THE STORY: The setting is the bombed-out, post-holocaust sanctuary of a church, where the Reverend Eddie (clad in long underwear) prepares to deliver his final sermon: Life Is Like a Basketball Game. Abetted by his faithful helper, the hunch-back

Life on earth will come to an end. It's just a matter of when. A Guide to the End of the World focuses on the many potential catastrophes facing our planet and our species in the future, and looks at both the probability of these events happening and our chances of survival. Coverage extendsfrom discussion of the likely consequences of the current global warming to the inevitable destruction of the earth in the far future, when it is enveloped by our giant, bloated sun. In between, other 'end of the world scenarios' will be examined, including the New Ice Age, asteroid and cometimpact, supervolcanoes, and mega-tsunami.

Havoc of Capitalism brings together an interdisciplinary community of scholars from around the world to contribute to the dialogue about alternative global futures in the current context of environmental crisis, uncertainty and inequality.

With over 500 entries on the most important plays and playwrights performed today, The Theatre Guide provides an authoritative A - Z of the contemporary theatre scene. From Aristophanes to Mark Ravenhill, The Alchemist to The Talking Cure, the Guide is both biographically detailed and critically current, while an extensive cross-referencing system allows for wider perspectives and new discoveries. Stimulating, observant and informative, The Theatre Guide is an essential companion and reference tool for anyone with an active interest in drama.

ONE OF THE FIRST EDUCATIONAL BOOKS TO CHALLENGE THE BUSH REGIME’s WAR ON TERROR, ITS EDUCATIONAL POLICY, ITS FOREIGN POLICY AND ITS ASSAULT ON THE POOR Written by two leading international exponents of critical pedagogy, this book is a pioneering attempt to create a Marxist humanist and feminist pedagogy for the new century. Critical pedagogy is discussed as an important revolutionary act in bringing about a socialist future. In their conclusion, McLaren and Jaramillo cite an observation made by Arundhati Roy (2004) who insists that "there is no discussion taking place in the world today that is more crucial than the debate about strategies of resistance" (p. 195). McLaren and Jaramillo have clearly contributed to such a conversation with Pedagogy and Praxis in the Age of Empire and their work must be understood as a relevant component in that ongoing dialogue. Moreover, they have been courageous enough to remind us (following Roy) that if we believe democracy should be something more than the "free world’s whore, " something more than "Empire’s euphemism for neoliberal capitalism" (Roy, 2004, p. 54, 56), we can no longer afford to remain indifferent to the horror and savagery unleashed by capitalism’s barbaric machinations. . . . We believe that McLaren and Jaramillo have introduced in PPAE an important and highly productive framework that can help lay the groundwork for expanding human relationships with nature, or, for beginning to ask questions such as who or what should be considered democratic participants. Valerie Scatamburlo-D'Annibale, Ghada Chehade, Richard Kahn, Clayton Pierce and Sheila L. MacrineJCEPS: Vol. 5 No. 2 (November 2007) Perhaps this book is more than just a symbolic warning, since what has transpired during the past decade, perhaps longer, is a reversal in true social justice, often accompanied by blatant denial to the children of the lesser gods of everything that makes up human dignity. Ben Tanosborn http: //www. mwcnews. net/content/view/1696 Critical pedagogy reveals the social relations and institutional structures that mediate how educators approach the concept of curriculum, design, evaluation, and classroom instruction, in order to help students locate their agency so that they can act more coherently as individuals growing up in social conditions not of their own making. As McLaren and Jaramillo see it, a critical pedagogy against capitalism, empire, and imperialism is a pedagogy that works in the interests of working people, empowerment, and democracy. It is a pedagogy for socialism. Andrew Michael Lee, Socialism and Democracy, 2008

Schooling and the Politics of Disaster is the first volume to address how disaster is being used for a radical social and economic reengineering of education. From the natural disasters of the Asian tsunami and the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, to the human-made disasters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Sudan, Indonesia, the United States and around the globe, disaster is increasingly shaping policy and politics. This groundbreaking collection explores how education policy is being reshaped by disaster politics. Noted scholars in education and sociology tackle issues as far-ranging as No Child Left Behind, the War on Terror, Hurricane Katrina, the making of educational funding crises in the US, and the Iraq War to bring to light a disturbing new phenonmemon in educational policy.

Scenes from the plays and portraits of leading actors accompany a statistical record of the current season

As massive human suffering continues to engulf the Darfur region of Sudan, the crisis has garnered a rhetorical circus of saber-rattling and hand wringing from Western politicians, media, and activists. Yet such bluster has not halted the violence. In a careful, yet scathing, indictment of this constellation of holier-than-thou government leaders, corporate media outlets, and spoon-fed NGOs, Steven Fake and Kevin Funk reveal the myriad ways in which the West has failed Darfur. Eschewing liberal fantasies of Western benevolence, Fake and Funk unmask the hard reality behind "humanitarian intervention" advocacy, painting a disturbing portrait of Washington's past and present relations with some of the worst elements in power in Khartoum. Book jacket.

THE STORY: First presented at England's soaring Chelmsford Cathedral, and then broadcast on the BBC, the play blends music, poetry and heightened prose in telling the story of Caedmon, Britain's first known poet. Set in seventh-century England, the