In the wake of the USSR's breakup, the eighty-nine constituent subjects of the Russian Federation emerged as political players, grasping power for local policies from a weakened central authority and electing the legislators who have altered the complexion of the central government. Beyond the Monolith examines the impact of Russia's emerging regionalism on the political, economic, and social transformation of the largest of the successor states of the Soviet Union. The authors explore significant variations between and similarities among different provinces; the development of federalism in Russia; the effectiveness of local government; the power relationships between the center and the regions; the differential impact of privatization outside Moscow and St. Petersburg; and the role of environmental, public health, and labor market factors in regional economies. Contributors are Cynthia Buckley, Carol Clark, Robert V. Daniels, Mark. G. Field, Alexander A. Galkin, Nail Midkhatovich Moukhariamov, Demosthenes James Peterson, Greg Poelzer, Don K. Rowney, Darrell Slider, and John F. Young.

The purpose of this manual is to provide clear and helpful information for maintaining gravel roads. Very little technical help is available to small agencies that are responsible for managing these roads. Gravel road maintenance has traditionally been "more of an art than a science" and very few formal standards exist. This manual contains guidelines to help answer the questions that arise concerning gravel road maintenance such as: What is enough surface crown? What is too much? What causes corrugation? The information is as nontechnical as possible without sacrificing clear guidelines and instructions on how to do the job right.

National Book Award winner James McBride goes in search of the real James Brownand his surprising journey illuminates not only our understanding of the Godfather of Soul but the ways in which our cultural heritage has been shaped by Browns legacy.

Back on the Farm is a collection of 176 humorous stories Harold Sullivan wrote for his grandchildren about growing up on a farm in Comet, West Virginia, during the '30s and '40s. The moments that were the basis of the stories were frozen in time for the author, and his fond retelling--"When I was a boy, back on the farm"--recreates that life in the reader's mind too. His stories are of small triumphs, giant failures, and a few in between. They are funny tales of his relationship with his younger sister, whom as one story recounts, he convinced to let him shoot her with a homemade BB gun. This sister then pretended it didn't hurt so she would shoot him too! Many of the stories are about his hardworking mother, such as the time Harold and his sister made mud pies with eggs from the farm (a huge financial loss in the Depression) and Momma spanked them twice--once for the act and again when she found they had taken all the eggs. The hero of many of his stories was his father, a "big man" in many ways, whose battle with the "pushy cow" showed the personality of the man--and of the cow. Harold's stories are of a way of life that doesn't exist anymore in the tiny community of Comet, West Virginia, which doesn't exist anymore either. But for the people who lived there, or for anyone who has lived on a farm, the tales from Harold's memory bring back a simpler time worth revisiting. These stories, of a boy growing up among hardworking and close-knit family and community, are a love song to life, Back on the Farm.