Making extensive use of archival and other primary sources, David Schorr demonstrates that the development of the "appropriation doctrine," a system of private rights in water, was part of a radical attack on monopoly and corporate power in the arid West. Schorr describes how Colorado miners, irrigators, lawmakers, and judges forged a system of private property in water based on a desire to spread property and its benefits as widely as possible among independent citizens. He demonstrates that ownership was not dictated by concerns for economic efficiency, but by a regard for social justice.

Jean de La Fontaine (1621 - 1695), one of the best-loved French poets, is the foremost fabulist since Aesop, and his books have entertained generations of readers throughout France and the Western world. In Once Again, La Fontaine, Norman R. Shapiro brings his scholarly knowledge of fable lore and outstanding facility with English verse together to produce beautiful, witty translations. Adults will be captured by the subtle and sophisticated layers of meaning which Shapiro has skillfully brought to light, and children will delight in the moral tales. Readers of all ages will appreciate the sly and charming illustrations by David Schorr.