When Anaïs learns of the imminent expropriation of the small family vineyard due to the upcoming construction of an estate, she demands that her father refuse out of dignity. From here, a solitary struggle begins, obsessive and irrational in the eyes of both relatives and neighbours alike, but which Anaïs seems ready to take all the way. Written in sweeping, elegant prose, Maica Rafecas brings us the beauty of the vineyard and the terrible human cost that modern-day capitalism makes us pay. September and the Night is at once an elegy to the land and its people, and a warning against those who might to use it for purely financial gains. This book acts as a rebellion, a reminder of the important things in life, and a call to arms, all within a beautifully written, almost fable-like novel.

Since the 1990s, many reform measures have been initiated to improve the quality of basic education in China. The major ones include restructuring of the school system, reformation of the school curriculum and of evaluation methods for students' development, upgrading of teachers' professional qualifications, and expansion of private sector education. The rationale behind these reforms is that quality rather than quantity is the key concern; that students' all-round development is the priority; and that education must be regarded as a vehicle to facilitate the social and economic development of China. Although there have been remarkable achievements in the reform and development of basic education in China, there are still a few challenges that will determine its further development and over-all success in the near future. These include the difficulty of putting reform beliefs and ideas into practice; unclear roles and responsibilities of the governments and schools, a great difference in quality among schools; and an ever-increasing demand for quality education. This book provides leading edge research from around the globe on this topic.