European misrepresentation that Australia’s first peoples were nomadic hunter gatherers has persisted since the continent was first invaded and still persists to a large extent today to justify invasion. However, Pasco examines not only the diaries of many early European explorers who ventured inland, but also archeological sites that confirm that Australian Aborigines not only had permanent settlements often built of stone, but constructed weirs for trapping fish, cultivated grasslands to harvest seeds for flour and tubers, utilized bush burning to replenish these native foods, dug numerous wells and had a democratic system that meant the country before European invasion had never experienced wars.
With Japan’s success at invading China and Korea, and Britain afraid a rising superpower might take over their jewel, India, the British government makes a pact with Japan. In the early 1900s a group of British soldiers are then sent to Japan to learn Japanese and war tactics. In Tokyo, Arthur meets Masa, a Japanese woman who has been rejected by her husband and sent back to her family. The pair fall in love and even though Arthur is transferred to other destinations, their connection doesn’t end until forty years later with the outbreak of the second world war.
This memoir is based on research and the hundreds of letters from Arthur discovered in Masa’s trunk after her death. These letters reveal an in-depth insight into their lives and the dramatic changes that took place in both countries—a book I couldn’t put down.
Suzanne’s journey begins the day her father and uncle dig a hole over a metre deep into the ground and she becomes fascinated by the layers in the soil. Growing up in the interior of British Columbia amongst forests, Simard went into forestry, but soon became disenchanted with the practice of cutting down every tree, spraying chemicals over destroyed sites, and replanting one variety of tree. She joined the B.C. forestry sector where she conducted experiments that revealed that government policies were not only destroying the environment, but their practices did not produce greater yields. Simard’s long struggle against entrenched archaic views and misogynistic mentality eventually lead to major findings with change beginning to take place, but at what personal cost?
This is a book that’s been with me for decades that I recently reread. It contains photographs of yoga positions with well explained instructions. What makes each pose even better, are the details about which parts of the body each pose benefits.
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