A review of this book has been published in the following journal:

Houle, A. (1999). Book-Review: Foraging for survival: Yearling baboons in Africa. Behavioural Processes. (in press)

This is a story of how eleven juvenile baboons feed themselves. The setting: Amboseli National Park, Kenya. This is, however, much more than a simple story. Throughout, Altmann engages the reader with his elegant analysis - rich with ecological detail - of the costs and benefits primates must negotiate in their daily pursuit of requisite nutrients and energy. Baboons are exemplary eclectic omnivores; still, as Altmann quotes, "there is no such thing as a free lunch." Bearing this in mind, he sets out to evaluate the balancing act baboons must achieve in maximizing nutrient intake, while at the same time minimizing toxic accumulation of plant secondary metabolites.

At the outset, Altmann describes what the baboons ate, how they ate it, and what foods they avoided altogether during the study period (1975-1976). He then identifies what baboons should eat. A foraging strategy is an ultimate endpoint, achieved via an array of potential tactical routes. Altmann evaluates both the feeding tactics and the eclectic foraging strategy of his young baboons by identifying the degree to which they deviate from an optimum model of adaptive feeding traits. The baboons' actual dietary intake is compared to the specifications of adequate and optimal diets; this is done for both an average yearling's diet, as well as on individual variance from the predicted diets.

Deviations from the optimum are viewed as indicators of potential differences in reproductive fitness. Although the feeding data stem from research undertaken in the mid-1970s, Altmann takes advantage of the two succeeding decades to relate differences in juvenile diets to longevity and fitness outcomes later in life. This historical depth is particularly valuable because it tests the model by evaluating whether those baboons that come closer to the optimum as juveniles have higher fitness as adults.

Altmann expands on the extreme selectivity exhibited by baboons, providing details on the toxic load, protein, carbohydrate, water content, and load of various plant species and the manner in which baboons maximize (or minimize) their intake of these food components. Finally, he assesses the anatomical and behavioral attributes that may contribute to making baboons one of the most successful and broadly distributed primate species. To complement the main body of the text, Altmann includes a series of appendices and tables in which he evaluates various methodological and definitional issues relating to calculating feeding bouts and dietary intake. Here, he presents additional detail on diet composition and the nutritional and toxic attributes of plant foods.

The work's emphasis on juvenile feeding behavior is an unusual yet valuable feature. This developmental stage is often overlooked in studies of non-human primate behavior and ecology, despite the fact that this period, and the transition from a milk diet to an adult diet, are undoubtedly critical to our understanding of adult fitness and life history patterns.

However, some caution is warranted: This book was not intended for the casual student of animal feeding behavior, nor for those new to optimal foraging theory. Altmann's models, food intake calculations, and feeding bout formulae are exacting, and quite abstracted from the experience of observing feeding behavior. Before embarking into this volume, non-modelers will have to review the technical terminology that necessarily accompanies Optimization Theory. In addition, I do not view the generalizations (outlined in Chapter Two) based on the relationships among body size, patch size, and dietary selectivity to be particularly illuminating. Too many exceptions to his proposed relationships can be found for such generalizations to be of much explanatory utility.

Nonetheless, this book is destined to become a classic in primate feeding behavior. It is exhaustive in its breadth, a pleasure to read, and sets the standard for amalgamation of modeling theory and ecological observation.

I have this book - bought years ago whilst I was still a member of the SADF and doing active service for my country. Jan gets it spot on with this one, his skill at story telling is great! 32 Battalion was a very well respected unit in the SADF and one can easily see why when reading this book. Jan's account of the 1975 incursion into Angola is accurate and detailed without becoming boring. His addition of some very funny incidents adds real enjoyment to a great book. I only wish that more South African Defence force Officers would write about their experiences in the 23 year long terrorist war in South West Africa... it would make the chaos that now reigns a little more bearable. LEST WE FORGET...

This book follows the development of the 32 Battalion from it's confused origins from former enemies and terrorists into the best Counter-Insurgency force in the world.

This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone who is interested in the Southern African Military Scene/History and the SWA/ANGOLA/NAMIBIA conflict

I was driven to this book by Spielberg's movie about the Amistad Mutiny.
I was so impressed with the cruelty exposed on the film that I would like to check it in a reliable source.
Suzanne Jurmain's book is very easy to read, once is oriented to the young people at the schools.
It is a good start to the knowledge of this episode and as I mentioned in the title the book, altough not deeply documented, is sufficient enough to assure you that the facts are unfortunately true.

Exploring one of America's darkest chapters, Suzanne Jurmain gives the great gift of truth to all of her readers. Buy this book, today, as a gift for your children and grandchildren. Share with them them the reality of America's ugly flirtation with slavery, and in so doing free them from the streotypes and simplifications which too often pass among us for reality.

Ms. Jurmain chronicles, for a juvenile audience, the story of the Amistad mutiny, so movingly recounted in the movie of the same name. In so doing, she draws upon the original court records and other contemporary documents. Although this is a book for young people, she does not shy away from describing the horrors of the middle passage, or the other institutions associated with slavery. Nor, does Ms. Jurmain give in to the temptation to solely demonize the Europeans associated with the slave trade: she accurately states that many of the slaves were captured and sold by other Africans. Thus, the African diaspora was all the more tragic.

Most importantly, Ms. Jurmain breaks the myth of docile African servitude. Her portrait of Cinque and the other captive's moral courage and willingness to take their futures into their own hands is in keeping with other recent literary and film releases such as "Glory," and "The Tuskeegee Airmen." By telling the truth, Ms. Jurmain helps all of us: no matter what the color of our skin, to see that courage is not limited to any gender or race.

Buy this book for your children and gradchildren. Help them to see the promise of freedom shining through one of America's darkest chapters -- and in the process help them to dream of a brighter tomorrow.

The Kirkus review is unfair and off-the-mark.
This is the autobiographical story of writer Aaron Latham in the depths of grief for his sister's death, and depression, who feels the answer lies in Africa. So he packs up himself, his daughter, and his wife (CBS's Lesley Stahl) and heads off to safari in Africa.
He gives a vivid and insightful description of his own internal and external journeys. Along the way he meets some of the giants of research in Africa (Craig Sholley's work with gorillas, Cynthia Moss with elephants, Richard Leakey with early man), and reports their insights into their work and the significance of Africa to each of us.
This out-of-stock book is well worth searching out at your library or book dealer.

This is the autobiographical story of a writer in the depths of grief for his sister's death, and depression, who feels the answer lies in Africa. So he packs up himself, his daughter, and his wife (CBS's Lesley Stahl) and heads off to safari in Africa.
He gives a vivid and insightful description of his own internal and external journeys. Along the way he meets some of the giants of research in Africa (Craig Sholley's work with gorillas, Cynthia Moss with elephants, Richard Leakey with early man), and reports their insights into their work and the significance of Africa to each of us.
This out-of-stock book is well worth searching out at your library or book dealer.

I just attended a talk by a Peace Corps volunteer who spoke about how children in Ghana were resourceful about creating toys to play with. This book illlustrates that point. I hope that my students from Africa will enjoy this book.

Galimoto provides a unique opportunity for teachers to link reading, cultural understanding and visual art. Young students enjoy trying to discover the meaning of "galimoto" while they hear the story as it is read aloud. The illustrations help them to see the similarities in the everyday lives of children and people everywhere. All people make art! Young children can use pipe cleaners to make their own "galimotos" after they learn the meaning from the story. The story and illustrations held the interest of my students and encouraged them toward future learning through reading and making art.

I used this book as the text to give 28 6th Graders an introduction to the wealth of Africa's past--and they hung on every word. The mix of storytelling, political, economic, cultural and religious history served as the basis for several lively student presentations. In short, my only complaint about this book is the fact that its out-of-print status prevents me from ordering copies by the dozen for next year's class.

Publishers--Please get on the ball. With the addition of these African Kingdoms to the Virginia State Standards of Learning, you have an eager market and a product that beats anything else now on the market for this age group.

This book is gorgeously illustrated with lots of graphics taken from authentic textiles and pottery. The legends are written in an easy to read narrative style and take readers from ancient myths through to modern theories on the history of this region. Highly recommended

As a child of the Scotch Irish diaspora, I am finding this book riveting.

The thesis presented here carefully demonstrates the powerful and ongoing impact of the Hebrew Scripture, particularly the covenanting of God's "Chosen People," on peoples who read and take seriously (even literally) the several thousand year old constructs of the ancient Hebrew tribe of Israel.

Most of my pondering about the "why" of customs and belief systems of my own almost entirely Scotch Irish family find articulation in this amazing book. Four hundred years after Calvin and over 200 since the last of my family left Ulster, the power of the covenant lingers still.

I wish Dr. Akenson could consider exploring the town of Due West, South Carolina, and Erskine College, to find the very strong threads of this culture alive and well in the United States.

D.H. Akenson has masterfully taken a complex subject, that being the Old Testament, along with South African, Irish, and Jewish histories, and has put it together in a very compelling thesis. It is well organized in sections dealing with the origins of the particular covenants, a section on the covenant and the state, and a section of the covenant in recent times. The book is very hard to read for the layman, but for the informed he has done a great service. The only weaknesses I find is that he does not do present enough analysises of the differences within the covenanted peoples, especially as certain factions differed on the application of the covenant.

These six volumes should be, in my opinion, MANDATORY reading for anyone interested in (a) WW II (b) HISTORY (c)increasing their knowledge of the English language. Having read the entire set over 50-60 times, I am still fascinated by new material I discover with each re-reading. It comes as no surprise that Sir Winston was awarded the NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE for this masterpiece.

Because of his immense output, Winston Churchill may be described as an old-fashioned writer. Fortunately for us he does not read as such. There is very little archaic about the expressions he uses or the grammar he employs, in volume after volume after volume. It remains immensely readable, and this is the strength of a good writer, it seems to me. As a boy, Churchill was held up to me as an example of a person with a very full command of English. I was told, although I have never been able to verify it, that Churchill employed one of the largest vocabularies of any individual writing in English. It is ironic to think that, although the use of English is becoming ever more widespread, it is not generally being put to anything like the kind of use a man like Churchill made of it.

"The Grand Alliance" takes us to the point in the Second World War when the Americans finally declared their intentions. In a sense, it announced the end to hesitation, the end to British doubts about whether they could possibly win out against Hitler alone. Of course, America had participated in the war to a very large extent already, having agreed to set up the famous "Lend-Lease" program, whereby first Britain, and later Russia, were given material support in a way which satisfied the neutral and isolationist U.S. congress. It was also something of a victory for Churchill at the same time, since he had worked doggedly at bringing the Americans around, and although Pearl harbour did tip the balance, it was partly due to Churchill having prepared the ground.

Churchill himself states that, from the moment of the U.S. entry into the conflict, no matter how long it might take, he was certain of victory. From his point of view at the top, he could see that the sheer weight of numbers (tonnage, armament production etc.,), added to the geographical reality of Germany, meant they could never hope to win against the combined industrial might of Britain and the U.S. It was this absolute faith which sustained him during the reverses of 1941 and 1942.

This is a truly outstanding book for South African Aloe enthusiasts of any level from beginner to expert. The authors recognized an obvious vacuum in the literature on growing, collecting, and conserving South African Aloes, and this work deftly bridges the gap between peer reviewed botanical journals and elementary field guides. The book brings together information on plant characteristics, distribution, habitat, cultivation, uses, name etymology, and endangered status. Each species description occupies 2 facing pages with textual content on the left and 1 or more excellent photos of plants in habitat on the right. The content, format, and style harmonize to make this book hard to lay down. It is well worth its modest ...price. Highly recommended.

A good book for both beginner and expert. It puts the aloes in 10 groups, from Tree Aloes to Grass Aloes with detailed desciptions of most aloes. It does not, however, have aloes from anywhere but South africa...but that is the only falt I can find with it.