Where the Sea Breaks Its Back: The Epic Story of Early Naturalist Georg Steller and the Russian Exploration of Alaska

The Poor Always Pay Back not only uncovers how a major financial institution was able to change its system in response to the needs of its borrowers, but also how Grameen redefined and continues to redefine the basic assumptions of credit worthiness. The immense success of Grameen Bank shows a hopeful trend in the alleviation of poverty.

Grameen Bank II is addressing the frontier issues in microfinance: open access savings, flexible loan products, self reliance and absence of donor dependency for funds, and product development to cater to the needs of the retirees (Grameen Pension Scheme) and their adult children (Higher Education Loans). The story behind these and other innovations show why Grameen has become such an inspiration to those working for social justice everywhere.

John Labriola was the only person who had a camera and took photographs inside the World Trade Center during the attack

On the morning of September 11th, 2001 John Labriola set off for a meeting on an upper floor of the World Trade Center. A passionate photographer, he brought his digital camera with him, and, he was early for his appointment, stopped to take some photographs of the traders selling fruit outside the twin towers, and a couple of photographs of the towers themselves. These were possibly the last photographs taken of the Twin Towers, before the terrorist attack: minutes later, while John was inside the building, the planes struck. Walking Forward Looking Back is a photographic chronicle of John's escape from the Twin Towers. The photographs and text create an astonishing record of what of what actually took place in the stairwell, and afterward on the street. More than that though, the book is a discourse on the lessons that John, and others learned from their experience in their buildings, lessons about bravery, consideration and human goodness in the face of evil. The book features the stories of other survivors, and how they have started to heal, but primarily it is a memoir of John's own experiences since - the police used his photographs to trace survivors and to identify victims; he received hundreds of letters from victims' family members thanking him for giving them a last glimpse of their loved ones; he suffered from depression for over a year, and lost his job as a result. Now though, his life is back on track: his wife is expecting their first child, and John is ready to tell his story, and share these incredible photographs with the world, looking back at the horrors of September 11th, but now able, as the title suggests, to walk forward.

Perhaps the best part of this book is the story of the war patrols of the Squalus (now re-named Sailfish) and Sculpin. Mr. LaVo does an excellent job telling about the numerous war cruises of each submarine. Both ran up an impressive list of enemy ships sunk or damaged. The testimonies of the crewmembers are skillfully blended into the author's narrative and they give the reader a sense of actually being on the submarine.

An ironic twist of fate will forever seal these submarines together in history. The Sculpin was sunk by a Japanese destroyer, who picked up the survivors from the submarine. They were taken to the Japanese naval base at Truk, where they were transferred to the aircraft carriers Chuyo and Unyo for transport to Japan. The Sailfish intercepted the Chuyo and sank her with torpedoes. All but one of the Sculpin survivors was killed. Twenty survivors were aboard the Unyo and made it safely to Japan, where they were interred, under horrible conditions, for the remainder of the war.

Written with great knowledge and a true sense of suspense, this book belongs on any World War II or submarine enthusiasts' bookshelf. I also recommend "The Terrible Hours" by Peter Maas for more reading about the Squalus.