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The mention of Chinese women writers in diaspora immediately brings to mind Jung Chang (b. 1952) and her Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (1991), which won the 1992 NCR book award and the 1993 British Book of the Year Award, and got officially banned in China.Despite its popular reception and crucial acclaim, Chang s work has invited a lot of attacks. Among the most common is the contention that it merely focuses on the experience of the privileged and does not tell the reader what other memoirs have not already revealed. Chinese Women Writers in Diaspora is a pioneering study that focuses on four Chinese women writers currently living in the United States and England, whose works have been popularly received and in many cases, highly controversial but have received little scholarly attention: Xinran (b.1958), Hong Ying (b. 1962), Anchee Min (b.1957), and Adeline Yen Mah (b.1937).The chapters illuminate how Xinran constructs her identity and her fellow Chinese women in dialectics of self and other; how Hong Ying evokes cycles of return that blend Western and Chinese philosophical concepts; how Min employs images of theatre and theatrical conventions to depict the entrapment and transgression of her protagonists; and how Mah transliterates and appropriates both Western and Chinese fairy tale motifs to fashion her Chinese feminist utopia.While Jung Chang s memoir seems confining, it has aroused interest in the genre of Chinese female autobiography, and Chinese women writers who live and write between cultures. ... Read more

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Engaging Poetry Lessons, Model Poems, and Writing Activities That Help Kids Learn Important Content
A gifted poet and a talented teacher share their insights and practical strategies for using poetry to enrich language arts, science, social studies, and math. With dozens of model lessons and poems, writing prompts, and reproducible activities. ... Read more

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Instructional Literacy
Excellent book to compliment our literacy goals as a school district. The authors are very comfortable communicating with teachers concerning children. If you want to get writing in content area subjects, that's just a small part of what this resource is about. ... Read more

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Intended for parents and teachers of African American students, this book provides strategies for correcting the racial achievement gap in upper-grade mathematics. Advice is provided on instilling confidence in African American students and on teaching math in a less sterile and theoretical way. Also explored is how critical thinking skills are essential in understanding math. A wealth of ideas is provided on creating relevant word problems to help students better understand basic math functions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

wasted time
The book combines questionable statements (Al Kharizmi is a black mathematician),wrong statements ("mathematics is prevalent in almost all careers and professions"), and mostly trivial statements ("teachers must ...extinguish all negative verbal communications and interactions with the students"). Also you can find there derogatory generalizations aboutstudents ("youth occupy most of their free time watching television, listening to music,playing sports and games, or eating")and teachers ("Educators are producing robots as opposed to thinkers").Some advices suggested by the author are really funny,like the advice to college instructors to"have students develop songs, poems, sories, cartoons or rhymes on some math concept, pricipal,or skill"). What I couldn't find in the book is the answer for the title question.

Essential
Teaching middle school mathematics to inner city students is what I do on a daily basis. This book changed my approach and made a world of a difference in the performance of my students. It changed my perception of reality of unequal access to education in America for most poor African Americans. There is a completely different way that a student looks at the world when he or she may not have had a decent dinner the night prior to coming to school. There are a laundry list of socioeconomic issues that make it almost crucial to approach the teaching of mathematics to most African American students differently. Different motivations for learning is the key to this understanding the author's point of view. This understanding can be appliedfor success in teaching every subject. Changing a student's motivation by using things that are unique to his or her ethnic group as motivation does not constitute racism or advocate the teaching of it -it's common sense!

math book
this is a great book.We use it in our tutoring program.Everyone concerned about Black children should read it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fascinating Look at American folk humor
Great fun, and a fascinating look at urban legend and myth. Copiers gave the joke new life, as bits of popular wisdom spread through offices and then around the country. Not unlike the funny-forwards epidemic on today'seMail networks, this book captures the growth of folk humor in a thoroughlyenjoyable way! Complete with behavioral annotations that peek just belowthe laughter. Highly recommended! ... Read more

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Teaching history should not be reciting an endless list of dead men, entombed between the covers of a textbook. Instead, Breaking Away from the Textbook offers a fascinating journey through world history. Not a comprehensive, theory-heavy guide, this book focuses on active classroom activities, methods for students to grapple with humanity's issues, and innovative ways to show students the relevance of the past to the world today. Simply put, this book makes world history fun. Soon, your students will be busy debating, thinking, applying, and learning about information that will stay with them for a lifetime. The key to this wonderful work is its incorporation of various disciplines including art, music, and writing to create a fun and active classroom. Volume 1 covers prehistory to the Renaissance and volume 2 covers the Enlightenment to the 20th century. Includes pictures and drawings, appendices, indexes, maps, and a bibliography. Appropriate for all grade levels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Lackluster
I am wondering if the rave reviewer of this product is related to or paid by the publisher.The lesson ideas were stale and at or below average creativity level.What's more, no support materials are included for any of the "phenomenal" project ideas presented.Examples of ideas include your standard letter writing, map drawing, journal entries, craft creating etc.Yet, not even any included rubrics to aid on prep time (which of course was my purpose in purchasing this book).This book does not decrease prep time and anyone with half a brain could come up with the ideas.Since the entire implementation still rests at the door of the teacher - with or without the book, I say, save your money.

A Must Have!
If you teach high school World History, you need this book! It is full of all sorts of great teaching and content ideas. It has writing activites, map activities, group activities and project ideas. There are research ideas and projects for your advanced students as well. I have used these in both my on-level and advanced classes. It has some great activity and media ideas as well. I have told everyone in my department about it and our campus has ordered a set of this series for our World History teachers. Our American history teachers then ordered the American set for themselves and have gotten some great ideas too. I cannot speak too highly about this book! ... Read more

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This practical guide offers advice on what learners should expect from an open learning course. The author suggests ways in which readers can choose the best programme to suit their needs, get maximum support from tutors, develop skills and get the best possible examination results. ... Read more

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Use this step-by-step facilitator’s guide to demonstrate culturally appropriate and research-based teaching strategies that can close the achievement gap for culturally and ethnically diverse students.

Customer Reviews (2)

A must for all teachers!
The facilitator's guide gives good suggestions for presenting both of Dr. Davis' books on how to embrace differences in the classroom or on your teaching staff - easy to use.

How to teach students who don't look like you
The book and the facilitator's guide is okay.I think there are a few gems here and there, but overall I wasn't that impressed with either.Also, the author needs to rethink one of her sources.The work of Ruby Payne has never been verified and has been roundly criticized by education scholars as racist drivel.Any book that refers the reader to Payne's work is suspect for me. ... Read more

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Multiculturalism, Diversity, Gender Equity. This book is for K-6 teachers who believe we can achieve these goals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent resource to build community in the classroom.
I will begin by saying this book has inspired me to use my gift of teaching with a group of students who will need it the most.Dr. Henkin shares a variety of personal and professional narratives which highlightthe need to teach so that all voices are heard and honored.This bookserves as an excellent resource for all teachers who are working towardcreating an environment where all children are respected for what he/shebrings to the classroom.

Dr. Henkin lists a variety of professionalresources as well as children's books that deal with the issues of gender,diversity, and multiculturalism.These resources provide an excellentstarting point to better understand the issues children bring to theclassroom and the issues we are confronted with to promote social justicein the classroom.

Dr. Henkin interviews and observes many classroomswhere teachers and students work together to create a classroom that isequitable for all.The students in this book seek to make their communitybetter for all who live there.The curriculum is rich and meaningful andall voices are heard.This book is a must for all teachers to read. ... Read more

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The quickest route to success on the paper- or computer-based GRE.This guide is specially made for students who wait for the last minute. Designed for fast-paced learning as the clock ticks down to test day, the book consists of just 24 easy lessons that can be completed in an hour or less. Each lesson presents a basic test topic in superconcentrated form, and then moves quickly to intensive, hands-on practice that builds skills and boosts scores. Because the study topics are divided into small, manageable units, the learning process is never overwhelming. Even if theres little time left, this friendly tutorial makes every hour count toward higher scores! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

It was OK....but proofreading would have helped
I was so glad I didn't buy this book b/c there were errors in it. Not toomany where it would be a book I would never reccommend, but there weremistakes. I am surprised b/c one would think a test prep book would beproof read before it was released. All and all it was a good book and I'mglad I had it to get through the GRE. I gave it only one star b/c it shouldhave been proof read better. Hopefully the next edition will be correct

Didn't they proofread this book?
I found this review book to be very frustrating.My fiance, who has a finance degree, found many errors with there math examples.The answers to most of the math examples were typos and that made it increasinglyfrustrating.It squeezed too much useless information into each sectionand did not provide enough useful tips on saving time.If one was to buythis book, they better have a bookstore available to look at supplementaryGRE materials.If you are looking for a confidence builder to the GRE,don't search here.

Just about ok.
Actually it is not a book a guy should buy. Maybe it is just worth borrowing and going through for a week. The exercises are not at all challenging and tend to give a false impression of the GRE as a very easyexam. Also it lacks a good word list. ... Read more

Product Description
This book has been written for students training to teach music in the secondary school. It aims to develop open and reflective practitioners who will engage critically in the cycle of planning and acting in the music classroom. It also encourages student teachers to develop their own philosophy of music so that they can rationalize their own work and the place of music in the curriculum. One of the main premises of the book is that music needs to be taught musically.

The book is organized into four sections:

DT The philosophy of teaching and learning in music
DT The statutory curriculum and examination courses
DT The practice of teaching and learning in music
DT Wider issues beyond the classroom

In each section, the authors include tasks, activities and reflections to help student teachers to integrate the theory and practice of music education. ... Read more

Product Description
Fast-paced preparation for the GMATCAT.This guide is specially made for students who wait for the last minute. Designed for fast-paced learning as the clock ticks down to test day, the book consists of just 24 easy lessons that can be completed in an hour or less. Each lesson presents a basic test topic in superconcentrated form, and then moves quickly to intensive, hands-on practice that builds skills and boosts scores. Because the study topics are divided into small, manageable units, the learning process is never overwhelming. Even if theres little time left, this friendly tutorial makes every hour count toward higher scores! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Excellent book !
I just rated Kaplan's GMAT book but I feel I need to chime in regarding Arco...because that book was very helpful !

I'm not a native speaker of English and have never taken a standardized test before in my life; yet I scored a 770 (99 percentile) on the GMAT in my first try 3 days ago.

I started out with Arco's 24-hour course. Arco's book is great, and it has quite a bit more stuff on the math and verbal part than Kaplan has. I didn't get the CD rom though since I got an older edition, so I can't rate the software. But the book itself is excellent.

Arco has a lot of useful info on both the math and verbal sections. There are a lot of relevant problems in the book, and their style comes close to the real thing. The book is well written with lots of useful advice. There a very few mistakes and printing errors in the book.

After Arco I went on to tackle the official guide from ETS. Anyone who wants to prepare for the GMAT should work some of the problems in this book. I did them all, but I don't really think that's neccesary -- just do the final third in each section and you'll be fine.

Finally I read the Kaplan book. There was not much in the book that I didn't already know. In fact, Kaplan has much less material than Arco. However, when you start working with Kaplan's CD rom you realize how much info is packed on that disk. There's 18 quizzes with 9 math and 9 verbal and they're all great practice. They actually force you to work *faster* than you'll need for the real test. Also, there are very few errors in the Kaplan material, and their problems come very close to the real ones.

I took the four GMAT CATs on the CD rom and got 700, 780, 660 and 700. There's no question that Kaplan artificially lower your score so you're guaranteed to score higher on the real test, but that's cool as long as it doesn't discourages you. Just know that's the way it is.

I also took the PowerPrep tests, just for practice... but I had already done the problems in the ETS book ! However you definitely should work with PowerPrep to get a sense of the problems and the way they're presented.

Hope this helps. Good luck !!

This book was excellent
I used this book as the capstone to a self-taught GMAT course.It provided adequate review of the quantitative and verbal concepts on the exam, challenging practice problems, and good answer explanations.The AWAsection was also helpful.

In addition, I used Kaplan's CD and the GMATPowerPrep software, both were also excellent.

A Good Buy for Getting Familiar with the GMAT
I bought this book six weeks in advance of taking the GMAT.This book is great for getting you familiar with the test and showing common testing pitfalls.I felt like I needed the most help with the Verbal section and this book helped me to decipher what the GMAT question was really asking meinstead of what I thought it was asking me. My unofficial results show anOUTSTANDING grade.

Excellent....but BEWARE, some errors
I thought that a few of the answers might have been erroneous, and then I confirmed it.There's a few errors in the math section (i.e. pg 109 prob10...x can equal 1 or -1).But other than that, this is a greatbook...quick and thorough...doesn't waste time...review is the best I'veread.It explains how the test is scored better than the other books toowhich I think is vital.If you only have time for one book, use this one.

VERY GOOD
This is the best i have used so far. The math review is very detailed and by far the best. After going through another book, i learned so much more with this one. What I liked most is that the quick quizzes after eachsection are tougher than the lesson problems. So,they bring you up anotherlevel once you have mastered the lesson. E.g., I am better at sentencecorrection and breezed through those lessons, but got slowed down in thequiz. Each lesson takes ~1 hour, so the 24 hr thing refers to 24 man-hoursof study, not day hours. I spent two weeks on the book. ... Read more

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In this skillfully crafted and engaging book, a group of student teachers - led by Linda Darling-Hammond - share their candid questions, concerns, dilemmas, and lessons learned about how to teach for social justice and social change. This text provides powerful examples of how Darling-Hammond and her students thoughtfully integrated diversity within a teacher education program - an excellent model for educators who are seeking ways to transform their teacher education programs to better prepare teachers to work effectively in multicultural classrooms. The honest reflections, case studies, lessons, and projects described offer valuable tools to help teachers: - Engage in productive dialogues about both the inequities and the possibilities for social reconstruction within the communities where they will be teaching. - Apply the concepts they are learning in a university classroom to teaching for social justice in their own classrooms. - Find ways to use their insights about diversity to intervene on behalf of victimized and marginalized students. ... Read more

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Focusing on the efforts of teacher educators struggling to meaningfully address issues of race, class, and gender in their classrooms, Practicing What We Teach goes beyond the realm of the theoretical to link multicultural theory to actual classroom practice. In so doing the contributors expose some of the stark realities of addressing issues of diversity in institutions where there has traditionally been little research or support for multicultural efforts. Shared classroom experience by teacher educators creates a new template for thinking about diversity as the reader is guided through the reconstruction of pedagogies and classroom approaches that encourage students to think reflectively and analytically about the nature of their experiences in American society. ... Read more

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The Iraq War has cost innumerable lives, caused vast material destruction, and inflicted suffering on millions of people. Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropology Can Teach Us About the War focuses on the plight of the Iraqi people, caught since 2003 in the carnage between U.S. and British troops on one side and, on the other, Iraqi insurgents, militias, and foreign al Qaeda operatives.

The volume is a bold attempt by six distinguished anthropologists to study a war zone too dangerous for fieldwork. They break new ground by using their ethnographic imagination as a research tool to analyze the Iraq War through insightful comparisons with previous and current armed conflicts in Cambodia, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, and Argentina. This innovative approach extends the book's relevance beyond a critical understanding of the devastating war in Iraq. More and more parts of the world of long-standing ethnographic interest are becoming off-limits to researchers because of the war on terror. This book serves as a model for the study of other inaccessible regions, and it shows that the impossibility of conducting ethnographic fieldwork does not condemn anthropologists to silence.

Essays analyze the good-versus-evil framework of the war on terror, the deterioration of women's rights in Iraq under fundamentalist coercion, the ethnic-religious partitioning of Baghdad through the building of security walls, the excessive use of force against Iraqi civilians by U.S. counterinsurgency units, and the loss of popular support for U.S. and British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan after the brutal regimes of the Taliban and Saddam Hussein had been toppled.

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In some hands, history can be an inspirational and rewarding subject, yet in others it can seem dry and of little relevance. The aim of this textbook is to enable student teachers to learn to teach history in a way that pupils will find interesting, enjoyable and purposeful. It incorporates a wide range of ideas about the teaching of history with practical suggestions for classroom practice.

This is the third edition of a textbook that has established itself as the leading text for student teachers of history. It has been thoroughly updated, with a revised chapter on the use of ICT in history teaching and major new sections in the areas of inclusion, resources, assessment and professional development. It provides an array of references and materials that give a sound theoretical foundation for the teaching of history, including weblinks to further resources. A range of tasks enable students to put their learning into practice in the classroom.

The book also provides reference and access to a wide range of recent and relevant research in the field of history education, which will be of use to student teachers pursuing courses that have a Masters Level component. In all, it is an invaluable resource for student and beginning history teachers.

Product Description
The author of Cyberia explains how the media culture of today's youngsters is preparing them for the future and for a world in which surprise is constant and information pours in rapidly from hundreds of sources. $50,000 ad/promo. Tour.Amazon.com Review
Just yesterday I read in the Busines Section of the NewYork Times that Rushkoff currently gets paid as much as $7,500 perhour to explain to VPs and CEOs of major corporations how to survivein a marketplace increasingly dominated by "channel-surfinggen-Xers". Whether you are a marketing mogul or one of theexplicands curious about how your core being is beingportrayed to media mavens, this is a book you should read -- if you'vegot the time.

Why the caveat? Much of his argument is that the much-dreaded"short attention span" is an adaptive response to amedia-saturated world, which is probably no big surprise to you as anInternet user. But Rushkoff does have a way of making this andother seemingly basic arguments into a compelling and insightfulbook. My overall advice?Turn down any opportunities you might haveto pay his $7,500 fees, and read a copy of this book instead. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Witty, Erudite Look At Channel Surfing Culture
After the success of 'Media Virus' (1994), the pressure was on emminent cultural critic Douglas Rushkoff to deliver the goods with a powerful follow-up.

'Playing The Future' (released as 'Children of Chaos'elsewhere) has many intriguing topic including the study of Dungeons &Dragons and VR; Youth Subcultures (Goth, Skateboarding, Television,Computer Games); the longterm effects of new media shows; and the rise ofAttention Deficit Disorders. Rushkoff dares to suggest with the last thatthey may be useful as 'coping strategies' for the postmodern era of theindividual drenched in UV ray computer monitor glows.

'Playing TheFuture' was marred by publisher errors that saw the book not promoted muchin the U.S., although it was well received elsewhere. There was also aninevitable backlash against Rushkoff when a comment regarding aUS$7500/hour fee from a single seminar was mentioned offhand during aninterview and then promoted as Rushkoff selling out Generation X secrets tofaceles trans-national monoliths. Rushkoff had forseen the growth of theInternet in 1989 and delivered much early ground-breaking work oncyberculture.

These public debates do not diminish the power of 'PlayingThe Future', which is crisply written and features many unique insightsinto the rise of Youth Culture and the future trajectory path of theHumanities. Rushkoff is not scared to take on institutions such as theconservative factions of the Christian Church and show that they arefailing to adjust to the needs of youth in the contemporaryenvironment.

'Playing The Future' will be re-released in late 1999 as'Children of Chaos' within the United States. Rushkoff's insights andarguments have largely been on-track since the book's initial release.

Channel surfing the planet with a witty genius friend

The blurb on the back of hardcover version of this book really says it all:This book is "like channel surfing the planet with a witty genius friend who can explain the pattern that connects it all together" (Mark Frauenfelder, Online editor, Wired magazine).

The book is reads like a compilation of short sections, each of which deals with an issue to do with our current culture.Since he is a media analyst, much of Rushkoff's emphasis is on the media and modern technology.His contention is that the world of today and the future is changing rapidly.We are moving from the Machine Age to the Information Age, and much of this move is being driven by the media, and underpinned by changing technologies.Many older people are afraid of these changes and are doing all within their power to stop or at least slow it down, and are lamenting the change in attitudes and involvement of young people.

Rushkoff contends that we are disadvantaging young people today by not allowing this technology to develop and impact our lives, and that by fighting against it, we are diminishing the ability of our children to survive in the new world.He has an evolutionary basis of thought, believing that technology is the key to a new jump in man's evolutionary development.Although we may not agree with him on this point, whether we believe in evolution or not, we must agree with his assessment of the future - that the world is changing very rapidly and is not the same place it used to be.We need to adapt and change in order just to survive, let alone successfully manage the future.

Rushkoff looks at issues such as snowboarding, skateboarding, comics, movies, Star Trek, Barney, Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games, Goths culture, the media, video games, the Internet, UFO abductions, and many other examples of modern culture and it's effects.

In each of these views of issues, he highlights how the issue demonstrates the shift from the Machine Age to the Information Age, and how it shows the need for less structural controls and more "grass roots level" involvement of people.He maintains that "chaos" is the only legitimate basis for the new culture.By this, he means an organismic interaction between people, by means of technologically advanced equipment.The Internet provides the best example of how communities of like minded individuals will develop and self-regulate their activities.This is his view of how all structure within society should work, from government, to media and everything.We need to be free of all restraints and governance from above.

Whether this optimistic view of humanity's ability to do this is well-founded or not, as Christians there is much good to be gained by an analysis of Rushkoff's work.He often refers to the church, and correctly points out the weaknesses of the existing church in the new era of chaos.He even has some good ideas for churches.But his book's value is that it helps us to put practical examples onto our understanding of a changing youth culture.His book provides valuable material for analysis of modern youth culture, and for planning short to medium term strategies for the future.It also provides those who want to change with some good counter-arguments against the nay-sayers and those afraid of the future.

This is a well researched book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

Inspiring ideas about the media-culture we are living in
Beside some the One-Thing-Ideas (e.g. in context with holography)and some strange humanistic ideas, mainly at the end of the book, it is extremely inspiring and gives unconventional ideas and thoughts about the culture we are living in. Many things like TV or politics or the combination between technics and human culture are seen from a vital counterpoint - just in contrary to usual moralistic opinion. ... Read more

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Information technology is redefining the world in which we live. Organisation spend billions on it, and data about us is being stored on it and communicated across cyberspace by it. This book unravels the answers to all sorts of questions about how information technology works and the effects it is having on society. ... Read more

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Are fish and chips really the favourite food of the English? Who were the Suffragettes? What is the difference between England and Britain? What is Elton John's real name? This book aims to answer these questions, and many more, in a concise and lively overview of England: the country, its language, its people, their way of life and culture and what makes them tick. If you are studying for examinations which require a knowledge of the background of England and its civilization, or if you are learning the language, in, for example, an evening class and want to know more about the country and how it works, this is the book for you. If your job involves travel and business relations, it aims to provide useful and practical information about the ways and customs of the people you are working with. Or if you simply have an interest in England for whatever reason, it should broaden your knowledge about the country and its inhabitants. The book is divided into three sections.Chapters one and two deal with the forces - historical, geographical, geological, demographical and linguistic - that have brought about the formation of the country we know as England and the language we know as English. Chapters three to seven deal with the wealth of creative aspects of English culture from the beginnings to modern day. These chapters take a look at the main areas or works of philosophy and religion, festivals and folklore, literature, entertainment, art and architecture, music, food, crafts and other facets of English ingenuity, together with the people who have created and are still creating them. Subsequent chapters deal with aspects of contemporary English society and the practicalitites of living in modern-day England - the way the political structure of the country is organized, education, the environment, the workplace and how people spend thier leisure time. The final chapter looks at the country's political, economic and social relations with wider world, and takes a glance at the future. Each chapter ends with a section entitled "Taking it Further", where you should find useful addresses, websites and things to see and do.Each chapter also contains a list of useful words and phrases which should help you to talk or write about the subject in question. ... Read more

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The Teach Yourself History series offers an alternative to academic historical books, its content being extensive yet extremely accessible and the approach refreshingly different. The books are informative and compelling, and engage the reader from beginning to end. They assume no prior historical knowledge, and are full of anecdotes and details that provide a very personal appeal. Teach Yourself The Special Forces looks at the development of the special forces during World War II onwards up to the present day. It has a strong focus on the SAS, being the service that triggered the development of special forces worldwide, but it also looks at international units and special forces of many different countries. Its chronological narrative considers the main characters involved in the Special Forces and covers major developments as well as specifics such as training, weaponry and the involvement of women. It will enable you to understand how anti-terrorist units function, and to develop an informed opinion about present-day terrorism and modern means of control. ... Read more