Philadelphia region upon which the bulk of subsequent immigrant populations, especially Celtic (Scots-Irish), Swiss, & German, were to learn the skills & knowlege necessary to move westward beyond the Alleghenies & southwestward along the Great Valley into Virginia, the Carolinas, & Georgia. The authors make a strong case for their hypothesis & compare it to earlier work by others. A fine & fascinating study of the roots of frontier American culture. The only weakness in my opinion is its insufficient analysis of the native American contribution to early mid-Atlantic colonial culture. Especially helpful would have been more information on log notching variations throughout the frontier on the order of the unparalleled study by Sigurd Erixon in 'Folk Liv' 1938 & on Finnish/Swedish vs. German rifle technology in the colonial period. Apart from this perhaps minor failing it constitutes a well-reasoned (if not fully substantiated) argument which will doubtless produce controversy & consternation (& perhaps even scorn) among cultural anthropologists specializing in American colonial history -- especially amongst those possessing Celtic and/or Germannic ancestry!!!

The Ethnic Origins of America's Frontier Culture
Terry G. Jordan and Matti Kaups studied America's frontier culture to discern its ethnic heritage. Most historians of the American frontier locate its origin in the vicinity of the Delaware Valley. In this book, Jordan and Kaups trace America's frontier culture to a surprising corner of Europe's "hard scrabble periphery."In the 1700s, about a century before Davy Crockett, residents of this corner of Europe depicted their frontiersmen fighting bears!

Jordan and Kaups consider evidence from literature, anthropology and architecture. The authors discussed the equipment carried by frontier hunters, the primitive and ecologically exahustive farming and homesteading techniques, the building of log cabins and even the notches in fence rails to trace the possible origin of American frontier culture.

Anyone interested in frontier or colonial history should consult this work, as should anyone studying the history of ethnic diversity and racism in North America. This book is a particularly good supplement to David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, which considers localized seedbeds for four regional cultures. The authors repeatedly acknowledge the Indian contribution to the frontiersman's capability. The debt to Native America is clear. Sadly, the authors illuminate few particulars in this regard.

The scholarship is meticulous, the investigation fastidiously detailed. The authors were determined to prove their case; they have done so in a style that is both interesting and convincing. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Satisfied
The book is still in great condition and I received the book in a good time range. :)

Looseleaf, who needs it?
Honestly, maybe I didn't read the description, but I needed a looseleaf textbook like a hole in the head.

What for?

The textbook itself is an excellent one, however, without a proper binding, the flimsy pages easily tear out of a three ring binder within a matter of weeks, and who needs a textbook with missing pages?Also, there is zero resale value, as a result of this.

No thank you. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This work evaluates the merits of a widely-used approach to natural resource management, participatory action research (PAR), an approach to resource management that strives to link researchers with farmers and other local residents whose lives are effected by long-range conservation programs. The authors begin the book with the history of PAR, and then use a variety of case studies that chronicle sustainable development efforts in Brazil. They evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these efforts and suggest specific ways to improve on future PAR efforts. ... Read more

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This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1844 edition by John Murray, London. ... Read more

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Why is the West--both in the United States and Canada--not like the East? Traditionally, two answers have been given to the question: Either the West is a pioneer culture--the old frontier moved westward from what we now call the East--or the West is a unique subculture originating in a human response to the demands of a dry, rugged physical environment.

In this groundbreaking volume, Terry Jordan and his co-authors look to the log folk buildings of the Mountain West, from New Mexico to Alaska, to explain why the West is "the West." Arguing that artifacts such as dwellings, barns, and fences can, if correctly interpreted, reveal much about the origins and character of the regional culture, they set forth not only the first comprehensive description and analysis of Western folk architecture but also a systematic explanation of the culture of the West.

"The West," the authors conclude, "is at once indigenous and imported, innovative and ultraconservative, Anglo-American and ethnic, unitary and plural." Westerners tinkered, invented, modified, and diversified. No single adaptive strategy brought to the West worked flawlessly in the new habitat. By extensive field investigation of still-extant folk houses, fences, barns, hay derricks, and cabins--all elements of material culture--they explain what the land tells us about the West.

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Follow a lion cub as it takes its first steps through life in the grasslands of Africa. Discover how the female cubs learn to hunt and kill wildebeest, zebra, antelope and buffalo. Join the male cubs as they search for territories of their own and find out about the day-to-day threats facing lions as they battle for survival in the wild. This book is one of a series, which explores the lives of some of the world's wild animals through their life cycles, natural habitats, food chains and the threats that they face daily. It is endorsed by the Worldwide Fund for Nature. ... Read more

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