In a remarkable deed of original scholarly research and detailed detective work, Anne Weise recreates sketches of a lost life - of one of the millions of forgotten souls whose lives came to a violent end in the Holocaust. Her focus is Alfred Bergel (1902-1944), an artist and teacher from Vienna who was a close associate of Karl Koenig - the founder of the Camphill Movement for people with special needs - who wrote of Bergel in his youthful diaries as his best friend 'Fredi'. After the annexation of Austria, Alfred Bergel found himself unable to escape the horror of the National Socialist regime. Subsequently, in 1942 he was deported to the Theresienstadt camp. Imprisoned there, he produced numerous artistic works of the inmates of the ghetto and taught drawing, art history and art appreciation - sometimes in collaboration with the Bauhaus artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. During this period, he was also forced by the Nazis to produce forgeries of classic art works. One of the central figures of cultural life in the Theresienstadt ghetto, Bergel was eventually transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 where, tragically, he was murdered. His name and his work are largely forgotten today, even amongst Holocaust researchers, but Weise succeeds in honouring the life of the Jewish artist by lovingly piecing together his biography, based on numerous personal testimonies by friends and contemporaries and supplemented with documents and many dozens of photos and colour reproductions of Bergel's artistic works. This invaluable recreation of a life provides insight not only into the desperate plight of a single individual, but also illustrates the human will and determination to survive in the context of one of the darkest periods of recent history.

Authors Mary Anne Wise and Cheryl Conway-Daly detail the creation and the triumph of Multicolores, a rug-hooking cooperative in Guatemala. Rug Hooking serves as a template for how to start a non-profit business while working hand in hand with traditional artisans in developing nations. Through a compelling narrative, the authors describe how they built a business framework from within the local culture and created successful teaching strategies that encouraged both artistic advancement as well as personal growth - all the while establishing and maintaining their enterprise as a force in the global marketplace.

We all know sugar is bad for us, so why can't we stop eating it? A Gut Feeling gives a personal and scientific look into the world of microbes that live within our bodies and how they can explain our relationship to and cravings for certain foods. Heather Wise takes the reader through a hidden inner world of microflora that shapes our mood, physical health, sweet cravings, and even genes. She makes us question whether a diet high in sugary, processed, dead foods-devoid of any microscopic life-may be causing us to feel sick, tired and depressed. The microbiome is emerging as the answer to many of our most sought after questions. Using her own story and the science currently available, Wise provides a window into the latest research on the vast world of microbes in our bodies. She explains in simple terms how what we eat can change the expression of our genes and how this symbiotic relationship between microbes and human cells can determine our health. This understanding sheds light on the fact that the genetic makeup of our bodies is more malleable than we could have ever imagined. Wise's book gives us the opportunity to transform our health for the better by mindfully eating foods, herbs, and teas that improve the health of our microbiome, and cutting down on the foods, medications, and chemicals in our environment that are diminishing beneficial microbes in our delicate inner ecosystem. A Gut Feeling offers practical steps to rebalancing and healing our gut microbiome to relieve stress, digestive upsets, inflammation, bloat, excess belly fat, and improve mood. Wise offers a needed alternative to the complex world of fad diets and calorie counting in this easy, evidence-based guide for wellbeing. Rooted in scientific research and providing a number of healthy sweet fixes high in prebiotic and probiotic foods that support the growth of healthy gut flora, this book is a practical guide to help heal our relationship with food and tune into what our gut has been trying to tell us.