So much reform, so little change

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Philip Ball

"From the Yangtze to the Yellow River, China is traversed by great waterways, which have defined its politics and ways of life for centuries...In The Water Kingdom, Ball takes us on a grand journey through China's past and present, showing how the complexity and energy of the country and its history repeatedly come back to the challenges, opportunities, and inspiration provided by the waterways. Drawing on stories from travelers and explorers, poets and painters, bureaucrats and activists, all of whom have been influenced by an environment shaped and permeated by water, Ball explores how the ubiquitous relationship of the Chinese people to water has made it an enduring metaphor for philosophical thought and artistic expression. From the Han emperors to Mao, the ability to manage the waters--to provide irrigation and defend against floods--was a barometer of political legitimacy, often resulting in engineering works on a gigantic scale. It is a struggle that continues today, as the strain of economic growth on water resources may be the greatest threat to China's future"--Publisher's description.

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Helle Rydstrøm

"One of the first anthropological studies based on extensive fieldwork in Vietnam in decades, Embodying Morality examines child-rearing in a rural Red River delta commune. It is a sophisticated and intriguing exploration of the ways in which a family system based on principles of male descent influences the moral upbringing and learning of girls and boys." "In Vietnamese culture, boys alone perpetuate the patrilineal family line; they incorporate the past, present, and future morality, honor, and reputation of their father's lineage. Within this patrilineal universe, girls are viewed as blank sheets of paper and must compensate for this deficiency by embodying tinh cam (sensitivity, sense). Such attitudes play a significant role in the upbringing of girls and boys and in how they learn to use and understand their bodies. Helle Rydstrom offers fresh data - from audiotapes, video-tapes, textbooks, observations in the home and at school - for identifying the transformation of local and educational constructions of females, males, and morality into body styles of girls, boys, women, and men. She highlights the extent to which body performances in daily life produce, reproduce, and challenge widespread northern Vietnamese ideals of femininity and masculinity."--Jacket.

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Michael and Jane Pelusey

Africa is a continent - Early Africa - Africa today - The land - The climate - Plants and animals - The people - The countries - Regions - Northern Africa - Regions - Semi-arid Africa - Tropical Africa - Southern Africa - Africa's future - Africa in review.

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tekst: Rex Stone

Welcome to the Cretaceous! It's a wild and dangerous place but it's too awesome to resist! So Jamie and Tom set off to the Cretaceous again by stepping in the fossilized footprints in their secret smugglers' cave. They decide to try some crabbing and manage to catch a real-life prehistoric crab. But as the boys inspect the amazing creature a sneaky velociraptor runs up and grabs the Fossil Finder. Disaster! The boys have to get it back - if they don't, then future scientists might find a fossilized Fossil Finder and that could mess up the whole of dinosaur science! The chase is underway - through a valley of geysers spurting boiling water - and on to the velociraptor's lair ... ###German-language description **Willkommen im** ***geheimen Dinoversum!*** Eine Kinderbuchreihe ab 7 Jahren mit spannenden Abenteuern und zahlreichen Illustrationen für **alle Fans von Dinosauriern und Jurassic Park**. Plötzlich öffnet sich eine Höhlenwand! Vor Jan und Tim liegt ***das geheime Dinoversum*** - eine Welt voll **echter, lebendiger Dinosaurier**! Ein Velociraptor stiehlt den Fossilien-Rechner. Jan und Tim verfolgen den Raubsaurier zu seiner Höhle, wo er die Beute verstecken will. Doch die Höhle liegt mitten zwischen explodierenden Geysiren!