Socialist cities have special qualities which endure in particular, subtle, and often under-theorized ways. This book engages with socialism on a global scale, as well as the variety of socialist urbanisms and post-socialist urbanisms, and the range of ways in which globalization intersects with changes in socialist and post-socialist cities. Offering a unique international comparative focus, the book's fourteen case studies from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa are grouped under three main themes: housing experiences and life trajectories, planning and architecture, and governance and social order. Featuring contributors from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and research foci, Socialist and Post-Socialist Urbanisms brings together a collection of essays on cities that are often overlooked in mainstream urban studies.

Despite it being almost forty years since American troops left Vietnam, the American people still regard Vietnam as a war, not a country. "Same River, Different Water" is not about your grandfather's war but about the thriving country of today. It is the true story of a two-tour, wounded combat veteran and his wife, a former Army nurse, who met in Vietnam during the war and returned to live in the city of Hue in 2005-06. The memoir connects the past with the present, amply supported by the author's photographs. History professors' bookshelves are filled with political and military tomes about the war, but few of them examine the impact of the war on Viet Nam's present culture. It is a positive look at the present, punctuated with glances into the past and filled with observations of the present-day Vietnamese culture. Its appeal is to anyone of the Vietnam War generation, whether they served, waited at home or participated in protests. This book answers the question "What happened to the people and country that caused so much angst in the 60s and 70s?" It is an antidote for curious or embittered veterans who believe the Vietnamese hate us. It is an update for those whose mental image is of an impoverished country. It is for academics who wish to have their students gain an insight into modern Southeast Asia. It is travelers looking for a different place to go. "Same River, Different Water" includes the words Viet Nam and Vietnam - one when referring to the country, the other when referring to the war. The first chapter opens with the negative reaction the author received from many Vietnam vets when hearing he was going to live in Viet Nam. The new country, with its skyscrapers in Saigon, absence of poverty and energetic people is juxtapositioned with memories of flares in the night sky, noisy truck convoys and the brutal poverty seen during the war. Memories are connected to the present as the two returning veterans recall the beginning of their romance of forty years. "Same River, Different Water" goes deeper - it leaves the war behind and examines the challenges of living and working in a very different culture. The chapter "Don't They Hate Us?" includes the recounting of lunch at a student's home and discovering that her father had been a Viet Cong fighter. The book refutes the common feeling among Americans that the Vietnamese hate us and leaves the reader with a realization that today's Viet Nam is a robust and growing country. "Same River, Different Water" is a must for anyone who wants a complete view of Viet Nam.

There are good dogs. There are great dogs. But maybe once in your life, if you are lucky, you might encounter a dog that does not fit either of those descriptions. You can't quite put your finger on why this dog is different, you just know it is. There is something so special about this dog that you can feel it in the core of your being. If someone were to ask you whether he was a good dog, you might even be at a loss for words. The best you might come up with is "He's amazing." Not very original, but how do you describe such an animal. Then, one day, he saves your life. He is your hero. He is Amir. This book is dedicated to the memory of Amir. It is mostly about the lessons he was trying to teach me but I was too blind and/or stubborn to pay attention to them. If I had been paying attention I would have learned his secrets to a wonderful life much sooner.

Sunset Song regularly appears in lists of favourite Scottish books, and is perhaps the iconic Scottish novel of the first half of the 20th century. Rich in character and detail, and filled with religious, historical and political themes, Sunset Song is a deep, powerful work which rewards close attention and study. Douglas Young's Scotnote provides readers with an authoritative analysis of the novel, and an overview of the political and historical background to its creation. This is an ideal guide for school pupils and students studying Sunset Song.

Born in Tayport, Fife, on 5 June 1913, Douglas Young was one of the most charismatic and distinguished Scots of his day. Described by Nigel Tranter as a 'Poet, scholar, author, linguist, raconteur and fighter of causes', he was a genuine polymath, an intellectual giant, and his range of interests was exceptional. A brilliant Classical scholar, who studied and later taught Latin and Greek, he had a great facility for languages. Above all he was fluent in 'Lallans' or Lowland Scots, in the tradition of Burns, Scott and Stevenson. Young was one of the leading 'Scottish Renaissance' poets or 'neoLallans Makars', and his two notable volumes of his poetry were Auntran Blads: an outwale of verses (1943) and A Braird O Thristles (1947), included here. Among the mighty coterie of post-MacDiarmid makars, Douglas Young stands out as an individual voice. To their common mission of restoring the Scots tongue as a fully-developed poetic language, he brings his formidable erudition, his comprehensive knowledge of Scottish literature of all periods and his highly-polished prosodic technique. To a greater degree than almost any of his contemporaries, he succeeds in integrating words from the mediaeval period, from the era of Burns and from his own time and place into a consistent idiolect, which he employs for poetic statements that are often beautiful, often profound, and always thought-provoking. This new edition of his poetry will confirm his place as one of the central figures of the twentieth-century Scottish Renaissance. - J. Derrick McClure Even in the fifties when I was starting out through university politics, Douglas Young was a legend. For young minds, his two jail sentences for refusing conscription were a singular demonstration of moral courage and he paid the penalty of facing down the establishment by not being awarded the professorship his talents deserved. - Gordon Wilson, Former Chairman of the SNP and MP for Dundee East

Socialist cities have special qualities which endure in particular, subtle, and often under-theorized ways. This book engages with socialism on a global scale, as well as the variety of socialist urbanisms and post-socialist urbanisms, and the range of ways in which globalization intersects with changes in socialist and post-socialist cities. Offering a unique international comparative focus, the book’s fourteen case studies from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa are grouped under three main themes: housing experiences and life trajectories, planning and architecture, and governance and social order. Featuring contributors from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and research foci, Socialist and Post-Socialist Urbanisms brings together a collection of essays on cities that are often overlooked in mainstream urban studies.

By exploring the formative years of the New City of Toronto (between 1995 and 2005, the period just before, during, and after metropolitan amalgamation), Changing Toronto analyzes the political, social, and environmental challenges of living in, and governing, a major metropolitan city region that bills itself as a multicultural, world-class city.