National Best Books 2007 Award-Winner in Religion "Insightful, imaginative, and provocative! Val Webb's new book has freed the Divine from the religious. A striking achievement."-John Shelby Spong, author of Jesus for the Non-Religious In Like Catching Water in a Net, Val Webb is not out to prove the existence of a God or the Divine, but to set out intuitions or intimations of the Divine nature and attributes from the stories and literature of the world's religions. Casting her net more widely than Karen Armstrong in The History of God or Jack Miles in God: A Biography, Webb delves deeply into the poetry and sayings of Sufi, Buddhist, and Hindu mystics, the nature religion of the ancient Mesopotamians, their kin the Israelites, and the Aboriginal people of her own beloved Australia.

Val Webb describes in this book how humans have engaged the Divine across religions and centuries, through rituals, art, sacred places, language and song. Drawing on personal and observed experience of travel and meetings with strangers, Webb uses her anecdotes to supplement her analysis of centuries of theology, literature and travel writing. The sum effect is to remind us that we need as many stories as possible in order to engage the Sacred-beyond-description, even if only to remind us of the distance still to go and the limitless (and sometimes unsuccessful) journey. The result is an interwoven, vivid, and theologically reflective reading experience.

In the sixteen years since the last edition of Von Brant’s classic work was published, fishing and fisheries have undergone vast changes. Not only has there been great progress in the development of new tools, materials and techniques, but the industry has seen an increasing need to address controversial issues such as declining fish stocks, enormous quantities of bycatch and discard and the impact of towed fishing gear on the environment. Fully revised and updated to reflect such changes, the fourth edition of this widely read and popular book offers: A unique, comprehensive survey of the evolution of fishing methods throughout the world Approximately 750 illustrations showing the extensive range of methods, techniques and equipment used in fishing across the globe Fishing gear classified according to the FAO system Additional chapters: Fishing Effects on Fish Stocks and Environment and Fishery and Gear Research All researchers, fisheries scientists, fisheries students, administrators and libraries in universities and research establishments where fish and fisheries are studied and taught will find this book a valuable addition to their shelves. Commercial and sports fishermen will also find Fish Catching Methods of the World a fascinating and vital reference.