Book Review - Courage After Fire

Change takes courage! This book carries that message by identifying areas in which change is common for service members and their families after a deployment. Chapters present case studies of common reactions to war and combat experiences and offer suggestions and exercises to help overcome the negative aspects of these reactions. Considerable discussion is given to changes that service members undergo when deployed as well as changes that may occur in family or work environments that they have left behind. The authors provide some explanation of why these changes may have occurred and provide guidance for reestablishing effective communication, avoiding conflicts, and establishing a new sense of normality and routine. This book is valuable to anyone who experiences long separations from loved ones or who frequently experiences change. The skills that this book offers are valuable to everyone who wants to better understand themselves and their own motivations as well as to communicate and form more effective partnerships with those around them.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Troops Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and Their Families
Keith Armstrong, Suzanne Best, and Paula Domenici
RC 550 .A74 2006

Book Review - The General

This classic novel by C.S. Forester depicts life as an officer within the British Army between the World Wars. Although this is a work of fiction, the cultural setting is undeniably based on the history and traditions of the British colonial military. Many literary and historical scholars also assert that the main character, Herbert Curzon, is a composite of Field Marshall John French and Field Marshall Douglas Haig. Because of its strong basis in fact, this novel has been required reading for military officers and students from the time of Hitler to the present. While Forester writes critically about the way the British carried out World War I, he frames the descisions as coming from the often insular social context and rigid hierarchy of the British colonial military system. He explains that personal loyalties most often were tied to a regiment rather that to the nation or the army as a whole and where an officers rank and social station were tied not only to his intellectual abilities, but also to his family's wealth and social standing. With the swelling of the ranks and devastating losses in World War I, this complicated structure was quickly replaced by soldiers motivated to defend their country, many of whom did not plan on military careers. This is a story not only about military cultures or the power of a strong individual, but also about social and cultural change and how it is often brought about by war.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

The General
C.S. Forester
PR 6011 .O56 G4 1982

Book Review - Environmental Deterioration of Materials

The amount of pollution that is constantly being added to the air, water, and ground not only affects the environment, but also has an impact on human-made materials and structures in our built world. At the same time, our society is increasingly recognizing the value of preserving what we have made. This book provides textbook-like explanations of the effects that pollution has on the most important and widely used building materials including brick, stone, concrete, wood, and a variety of metals. It discusses how these materials deteriorate and what effects their failure can have on the structures in which they are used. At the same time, the book offers preservation and protection techniques that can be used on buildings, bridges, industrial and agricultural structures, and other structures of lasting value or importance. This book will be of interest to engineers, particularly those who deal with materials and structures, but also to architects, preservationists, and environmentalists.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Environmental Deterioration of Materials
ed. by A. Moncmanova
TA 418.74 .E59 2007