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1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:00:27 +0000

This history of the foundational war in the Arab-Israeli conflict is groundbreaking, objective, and deeply revisionist. A riveting account of the military engagements, it also focuses on the war's political dimensions. Benny Morris probes the motives and aims of the protagonists on the basis of newly opened Israeli and Western documentation. The Arab side—where the archives are still closed—is illuminated with the help of intelligence and diplomatic materials.

Morris stresses the jihadi character of the two-stage Arab assault on the Jewish community in Palestine. Throughout, he examines the dialectic between the war's military and political developments and highlights the military impetus in the creation of the refugee problem, which was a by-product of the disintegration of Palestinian Arab society. The book thoroughly investigates the role of the Great Powers—Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union—in shaping the conflict and its tentative termination in 1949. Morris looks both at high politics and general staff decision-making processes and at the nitty-gritty of combat in the successive battles that resulted in the emergence of the State of Israel and the humiliation of the Arab world, a humiliation that underlies the continued Arab antagonism toward Israel.

Guter Rat ist leise: Wege zur Harmonie zwischen Mensch und Hund

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:57:44 +0000

Die Zeiten, in denen Hunde lediglich als Gebrauchsgegenstand angesehen wurden, sind vorbei. Dem Hundehalter von heute genügt es nicht, einen funktionierenden Hund zu haben, er wünscht sich eine innige von gegenseitigem Verständnis geprägte Bindung zu seinem Hausgenossen. Dieses Buch zeigt den Weg zu einer nonverbalen, nahezu intuitiven Art der Verständigung mit dem Hund. Diese ist die Basis für eine harmonische und glückliche Beziehung.Wenn wir mit unserem Hund kommunizieren, tun wir dies in der Regel verbal und nicht selten im Befehlston: Komm!, Sitz!, Platz! Fuß!, Aus! und viele mehr sind Kommandos, mit denen wir ihm tagtäglich mehr oder weniger laut zu verstehen geben, was er zu tun und was er zu lassen hat. Doch eigentlich wünschen wir uns etwas ganz anderes: Wir möchten einen Partner, den wir verstehen und der uns versteht und der sich uns so innig verbunden fühlt, dass er bereits auf unsere leisesten Signale reagiert.
Die Autorin zeigt den Weg zu einer nonverbalen, nahezu intuitiven Art der Verständigung. Sie beschreibt, wie wir eine harmonische Beziehung und zu unserem Hund aufbauen und wie als Gipfel dieser Harmonie eine unsichtbare Leine zu ihm entsteht, die auch auf große Distanz stabil bleibt.
Mit Bindungstest: Wie stark ist unsere Bindung zu unserem Hund, wie stark ist seine Bindung zu uns?
Mit praktischen Übungen für eine innige, von Zuneigung und gegenseitigem Verständnis geprägte, Verbindung zwischen Mensch und Hund.

Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion: A Comprehensive Resource for Identifying North American Birds

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:57:45 +0000

In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the "Cape May School of Birding." It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks.

After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance.

This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet.

Parrots of the World

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:53:17 +0000

From the macaws of South America to the cockatoos of Australia, parrots are among the most beautiful and exotic birds in the world--and also among the most endangered. This stunningly illustrated, easy-to-use field guide covers all 356 species and well-differentiated subspecies of parrots, and is the only guide organized by geographical distribution--Australasian, Afro-Asian, and neotropical. It features 146 superb color plates depicting every kind of parrot, as well as detailed, facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and status. Color distribution maps show ranges of all subspecies, and field identification is further aided by relevant upperside and underside flight images. This premier field guide also shows where to observe each species in the wild, helping make this the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the parrots of the world.

The only parrot guide to focus on geographical distribution
Covers all 356 species
Features 146 color plates depicting all species and well-differentiated subspecies
Provides detailed facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and status
Includes color distribution maps
Shows where to observe each species in the wild

Mammals of North America: (Second Edition)

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:50:06 +0000

The best-selling field guide that "sets new standards" (New Scientist) and "makes all other field guides for mammals of the United States. . . and Canada obsolete" (Journal of Mammalogy) is now even better. Covering 20 species recognized since 2002 and including 13 new color plates, this fully revised edition of Mammals of North America illustrates all 462 known mammal species in the United States and Canada--each in beautiful color and accurate detail. With a more up-to-date species list than any other guide, improved facing-page descriptions, easier-to-read distribution maps, updated common and scientific names, and track and scat illustrations, this slim, light, and easy-to-use volume is the must-have source for identifying North American mammals.

Roland Kays and Don Wilson have scoured the technical literature to pull out the key differences between similar species, and illustrated these whenever possible, making the guide useful to amateur naturalists and professional zoologists alike. Casual animal watchers will appreciate the overview of mammal diversity and the tips on identifying animals they can spy in their binoculars, while scientists will appreciate the exacting detail needed to distinguish similar species, including illustrations of shrew teeth, bat toes, and whale dorsal fins.

The best-illustrated and easiest-to-use field guide to North American mammals
Beautiful and accurate color illustrations of all 462 mammals found in the United States and Canada--including 20 species recognized since 2002
112 color plates--including 13 new ones
Key identification information--fully revised--on facing pages
The most current taxonomy/species list
Fully revised, easy-to-read range maps
Illustrations of tracks, scat, and whale and dolphin dive sequences

Drawn from Paradise: The Natural History, Art and Discovery of the Birds of Paradise with Rare Archival Art

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:44:36 +0000

Originally perceived and idolized by the natives of New Guinea and discovered by Europeans in the sixteenth century, birds of paradise have long enchanted observers with their extraordinary beauty. In Drawn from Paradise, world renowned BBC broadcaster David Attenborough and artist and author Errol Fuller share their passion for these breathtaking creatures, offering bird lovers and nature aficionados an enthralling collection of interesting facts and stunningly beautiful, very rare hand-painted images of some of the most exotic winged creatures in the world.