HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!
A People's History of the United States:
1492-Present
by Howard Zinn
688 pages, Revised & Updated
This is a true classic and it has gone through many reprints. If you have not read it, you don't know American history, much of which remains obscured, well-hidden, and forgotten. Colonial era revolts by a combination of frontiersmen, slaves, Indians, and white servants - post-revolutionary struggles for democracy for the common people - much material about the genocide of Native Americans - the united stuggles of poor whites, slaves, and Indians - the formation of unions and their struggles against plutocracy and the state - and much much more make this book a rare and outstanding source for a real understanding of who we are, how it was and how it got to be the way it is, and of the realities of yesterday's and today's world.
A "brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited politically and economically and whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories." (Library Journal)
A terrific eye-opener about our real history. This fabulous book makes for wonderfully good reading and is, at the same time, a superbly well-researched scholarly work. Fascinating and unique.

The Story of Colors / La Historia de los Colores:
A Bilingual Folktale from the Jungles of Chiapas
by Sub-Comandante Marcos
for readers aged 9 to adult
A beautiful bilingual edition of a popular Mexican folktale about how colors came to be in the world. 20 full-color paintings.
A world in black and white and gray? The gods were understandably bored, so they went looking for other colors to brighten the world for the people. This wonderful folktale reveals some of the down-to-earth wisdom of the indigenous peoples of Chiapas. At the same time, it provides us with a fresh perspective on the struggles of the people there. They fight to conserve their culture and a vision of the world which they see as flowering with holiness and wholeness - a world that cannot be valued in dollars or defined by politics.

500 Nations:
An Illustrated History of North American Indians
by Alvin M. Josephy
500 Nations is a richly illustrated, absorbingly written history of North America's indigenous peoples. Drawing on creation stories, oral history, archaeological evidence, federal documents, and hundreds of published sources, Josephy takes us on an encyclopedic journey through Native America's past and present. Few scholars have Josephy's command of his broad and complex subject, and fewer still write as dexterously. The result: the best one-volume, general-interest study of Native American history now available

Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom
by Doug Henwood
With compelling clarity, Henwood dissects the world's greatest financial center, laying open the Intricacies of how, and for whom, the market works. The Wall Street which emerges is not a pretty sight. Hidden from public view, the markets are poorly regulated, badly managed, chronically myopic and often corrupt. And though, as Henwood reveals, their activity contributes almost nothing to the real economy where goods are made and jobs created, they nevertheless wield enormous power. With over a trillion dollars a day crossing the wires between the world's banks, Wall Street and its sister financial centers don't just influence government, effectively they are the government.

Kodokan Judo
by Jigoro Kano

The world's top-rated judo book! Jigoro Kano was the founder of judo. Kano includes in his masterpiece 57 throwing techniques, 7 hold down techniques, 11 strangling techniques, and 9 joint locks. Practice these moves with a partner at home and you will be a great fighter. Knowing these moves is the great equalizer against a stronger opponent.

The Politics of Heroin:
CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade
by Alfred W. McCoy
Folks, it is not a myth. The CIA has been up to its ears in illegal drug operations since its very earliest days. Professor McCoy's book is the definitive, profoundly well-researched and documented work on the subject. If you want to know about this subject, if you have your doubts about it, this is the book to get.

The Pill Book
by Harold M. Silverman
For more than 17 years, millions of consumers have trusted The Pill Book to provide official, FDA-approved drug information plus guidelines from leading pharmacists. Its readable, everyday language and easy-to-use format make it a good reference when you have questions about medical drugs. Now available in a new, revised edition, the bestselling Pill Book--with more than 6 million copies in print--offers the most comprehensive information on brand name and generic drugs in concise, easy-to-read entries.
You may think the print-out from the pharmacist tells you all you need to know. It usually does not. If you ever use pharmaceutical drugs, you need this book. Includes 32-page full-color insert.

Ritalin-Free Kids:
Safe and Effective Homeopathic Medicine for ADD and Other Behavioral and Learning Problems
by Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, Robert Ullman
The most common treatment for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in children are Ritalin and Dexedrine, both amphetamines with common side effects such as headaches, appetite loss, insomnia, depression, and growth retardation. This book offers a homeopathic approach to ADD that has fostered profoundly positive changes in children receiving proper homeopathic treatment.

Toxic Psychiatry
by Dr. Peter R. Breggin
Dr. Breggin launches a full-scale attack on the popular (and medical establishment) view that neuroses and psychoses are diseases with biochemical and genetic causes which are best treated by drugs--even by electroshock and incarceration. He advocates not pills but a kind of psychotherapy which, ideally, provides a "`caring, understanding relationship--made safe by professional ethics and restraint.'' Treating mental disorders as chemical imbalances to be corrected primarily by chemical intervention is, he claims, an outrageous hazard to health, damaging the brains and ruining any potentil for good lives in a high percentage of those subjected to it.

Read these other excellent works by Dr. Breggin:

Talking Back to Prozac
by Dr. Peter R. Breggin
To be a "blob" or not - to deal with one's life and one's world or not:
It's time to take a closer look at this supposedly "safe" drug that has swept and passified the US and much of the rest of the world while it is falling apart around our ears. Peter Breggin picks through the studies used to justify Prozac's safety, uncovering flaws, shoddy science, and high-level deceipt. He details the FDA approval process, including who on the panel was paid by whom. The key players and the details should not, but may, surprise you. The book tells the truth behind the testing of prozac and its potentially frightening side effects. Find out what Prozac's label doesn't say.

Talking Back to Ritalin
by Dr. Peter R. Breggin
Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall, Desoxyn, Gradumet, Cylert.... Have you ever wondered whether your child's behavior might be helped by these drugs? Has a teacher or doctor suggested this to you? If so, you need the facts -- facts that most doctors can't tell you because even doctors haven't been told the truth by the drug companies about the drugs that they prescribe. In this compassionate and compelling book. Dr. Breggin shows why our children need education, not medication. TALKING BACK TO RITALIN empowers parents to transform distracted, disenchanted and energetic children into powerful, confident and brilliant members of the family and society.

IMPORTANT: READ THIS BOOK!
NATO in the Balkans
by Ramsey Clark (former US Attorney General) et al.
So many lives snuffed out like a candle. . . . Why?
The Cold War is over. But in the Yugoslavia and the Balkans, the Pentagon has mounted its biggest military operation in Europe since World War II. Most people are wondering why. Why, after decades of living together in a federation, are the nationalities at war with each other? The foreign policy experts in Washington - and the corporate media - give explanations, but they boil down to the "good guys versus the bad guys" kind of propaganda that has always been used to justify hidden agendas. *How the breakup of Yugoslavia was achieved. *The role of outside forces. *Why the Daton Accords were never meant to bring peace. And much more. This is Must Reading if you would understand the forces shaping our world today.