This book examines the history of reforms and major state interventions affecting Russian agriculture: the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the Stolypin reforms, the NEP, the Collectivization, Khrushchev reforms, and finally farm enterprise privatization in the early 1990s. It shows a pattern emerging from a political imperative in imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet regimes, and it describes how these reforms were justified in the name of the national interest during severe crises rapid inflation, military defeat, mass strikes, rural unrest, and/or political turmoil. It looks at the consequences...

Carol Leonard had been a midwife for over 30 years when she experienced a little "blip" in her career and wandered off in a completely unexpected direction. This book is a screamingly funny account of one woman's postmenopausal experience of being in Beauty School. "Outrageous and whip-smart."

Maiden, Mother, or Crone-where does a woman in her forties fit in? Women who have turned to feminist spirituality for appreciation of women's ways of knowing have struggled with the confining concept of the Triple Goddess. Though no longer raising children, a woman may not yet be ready to be a "wise old woman." The Women's Wheel of Life offers a new archetype for this woman-the Matriarch. The Matriarch is the Queen of the Harvest-reaping the rewards of sustained work and effort, at the height of her sexual and professional power. Elegantly self-possessed, fueled by an intensity and direction,...