1990 Books

George has done an excellent job of photographing the entire UP roster for fans to enjoy. It also serves has a historical guide to Fallen Flag railroads consumed by UP through mergers.

George's main focus with this book has been to provide the reader with a photographic representation of every Union Pacific locomotive type that was on the roster in 1990. He used not only action and ground level shots to give a pictorial review but also down on roof top details that for a modler are simply gold. Since the view of most model trains is down on as they run on the layout you would think that magazine and book publishers would provide easy access to this information. Unfortunately most favor the 3/4 "wedgie" which does not show the horn, air conditioner, fan placement, etc. This book provides a very much needed remedy for those who model Union Pacific.

To: Doug Guthrie, Lisa Keister, and David Stark: Please, spare publishing houses of your crap. Read this book and try to learn something from it!

I agree with the previous reviewer! Verdery's latest book makes the market transition studies of Nee, Keister, and Guthrie look obsolete, simplistic, uninformed, off-the mark, and BORING. (David Stark is somewhat better than the names listed above so I cut him some slack.) A must-read for students of social change AND policy makers! Great work!!!!

A high-speed, thought-provoking, eye-opening account of the Los Angeles art scene in all its brutal, sexy, scary, narcissistic, oppressive, vacuous, seductive glory. Trying to find her way through the insane labyrinth of an art world that seems to be a byproduct of the entertainment and sex industries, struggling to fit into an MFA program without being "a part of the program," Chris Kraus delivers a powerful book where every sentence is as sharp as the pain of rejection, every observation as acute as the mental state of the scene itself. Not only does VIDEO GREEN stand on its own as a rare and priceless documentation of the dazzling emptiness behind the center of the universe, it can also be read as the third, much anticipated installment in Chris Kraus's wonderful L.A. trilogy. In other words, if you're looking for other books to buy with the excellent VIDEO GREEN, get I LOVE DICK and ALIENS & ANOREXIA.

Video Green, just out in Semiotext(e)'s Native Agents Series, is the most recent compellation of Chris Kraus essays. Written in the early-to-mid-90s after the author and critic moved from New York to Los Angeles, the book is her second since the infamous I Love Dick, a fictionalized account of her short tryst with Dick Hebdige, author of Subculture: The Meaning of Style. Although it is true that Video Green casts a jaundiced eye on the academicism of Los Angeles art, it is almost by accident. Kraus happened to be teaching in the graduate program at the Art Center College of Design when she wrote the essays. Most of the writing is really much more about the culture shock of a New Yorker trying to acclimate herself to a West Coast world she found ironically lonely and inhuman. It so happened much of the art coming out of the schools during that period Kraus felt mirrored what was most empty about Los Angeles. The better part of the book, however, is actually not about art as much as it is about living. Kraus's larger subject is often the artifice of sincerity. Where psychology is at issue, nothing is certain or fixed in a Kraus piece. The writing is as much concerned with telling a story as it is with the story itself. As with Aliens and Anorexia or I Love Dick, these essays are about intimacy, both as something that is somehow produced by construction and as something that altogether escapes it. The Kraus self-portrayed in these essays is a super complex person, equally rendered in full emotional armor and simultaneously bared to the harshest scrutiny. Kraus devotes much of her book to recounting her experiences trying to connect to the new world around her. Much of the book is, in fact, an original exploration of bondage, etc. Video Green is illustrated with atmospheric photos by the artist Daniel Marlos.

I lived through all the periods of Vietnamese history mentioned in the book. I witnessed (as a child) the 1954 exodus from the North, the 1975 event leading to the concentration camps, the exodus of the boat people from Vietnam and their life outside of Vietnam. It's quite an extraordinary and pleasant experience for me to read "The Vietnamese Boat People". It's like being led on an instructive tour to your own hometown, guided by a scholarly (and surgeon) friend who writes English in a way very few of us can, to revisit familiar places that you thought you have always known so well, only to find out that there are a lot of new things and perspectives about your own past and your country's past. With the book,my own eclectic, personal pieces of memory seem to find their place in the jigsaw puzzle. It may help former refugees like myself, and hopefully our English speaking progeny, find a sense of meaning and purpose from our turbulent and traumatic past. For some of us, this may also provide some relief from lingering guilts and regrets about our past lost cause, and maybe, a sense of closure necessary to start a new chapter for our life and for our former country that still stays behind in every way.

This is a clear, readable, and concise book about Vietnamese refugees. There have been a large number of books on this subject, but this is one of the better and more complete ones I have encountered.

The author begins with a subject neglected by many authors -- a description of the refugee flight that came about as a result of the French defeat and the Communist takeover of North Vietnam in 1954. About one million people fled North Vietnam at that time. He then jumps forward 20 years to an account of the many different phases of the 1975-1992 humanitarian crisis -- and crisis it was -- beginning as a consequence of the defeat of the U.S.-supported South Vietnamese government in 1975. Throughout the narrative, he mixes in the personal stories of individuals escaping from Communism, their life in the refugee camps, and their later experiences in the United States. Finally, he describes the refugee policies of the countries who hosted and helped -- sometimes reluctantly -- Vietnamese refugees: the United States, Thailand, Malaysia, France, Canada, Australia, and others.

The author draws most of his material from previously published books, but his insights often have a interesting twist of their own, perhaps because the author himself is Vietnamese, experienced some of the events he describes, and reflects the view -- very anti-communist -- of many in the American Vietnamese community.

Smallchief

I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), the nation's oldest and largest civil-rights organizaion of (and for) blind people. The NFB is very much akin to NAACP, or NOW; the NFB was formed to help improve the lives of the blind. Beyond being blind, I am also interested in the movements of all oppressed or marginalized people to lift themselves and to be accepted. I enjoy reading the histories of these organizations/movements, and Walking Alone and Marching Together is an excellent read. This book does a wonderful job of detailing why and how the NFB was formed, the development of its philosophy and purpose, and the increased acceptance and success of the blind as a result of its existence. The speeches alone are amazing, uplifting, and so well-written, and the narrative is quite good and appropriate...Mr. Matson understands the purpose of narrative. I strongly encourage anyone who is blind, who knows someone who is blind, or anyone interested in the civil-rights movement to read this book, and beyond that, to get in touch with the NFB. It has changed the life of thousands of blind people before you, and it will change yours as well.

This stirring history book is about a mostly unnoticed group of Americans attaining ordinary civil liberties and social options. We all know Women, African-Americans, and other minorities have had to fight for their equal treatment in our society. Little happened until they took up the fight for themselves. This unique book tells the story of the revolution of the American blind! Once told to do "blind trades" like basket-weaving, 40 yrs later there's blind attnys, artists, factory workers, engineers, teachers, reporters, secretaries, &etc. It was enjoyable reading about the events, the speeches, and the people who made things different for blind Americans! "Walking Alone and Marching Together" gives the full text of really powerful speeches with just enough commentary by the author to tie each speech to its place in Blind History, plus correspondance, laws, statistics, magazine articles, and more. Did you know Senator JFK (before he was President)was going to introduce a blind persons Right to Association Bill because blind persons working on gaining their civil rights were losing their jobs?! That it took collective action by blind Californians to get a law that permitted blind persons to teach in public schools? & to work in US Govt agencies? There are great examples of the American system of self-reliance and ingenuity to upgrade the status of a minority. Check out the fist-raised, rousing speeches by these blind American heroes. These speeches are the blind American's equivilent of Martin Luther King, Jr. with "I've Got A Dream." In one appendix there's an amazing biography section with more than a dozen blind leaders of the recent past and of today who are still at work on blind equality. (The battle isn't over yet.) The book is so big I found it best to read a few speeches and then think about them before diving in for more. It would be a great resource for school libraries(junior high thru univ.)& public libraries that have resources for writing reports on Am.History, minorities, blind & visually impaired, disabilities, Civics, great speech makers, civil rights struggles, & folks who make a difference. If you have an interest in these subjects, try it yourself. So far I've read it 1 1/2 times. It lifts my spirits. People CAN be wonderful. What was wrong CAN be made right if Americans will work at it.

Giustozzi knows more than any one about what was going on inside pro-soviet Afghanistan. I think he is also a good pupil of Prof. Halliday. Perhaps no other scholar knows more about the Afghan government and society in 1978-92.

War, politics and Society in afghanistan is the best book written on this very intricate topic. Every serious student of contemporary history have to face with this reality. Afghanistan was and still is the fulcrum of the world's equilibrium. Knowing Afghanistan means a lot!

Ward's Business Directory reflects the hopes and dreams in actual numbers and cents for over 90,000 privately and publicly held companies across the U.S. Its alphabetical arrangement includes profiles of each company, assets, gross earnings, revenues, and other pertinent information. It is ideal for "at a glance" usage.

Wich are the companies that are the leader as a food processing industry?

I read this book in the early 1990's. There was considerable interest in the subject back then. There were numerous other books about the U.S. war on Nicaragua at the time. I believe that this book will endure as the best book about that era. Ms. Sklar paints the picture, entirely documented with exacting precision of the U.S. undeclared war against this tiny state, population of 3.5 million. The U.S started it and maintained it. How many Americans know that the World Court in the Hague found the U.S. guilty of war crimes in Nicaragua in 11/84. What was the U.S. response-we walked out of the World Court, rather than obey it's verdict. Read about it in this book-p.170. Only three countries ever walked out of the world court in it's entire history, Iran,Iceland and Albania. I don't know about Iceland but the other two put us in pretty undistinguished company. In this latter day, when Iconization of Ronald Reagan is the mode people should read this book to see just how obsessive the man was on the subject of Nicaragua and the Contras. Ms. Sklar shows how illegal and ruthless that obsession was.

The war against Nicaragua is staring into the same memory hole that other unpleasant chapters of American history get dropped into by politicians, much of the media, and ultimately the people.

Way, way back in the 80s, the US launched an illegal war OF terror against the mighty Central American empire of Nicaragua, which was threatening to destroy the United States and our very way of life. So evil was this nation, so dangerous, that they had to be crushed, to the point that it's easily one of the most dirt-poor nations in the hemisphere. Starting up their own Reich, eliciting the support of the Evil Empire (since no one else would help), Nicaragua is a classic example of what happens when puppets no longer follow orders and want to go off on their own.

Holly Sklar has written an in-depth, meticulously researched book that betrays little bias, since the well-known and easily verifiable facts speak for themselves. The story is very ugly, indeed. So egregious was the US that we were condemned by the World Court for 'unlawful use of force', a nice euphamism for, well, aggression, terrorism, etc. After hearing this unacceptable verdict, the US responded by walking out of the World Court, and escalating the war. The contempt for international law continues unabated.

The book is very detailed, and well-indexed. You can focus on certain chapters without losing the overall story, and indeed many Americans will recall all the hoopla, nicely spun by the media then and now. Of course, some of the very players are still on the scene today, with Oliver North now a respectable Fox News employee, and John Negroponte displaying his characteristic dedication to the Third World in his new role in Iraq.

Highly recommended reading for any American, this book will not be found next to your latest fashionable pundit's 'book'. It does, however, give an insight into how world powers behave, then and certainly now.

If you are a homepge designer, you must purchase this boo

Lots of cool website in the book. It is very good for homepage designer

Even thought this book was originally written in 1989, it has great ideas that can be utilitized today.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

Today's corporate balancing act requires a different style from, a style better suited to playing in the corporate Olympics. Our new heroic model should be the athlete who can manage the amazing feat of doing more with less, who can juggle the need to both conserve resources and pursue growth opportunities. They need to be Focused, Fast, Friendly and Flexible.

A lot of great ideas that can be utilitized today.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter is among the most thoughtful and articulate of commentators on contemporary business. Having recently re-read this book, I was not surprised that it remains at least as relevant as it was when first published in 1990. Her fondness for metaphors is evident in this brief excerpt in which she suggests correlations between Lewis Carroll's Wonderland and the global marketplace which Kanter surveyed more than a decade ago. "The mallet Alice uses is a flamingo, which tends to lift its head and face another direction just as Alice tries to hit the ball. The ball, in turn, is a hedgehog, another creature with a mind of its own. The wickets are card soldiers, ordered around by the Queen of Hearts, who changes the structure of the game seemingly at whim by barking out an order to the wickets to reposition themselves around the court.... Substitute technology for the flamingo, employees or customers for the hedgehog and everyone from the government regulators to corporate raiders for the Queen of Hearts and the analogy fits the experience of a growing number of companies."

The "giants" which Kanter examines in this book include Kodak, IBM, AT&T and CBS. I find it interesting that Louis Gerstner chose for the title of his recently published memoirs Who Says That Elephants Can't Dance? As he explains, IBM's culture rather than its strategy proved to be his greatest challenge when struggling to save that once great company. This is precisely what Kanter has in mind when suggesting that "Whereas bureaucratic management is inherently preservation-seeking, entrepreneurial management is inherently opportunity-seeking." She goes on to explain that "The major concern of bureaucracy is to administer a known routine uniformly, guided by past experiences, whereas the major concern of an entrepreneurial organization is to exploit opportunity wherever it occurs and however it can be done, regardless of what the organization has done in the past. The post-entrepreneurial organization brings entrepreneurial principles to the established corporation."

Kanter explains how even the largest of corporate "giants" can use the "The 4 Fs" (i.e. being focused, fast, friendly, and flexible) to "dance": replacing their bureaucratic culture with a post-entrepreneurial organization. As is also true of every book she wrote before and has written since this one, this volume offers that rare combination of eloquence, practicality, passion, and most important of all, compelling and enduring relevance. Obviously it will be of great value to decision makers throughout larger organizations but I also highly recommend it to owners/CEOs of smaller companies as well as to those who have recently embarked on a business career and are in need of guidance as they develop their leadership and management skills.

Those organizations (regardless of size or nature) which reject or ignore "The 4 Fs" seem certain to encounter a fifth: Failure.