A Tale Of Two Villages

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.”

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.

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.

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

"The book is an investigation of culture change among the Yup'ik Eskimo people of the southwestern Alaskan coast from the time of European/Russian contact through the mid-twentieth century"--Provided by publisher.

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.

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.