This dramatic story of land and power from twentieth-century Eastern Europe is set in two extraordinary villages: a rebel village, where peasants fought the advent of Communism and became its first martyrs, and a model village turned forcibly into a town, Dictator Ceauşescu's birthplace. The two villages capture among themselves nearly a century of dramatic transformation and social engineering, ending up with their charged heritage in the present European Union.

This dramatic story of land and power from twentieth-century Eastern Europe is set in two extraordinary villages: a rebel village, where peasants fought the advent of Communism and became its first martyrs, and a model village turned forcibly into a town, Dictator Ceauşescu’s birthplace. The two villages capture among themselves nearly a century of dramatic transformation and social engineering, ending up with their charged heritage in the present European Union. "One of Romania’s foremost social critics, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi offers a valuable look at several decades of policy that marginalized that country’s rural population, from the 1918 land reform to the post-1989 property restitution. Illustrating her arguments with a close comparison of two contrasting villages, she describes the actions of a long series of “predatory elites,” from feudal landowners through the Communist Party through post-communist leaders, all of whom maintained the rural population’s dependency. A forceful concluding chapter shows that its prospects for improvement are scarcely better within the EU. Romania’s villagers have an eminent and spirited advocate in the author.”

Early in the 20th century New Jersey was one of the first states to segregate mentally ill patients in state-run institutions. Administrators and scientists at the Vineland Training School and Skillman Village for Epileptics did research which validated the theory that "feeblemindedness" was inherited, untreatable and associated with anti-social behavior. A statute passed in 1911 that permitted involuntary sterilizations of people with chronic mental disorders and epilepsy was overturned two years later by the state's Supreme Court. Nevertheless, New Jersey eugenicists continued to promote similar legislation in the misguided belief that they were benefiting society. The American example was used to justify racist policies initiated in Nazi Germany where what began with coerced sterilizations of the "unfit" evolved to "mercy killing" and then to genocide. Although forced sterilizations were not performed in New Jersey, in other states more than 65,000 Americans were sterilized against their will. Perhaps this "Tale of Two Villages" will provide an object lesson about how well-meaning but flawed science could become politicized, perverted and lead to shameful outcomes. "I read the entire book in one sitting - that's how transfixed I was by this amazing and fascinating story." -Sherwin Nuland, MD. Professor of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine. Author, historian and bioethicist. "I read this book with astonishment, outrage and incredulity. It displays a fine balance between objective reporting and moral indignation. We all need to be educated about history - warts and all!" -Andre Ungar, emeritus rabbi. Temple Emanuel of the Pascack Valley.

People are often able to identify change agents. They can estimate possible economic and social transitions, and they are often in an economic or social position to make calculated—sometimes risky—choices. Exploring this dynamic, A Tale of Three Villages is an investigation of culture change among the Yup’ik Eskimo people of the southwestern Alaskan coast from just prior to the time of Russian and Euro-North American contact to the mid-twentieth century. Liam Frink focuses on three indigenous-colonial events along the southwestern Alaskan coast: the late precolonial end of warfare and raiding, the commodification of subsistence that followed, and, finally, the engagement with institutional religion. Frink’s innovative interdisciplinary methodology respectfully and creatively investigates the spatial and material past, using archaeological, ethnoecological, and archival sources. The author’s narrative journey tracks the histories of three villages ancestrally linked to Chevak, a contemporary Alaskan Native community: Qavinaq, a prehistoric village at the precipice of colonial interactions and devastated by regional warfare; Kashunak, where people lived during the infancy and growth of the commercial market and colonial religion; and Old Chevak, a briefly occupied “stepping-stone” village inhabited just prior to modern Chevak. The archaeological spatial data from the sites are blended with ethnohistoric documents, local oral histories, eyewitness accounts of people who lived at two of the villages, and Frink’s nearly two decades of participant-observation in the region. Frink provides a model for work that examines interfaces among indigenous women and men, old and young, demonstrating that it is as important as understanding their interactions with colonizers. He demonstrates that in order to understand colonial history, we must actively incorporate indigenous people as actors, not merely as reactors.

This is a chronicle of Soviet tyranny in Ukraine. Vasyl Kapkan, the Lithuanian translator of Sweet Darusya

This book examines the threats of recent development to two of the oldest villages in Hong Kong's New Territories. It is at once a valuable document about Hong Kong's cultural heritage and a testimony to the ways in which sensitive and intelligent approaches to conservation can help safeguard the cultural heritage of Asia.

A Tale of Two Villages tells the story of the Bramptons, two villages in rural Northamptonshire, through the ages. Over eight years Jack Wagstaff collected data from archives, maps books and the anecdotes of local residents. The story is told as a walking guide - the Perambulation of the title - and, in Jack's own words, "provides an opportunity to survey the history locally from Early Man to the Day Before Yesterday." "Delving into this fact-packed book is an eye-opening experience, whether or not you live in the Bramptons. How the whole ethos of rural life which has changed so dramatically in the last 50 years is captured within its pages, making fascinating reading and encouraging one to wander for oneself the sites described." - Chronicle & Echo John ("Jack") Stephen Wagstaff was born in August 1914 in Essex. A conscientious objector during the Second World War, he worked on the land, and, with the National Farmers' Union, continued to do so after the War. He moved to the Northamptonshire village of Chapel Brampton in the late 1950s, where he lived for the rest of his life, serving on the local councils and the school board. He retired in 1979. He published A Tale of Two Villages himself in 1991. The first edition of the book sold more than 900 copies and raised more than #3,000 to help maintain the roof of the village church. Jack died in January 2001. This second edition was published by his sons after the initial print run sold out. It includes several new photographs and a pamphlet Jack wrote in 1994 on the history of Weedon Barracks. Any proceeds will continue to support the Church Brampton church roof fund.

A Little Piece Of Ground will help young readers understand more about one of the worst conflicts afflicting our world today. Written by Elizabeth Laird, one of Great Britain’s best-known young adult authors, A Little Piece Of Ground explores the human cost of the occupation of Palestinian lands through the eyes of a young boy. Twelve-year-old Karim Aboudi and his family are trapped in their Ramallah home by a strict curfew. In response to a Palestinian suicide bombing, the Israeli military subjects the West Bank town to a virtual siege. Meanwhile, Karim, trapped at home with his teenage brother and fearful parents, longs to play football with his friends. When the curfew ends, he and his friend discover an unused patch of ground that’s the perfect site for a football pitch. Nearby, an old car hidden intact under bulldozed building makes a brilliant den. But in this city there’s constant danger, even for schoolboys. And when Israeli soldiers find Karim outside during the next curfew, it seems impossible that he will survive. This powerful book fills a substantial gap in existing young adult literature on the Middle East. With 23,000 copies already sold in the United Kingdom and Canada, this book is sure to find a wide audience among young adult readers in the United States.

"Moving from the wide world to the snugness of home and back out again, Village by the Sea tells the story of longing for the comforts of home"--