It is a hard life up there in the mountains. For women it is all the more hard. Mountain ecosystems and their inhabitants have evoked much interest in the last two decades or so. Mountain people rank among the most deprived sections of society. Women here play a crucial role in natural resource management, agricultural production and well-being of the mountain families. Women here, than their counterparts elsewhere, are worse of in being undernourished, under-compensated for their labour, and under-represented in decisionmaking bodies, writes Subir Ghosh

Claude Arpi is a French scholar with a deep and abiding interest in spirituality, especially Tibetan Buddhism. In 1971, on a visit to Manali in the Himalayas, he met his first Tibetans, an event that was to change his life. As he tells us, "They had lost everything: their country, their wealth, very often many members of their family and still they could stand on the road and smile. ...How could someone educated in a Cartesian country with a modern utilitarian education understand this bizarre phenomenon?" This was the beginning of a nearly thirty-year quest to understand the Tibetans and their tragedy. He shares the result of that experience - along with its lessons - in the magnificent book reviewed here, feels NS Rajaram

Working with Nature" is an approach to resource management that differs philosophically from that based upon the assumption that nature must be conquered, controlled, and disciplined to suit perceived human needs. That philosophy was successful on the frontier, when immediate survival of humanity depended upon conquering nature. However, the ability of humanity to survive for the short term is no longer in doubt - the question is whether humanity can survive for the long term. The answer depends in part on whether we will continue to rely upon technology-intensive management that has yet to prove that it can be as effective as sustainability as it is at short-term profitmaking. Excerpts

For anyone living in or travelling to The Sunshine State, this guide is a must-have. Not only does it have information about the flora and fauna that live in Florida, but it also has information on the weather patterns year round, habitats, parks and preserves, and constellation charts, says Cynthia Arbuthnot

This is the story of the twentieth century, from 1901 to 1999, in stories and pictures. In 100 years, the world has come a long way in technology and medicine. However, although it has come far in civil rights in some places like the United States, there are still many changes to make in the years to come, says Cynthia Arbuthnot