SirReadaLot.org

July 2004, Issue #63

Anthropology

Working Through the Contradictions: From Cultural Theory to Critical Practice by E. San Juan, Jr. (Bucknell University Press) addresses major issues of cultural theory, comparative politics, and international relations, gathering together classic and new essays by the internationally renowned U.S.-based Filipino artist, culture critic and thinker E. San Juan, Jr.

Committed to the ideal of a popular, egalitarian democracy, San Juan, director of the Philippines Cultural Studies Center in Connecticut, exposes the limits of the current vogue of transnationalism, cosmopolitan humanitarianism, and varieties of dissentious multiculturalism. Opposing the triumphalist discourse of U.S.-centered globalization, San Juan reaffirms the value and power of a historical materialist critique of the "new world order." Connecting the theoretical debates in American Studies to the recent U.S. intervention in the Philippines against the Abu Sayyaf guerillas, Spinoza's philosophy to current racism against Asian Americans, European surrealism to Caribbean history, San Juan's dialectical method illuminates the contradictions of thought and practice that open up opportunities for social transformation and spiritual renewal.

Working Through the Contradictions is an uncompromising critique of late capitalist society and its ideology of transnationalism, hybridity, and border-crossing pluralism. Post-September 11 white supremacist racism becomes the actuality that proves how moralizing neoliberal and borderless paradigms can no longer elude the inescapable contradictions at the heart of a market-based society. What is needed is to work through these contradictions until a space emerges for a new social order of justice and equality.

San Juan's three-decades-long experience of internationalism and solidarity with Third World struggles finds its most memorable figuration in the rich constellation of thinkers and movements of thought energizing this collection. His erudition is tempered by a reasoned engagement with current political struggles. In the process of inventorying oppositional and alternative movements, San Juan opens up hegemonic theories of cultural studies to interrogation by the critical practices of organizations and group formations fighting racism, corporate exploitation, and domination by a resurgent pax Americana.

Overall, Working Through the Contradictions aims to subvert the status quo of consumerist peace established through the repressive operations of the free market and elite democracy. Its intervention into the controversial fields of American Studies, the political theory of nationalism, the logic of ethnic and cultural studies, and the discourse of literary criticism and aesthetics, calls for the rebirth of an organic partisan intelligence that would counter the delusive force of the transnational market and its neoliberal consensus. While there is no guarantee of defeating the post September 11 "manifest destiny" of permanent war, this project of critique and advocacy of a counter-hegemonic agenda offers a testimony of how the quest for truth and knowledge unfolds contradictions that implicate theory with practice, thought with complex processes of change. San Juan's analysis of numerous fronts of ideological conflict today is itself an exemplary per­formance of rare intelligence, resourcefulness, and courage.

Architecture / Professional & Technical

Learning from Palladio by Branko Mitrović (W.W. Norton & Co.) is an exploration of the design procedures and methodology of Andrea Palladio, arguably the most influential Renaissance architect.

Even when Modernism dimmed interest in classical architecture, Palladio's opus never ceased to attract attention. Learning from Palladio sets Palladio in his context; discusses the theory of the orders, proportions, space composition, and facade design; and presents this material for practicing architects and students, so that the ideas can be applied in their architectural work today.

Andrea Palladio's works – the Basilica, Palaizo Chiericati, and Villa Roronda in Vicenza, Villa Cornaro in Piombino Dese, the Redentore Church in Venice, and numerous other buildings – have never ceased to attract the attention of architects, historians, and the general public. Arguably the most influential Renaissance architect, Palladio and his works have been examined in countless publications. In this unique book, Branko Mitrović rethinks traditionally held views of Palladio’s design theory. He explores Palladio’s approach to spatial composition, facade design, detailing, proportions and the use of the classical orders; discusses Platonist influences in Palladio’s design; and uncovers pertinent aspects of Palladio’s design procedures and methodology. Mitrović, associ­ate professor, currently teaching archi­tectural design and theory at Unitec Institute of  Technology in Auckland, New Zealand, provides a synthesis of earlier Palladian scholarship and emphasizes the importance of the history of design theory to their understanding of the architectural works of the past. Finally, he offers an insightful view of the application of Palladio’s Renaissance design principles in twenty-first-century architecture, inspiring, through Palladianism the architecture of the future.

Nearly 200 photographs and illustrations showcase a broad selection of Palladian structures and styles, supplemented by digital renderings, views and site plans.

Excerpt from the Afterword:

“The mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible,” Oscar Wilde once wrote. “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.”

Like so many of the Victorian aesthete's pronouncements, this opinion is worthy of serious consideration. Wilde's observation elegantly states the two underlying theses of this book: that visual and formal properties of architectural works are legitimate objects of study in architectural history and that if certain formal and visual design principles give aesthetically successful results, then we should use them in modern works. The importance of the distinction between visual and verbal, formal and conceptual, shape and its abstract properties, cannot be overemphasized when it comes to architecture. The intention of Learning from Palladio is not to argue the greater value of either, but merely to establish, from the example of Palladio's architecture, that architectural works have both. Sometimes, the formal decisions of an architect like Palladio may be affected by verbal properties ascribed to certain ele­ments, but the architectural creative process is necessar­ily marked by formal and visual decisions that are ultimately not reducible to verbal, conceptual thinking.

Learning from Palladio means learning not only how to design, but also how to learn to design. It means learning to rely predominantly on formal considera­tions. Trying to summarize what is known about Palladio's design procedures also means trying to describe his design principles for those architects who want to follow them. It is not easy to dismiss this idea by appealing to judgments about the appropriateness of architecture to its time. "Appropriateness to one's time" is relative to individuals, and therefore a particularly unsuitable basis for any judgment requiring consensus. Certainly, architects can refuse to learn the formal treatment of design problems from the past, and they can try to design on the basis of their private associations with modern times, naively believing in the unquestionable rightness of these associations. But architecture derived from such an approach cannot simply expect people to agree that it has made the world more beautiful. Such a claim can be made only by an architecture that is genuinely formally motivated, and the important job of the architectural historian is to provide material for such an undertaking.

Throughout, Mitrović’s comprehensive Learning from Palladio reveals what architectural historians, practicing architects, and students can learn from Palladio today. Mitrović’s background in mathematical theories, especially proportional theory, and his study of philosophy, as well as his lack of background in art history, contribute to his in-depth analysis and understanding of classical principles. His discussion of research on Palladio’s design theory published since World War II, contemporary formalism and the use of Palladio’s design principles in contemporary architecture and his prediction that Palladio’s classical architecture is the architecture of the future is daring in an academic book, and fascinating.

Arts & Photography / Theater

It Happened on Broadway: An Oral History of the Great White Way by Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer (The University of Wisconsin Press)
From the living memories of the people who created the magic of Broadway theater, It Happened on Broadway illustrates the history of Broadway, its triumphs and failures, its constant variety, and enduring glories.

What song did Leslie Uggams sing on Name That Tune that earned her a part in Mitch Miller's Hallelujah Baby? What great musical score did Moss Hart first hear in a kindergarten classroom? What positions did Neil Simon, Robert Redford, and Manny Azenberg play on Barefoot in the Park's softball team? The answers to such questions can be found within this narrative of a hundred voices that take the reader on an intimate backstage tour.

Here, in a book filled with the light of Broadway, are the living memories of the people who created it woven together by noted oral historians and professors at Dartmouth, Myrna and Harvey Frommer. It Happened on Broadway contains not only the stories of actors, directors, producers, composers, lyricists, and playwrights but also of critics, publicists, set designers, and stage managers. Together they recreate the musical and dramatic successes of the years before and after World War II, the triumph of the book musical, the emergence of the dance musical, and the era of spectacle musical. There are tales such as the one John Raitt recalls about the time he was handed a fifteen-foot piece of sheet music that turned out to be the soliloquy for Carousel and Carol Channing's account of her unplanned debut on a grammar school stage. There are evocations of the great comedians, singers, dancers, and dramatic actors who had that indefinable magic that made them stand out above the rest. There are stories from Gwen Verdon, Marge Champion, and Donna McKechnie remembering their late husbands, the choreographers Bob Fosse, Gower Champion, and Michael Bennett.

There's no people like show people to take you behind the scenes. The Frommers haven't written a history of Broadway. They've woven one from the recollections of an all-star cast of more than one hundred actors, directors, producers, designers, choreographers, publicists, authors, composers, and even critics. – The San Francisco Examiner

Sixty years of mesmerizing history, from all the hits to all the flops. – Liz  Smith  

An oral history of Broadway by the people who lived it, this volume encompasses the triumphs and glorious failures, fights and betrayals, dedication and drudgery. – Ingram

Marked by energy and passion, It Happened on Broadway tells the story of more than half a century of American theater at its best. With loving but unsparing portraits and great backstage details, the book is perfect for theater lovers.

Arts & Photography

How to Draw and Sell Digital Cartoons by Leo Hartas (Barron’s)

In recent years, the computer has become an all-important cartoonist's medium. Computers are revolutionizing every aspect of comic production, from organizing an artist’s first ideas, through drawing, coloring, and lettering, to final production and distribution. With the right technology and the best techniques, anyone can start creating great cartoons, and then get them out into the wider world.

How to Draw and Sell Digital Cartoons is a practical, hands-on guide showing readers how to create professional quality digital cartoons. Written by Leo Hartas, a highly regarded writer and illustrator of children’s books, as well as a cartoonist, the book opens with advice on setting up a digital studio and gives tips on how to work smart, work fast, and keep operating expenses low. Hartas follows with advice on transforming good graphic ideas into finished work, training the imagination, striving for originality, and developing the technique of self-criticism. Other details covered include planning and writing scripts, writing captions for single-frame cartoons, storyboarding, making preliminary sketches on the computer, and mastering line art, color, and 3D techniques. Finally, Hartas offers detailed advice on how to get one's digital art seen by potential buyers, how to get it published, how to set fees, and the importance of time management and meeting deadlines.

How to Draw and Sell Digital Cartoons will help readers discover how to:

• pencil, ink, and color on computer.

• create their own amazing characters, fantastic worlds, and gripping stories.

• use 3D programs to boost their work and save time.

In How to Draw and Sell Digital Cartoons, cartoon art meets the digital revolution. With approximately 400 illustrations, How to Draw and Sell Digital Cartoons is a textbook and reference volume for today's cartoonist.

Biographies & Memoirs / Disabled

Scattered Shadows: A Memoir of Blindness and Vision by John Howard Griffin (Orbis Books)

This never before published memoir, by the author of Black Like Me, with an introduction by the compiler, Robert Bonazzi, is an extraordinary chronicle of the triumph of the human spirit.

John Howard Griffin is remembered chiefly as the author of the classic account of his passing as a black man in the Deep South in the fall of 1959. That classic, recently reissued in new hardcover and audio editions, has sold over ten million copies and been translated into fourteen languages. Scattered Shadows tells a similarly remarkable story – the account of Griffin's ten years in the country of the blind.

His memoir begins in the South Pacific with the war injury that stole his vision along with his entire familiar reality. It moves to France, where his last months of fading vision include time in the French monastery of Solesme, immersed in the glory of Gregorian chant. His recollections of this time are unforgettably poignant: "The sight of a pin, a hair, a leaf, a glass of water – these filled my being with trembling excitement."

Gradually Griffin discovers that what had seemed a total, calamitous loss becomes instead a portal to a different world. His frustrations and sufferings lead him on a journey to find his true identity, his vocation, and the meaning of life. In the years that follow he becomes a Catholic, takes up ranching, becomes a successful novelist, marries, and has children. All this takes place before that extraordinary day when his eyesight miraculously began to return...

Scattered Shadows reminds you of what a book can be – if the writer is as powerful as the material. John Howard Griffin was not only a natural storyteller and profound thinker, but he possessed the rare gift of knowing how to make an ally of misfortune. It is a gift he passes on to the reader... You will reach for this book the way you reach for a flashlight in the dark. – Phyllis Theroux

John Howard Griffin's Scattered Shadows has come to light, and is well worth the long wait. It is a fascinating account of temporary blindness that deserves a wide readership. – Brother Patrick Hart

This collection pays moving homage to a remarkable individual, one who influenced a generation of young people in the days of protesting racial discrimination. Griffin's spiritual journey is an extraordinary account of suffering, loss and triumph. Scattered Shadows bears special meaning for those who have experienced loss and suffering. But it will speak to anyone who has ever pondered the value of love and faith, and wondered about what it means to be a human being.

Biographies & Memoirs / African-American / Musicians

Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf by Mark Hoffman, James Segrest (Pantheon Books)

In the first definitive biography of the legendary blues and rock 'n' roll icon, music scholars James Segrest and Mark Hoffman chronicle the story of the professional triumph and personal tragedy of one of the most revered blues performers of all time. They strip away all the myths to uncover startling information about his mysterious early years, surprising new details about his decades on top, and dozens of never-before-seen photos. Moanin' at Midnight is the product of more than ten years of research and more than 250 interviews with some of the world's most famous blues musicians, including B. B. King, John Lee Hooker, Taj Mahal, Ike Turner, Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams, Sam Lay, Eddie Shaw, and Honeyboy Edwards.

Born Chester Arthur Burnett in Mississippi in 1910, Howlin’ Wolf began his music career after laboring as a sharecropper on plantations under the tutelage of the Delta blues giants Charlie Patton and Sonny Boy Williamson, singing and playing in perilous juke joints and dives throughout the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s and 1940s. According to authors Hoffman and Segrest, both well-known writers on the blues scene, Wolf's unusual voice was a gift of nature.... He sang at work and play, often singing all day long while plowing, then singing on weekends wherever people would listen. After a few years in the U.S. Army during World War II, he moved to Chicago, and together with Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon, he helped to define electric blues and vied with rival Muddy Waters for the title of king of Chicago blues. He was present at the birth of rock 'n' roll in Memphis, where Sam Phillips – who also discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis – called Wolf his "greatest discovery." The 1960s and 1970s saw him recording and performing with Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and other rock musicians. Howlin' Wolf's amazing energy and passion for the blues kept him performing despite a series of physical ailments up until his death in January 1976. He ended his career performing and recording with the world's most famous rock stars.

There's never been a comprehensive biography of the Wolf until now. Segrest and Hoffman show how, in contrast to Muddy Waters who was controlled and sexy, Wolf was ferocious, angry and unpredictable, a large man with a powerful, raspy voice and a keen intelligence.

Segrest and Hoffman do a superb job of capturing the many facets of Wolf's long career ... This fluid, fascinating, and thoroughly researched biography is a long overdue tribute. – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Talk about best-kept secrets! There are no rumors in this book – not a one. It says everything there is to say about the Wolf. I've been looking for this one for a long, long time. – Taj Mahal

Things folks have done in the dark are going to come out in the light. Nobody else has ever dug up what these guys have found­ and it's right. – Hubert Sumlin

Moanin' at Midnight brings the Wolf to life as an American treasure – standing alongside Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker among the giants in the blues pantheon – the 6-foot-3 man with the lyrical growl who always seemed to be just a little larger than life itself. This is engrossing study, a must-have for blues lovers and a worthy acquisition for any pop music collection.

Biological Sciences / Fish

Fishes of Alabama by Herbert T. Boschung & Richard L. Mayden, illustrated by Joseph Tomelleri (Smithsonian Institution Press) is an enormous, superbly illustrated book revealing the astounding diversity of Alabama's fishes through detailed information from the authors and brilliant color plates by Joseph Tomelleri.
Herbert T. Boschung and Richard L. Mayden are two leading scientists of biodiversity. Boschung, co-editor of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fishes, Whales, and Dolphins and Mayden, author of over 100 papers on fishes, and editor of the landmark publication Systematics, Historical Ecology, and North American Freshwater Fishes, have dedicated years to documenting the evolutionary histories, diversity, diets, growth rates, reproduction, sizes, distribution, and status of Alabama's fishes, and they present this information in a user-friendly format. The identification keys to the species are beautifully illustrated with drawings that provide fast, accurate identification, useful to experts and the general public alike. An angler looking to determine the species of fish he just caught, a biology student interested in stream biodiversity, or a young naturalist exploring North America's hotspot for fish biodiversity, all with an interest in the world of fishes will find Fishes of Alabama ideal.

The aquatic ecosystems of the southeastern US, and especially those in Alabama have been identified by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, and other published sources as having the most diverse flora and fauna in North America. In fact, Alabama has 297 native species of freshwater fishes alone, two of which are extinct.

Because it is near impossible to comprehend in words the many subtle differences that distinguish a species, Boschung's and Mayden's descriptions are teamed with natural history artist Joseph Tomelleri's brilliant color plates that reveal each species' true life colors and details of feature. In addition to the 385 color figures on 112 plates, the book is illustrated with more than 350 distribution and range maps and 62 habitat photographs. Easy-to-use keys are provided for the identification of each species of freshwater fish known to occur in Alabama, many of which occur elsewhere in the United States.

Technical terms are unavoidable. To aid nonprofessionals and beginning students of ichthyology, Boschung and Mayden have included Chapter 4, Introduction to the Study of Fishes, and a Glossary of technical terms. Boschung and Mayden have also attempted to relate as much biology as available or practical, not only because it is interesting but because with they believe that the more readers understand how fishes make their living the more likely they will be to protect them.

There is little doubt that the authors and illustrator have produced a masterpiece of scientific description – the type of book to be expected from the Smithsonian. The care and integration of text and illustration as well as the layout, design and production value makes this volume a candidate for awards in book production as well as in ithichthyological content. Fishes of Alabama is an ideal reference for libraries and everyone interested in the diversity of our world. It is also a major event in publishing.
Biological Sciences / Fish / Social Sciences / Sociology

Cannabis: A History by Martin Booth (Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press) is an in-depth study of the most widely-used and controversial drug in the world today by Martin Booth, an internationally known, Booker-prize shortlisted novelist and writer and an expert on everything from Chinese organized crime to the African rhino.
To some it’s anathema, to others it provides relief from crippling pain; to others still, it is a “gateway drug,” a legal anomaly, a crime.

In this definitive history of Cannabis, Booth chronicles the evolution of one of the oldest and most versatile cash-crops in the world. As hemp it can be used to make rope, textiles, paper and even diesel fuel. Hashish is the potent, hallucinogenic manifestation that has been a popular drug throughout the Arabic world for centuries. And then, of course, there is the most prolific, least potent, western variety of cannabis – marijuana.

Booth crafts a tale of medical advance and religious enlightenment; of political subterfuge and law enforcement; of customs officers, cunning smugglers, street pushers, gang warfare, writers, artists, musicians, happy-go-lucky hippies and potheads. He also discusses some of marijuana's more prominent proponents, including The Beatles and the poet Allen Ginsberg, who saw cannabis as an intellectual stimulant rather than a recreational drug.

Booth also chronicles the fascinating and often mystifying process through which cannabis, a relatively harmless substance, became outlawed throughout the Western world, and the devastating effect such legislation has on the global economy. He explores the arguments both for and against the decriminalization of cannabis, showing how the case for decriminalization remains one of the twenty-first century's hottest topics. And he demonstrates the effects of cannabis legislation on the global economy.

Readable and comprehensive, loaded as fudge: the only hash book you'll ever need. – Kirkus Reviews

Amazingly informative and riveting ... quite intoxicating. – Financial Times Magazine (UK)

Fascinating... Booth does present what amounts to a clear-headed and sustained case for legalization. – The Sunday Times (U.K.)

Even-handed, adult, and good-humored... original and thought-provoking. - Sunday Telegraph (U.K.)

Cannabis is an objective, factual and complete study of the most widely used illicit drug in the world. Booth has used his links to drug law-enforcement agencies throughout the world in this impeccably researched social and cultural history of the most popular and controversial drug in the world. He writes this history with all the flare of his literary style; it is rich in detail, yet compelling and full of life. Cannabis is a must read for anyone who wants the full story about this contentious plant.

Business & Investing / Economics / Policy

Culture and Prosperity: The Truth About Markets – Why Some Nations Are Rich but Most Remain Poor by John Kay (HarperBusiness)

Guided by the belief that a combination of lightly regulated capitalism and liberal democracy – the American business model – is not just appropriate for America at the dawn of the twenty-first century, but a universal path to freedom and prosperity, the United States is a colossus seeking to remake the world in its own image.

In this new and illuminating analysis of the nature and evolution of the market economy, John Kay attacks the oversimplification contained in the American business model and favored by politicians and business people. He even questions whether it offers an accurate description of the success of the American economy itself.

In an absorbing argument that rewards close reading, Culture and Prosperity examines every assumption we have about economic life from a refreshingly new angle. Taking the reader from the shores of Lake Zurich to the streets of Mumbai, from the flower market of San Remo to the sales rooms at Christie's, John Kay reveals the connection between a nation's social, political, and cultural context and its economic performance.

Kay, one of Britain’s leading economists, argues that America's success has more to do with its institutions than with its system of free markets and aggressive materialism. And he warns against the dangers of redesigning other countries' economies according to the American way. Whether high or low taxes, minimal or extensive safety nets, there are many models for successful economies that achieve different goals based on different values. In fact, Kay explains, the diversity of choices that countries make is what causes globalization to succeed at raising living standards around the world. Markets work because, and only because, they are embedded in social, political and cultural institutions. With this understanding, Kay tackles the big questions of economics, including:

• How today's rich states became rich and why history matters in keeping them so.
• Why productivity is twenty times higher in Sweden than in India. And why productivity is higher in France than in America despite far longer vacations and far shorter work days.
• Why unrestrained greed and opportunism lead to poor countries, not rich ones.
• Why higher productivity doesn't necessarily lead to higher living standards.
• Why American consumption is 40% higher than the next highest country.
• Why the industrial revolution happened in Britain, but not in China.
• And why capitalism works wonderfully in America but not yet in Russia.

Culture and Prosperity dispels ideological misunderstandings of markets and replaces them with what we should know – a true account of the complex, elegant, subtle institutions of the successful market economy of the United States.

John Kay's book explains some of the major economic topics of our time – indeed of all time – including the all-important question of the appropriate role of the state. Readers of this illuminating book will better understand what has gone wrong with the market economy and what should be done  about it. – Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize for Economics

[Kay] gives answers to those puzzling questions that nag the nonspecialist. Why are some countries rich and others poor? Why do people doing the same job in Mexico and the U.S., a few miles apart, get completely different wages? – The Independent

Kay will surprise and challenge American readers by helping them see their own economic lives in context with the rest of the world. A witty and accessible tour de force that is immersed in the latest economic thinking, Culture and Prosperity is an indispensable guide destined to become a classic text for understanding the politics of globalization.

Children’s / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror

Sweet Miss Honeywell's Revenge: A Ghost Story by Kathryn Reiss (Harcourt, Inc.) is a time-travel ghost story for young people grades 4-7.

Zibby Thorne knows there's something wrong with the shabby dollhouse she bought for her twelfth birthday. She hears strange rustling and ringing noises when there's no one else in the room, and one of the dolls never seems to be in the same place she left it. Most frightening of all, whatever make-believe Zibby plays with the dolls comes true – but in a warped, twisted kind of way.
So when her family and friends start having bizarre accidents, Zibby is certain the dollhouse is somehow responsible. Terrified, she tracks down the original owner, and she learns something even more shocking: The dollhouse is haunted – and one of the ghosts who lives in it is a cruel former governess named Miss Honeywell who died eighty years ago.

Now, in Sweet Miss Honeywell's Revenge, it's up to Zibby and her four friends to find a way to stop the troubled ghosts, especially the cruel Miss Honeywell. Because if they don't, one of them may have to pay for the mistakes of the past and the present ... with her life.

Reiss' eerie time travel mystery will snag readers on the first page and hold them until the last. – Booklist

This tightly plotted novel moves swiftly through three distinctive time periods as it deftly presents a large cast of memorable characters. – The Horn Book Guide

A palette with daubs of time travel, artists, magic, evil, and possession paints an intriguing mystery. – Kirkus Reviews

Sweet Miss Honeywell's Revenge, written by Kathryn Reiss, best know for her time travel mysteries, is a novel that will please mystery fans as well as readers who like ghost stories. It scores high on the key elements of mystery, keeping tension high and offering several ingenious twists.

Arts & Photography / Art History

Painting for the Market: Commercialization of Art in Antwerp's Golden Age by F. Vermeylen (Brepols Publishers) examines the process of commercialization of art which took place in Antwerp during the long sixteenth century, an era of rapid expansion of both the city's economy and its art market.

Antwerp-carved altarpieces, paintings, tapestries, books and other luxury items were exported to an area stretching from the Baltic region to the Mediterranean Basin during this time period. The key development that explains the success of Antwerp as an export center for the arts, author Filip Vermeylen argues, lies not only in the strength of the Antwerp economy and the artistic tradition of the Southern Netherlands, but specifically in the shift from ordering artwork on commission to production for the open market. In other words, Antwerp artists were much more inclined to produce art on spec and, consequently, art was commercialized and became the subject of intense trading.

Focusing on painting and, to some degree, on other art forms such as sculpture and tapestry, Painting for the Market surveys the various factors that contributed to this phenomenon: proto-industrial workshops engaged in standardized production of popular images, and the sophisticated commercial infrastructure that the city could boast allowed art to be sold wholesale to an international clientele at the panden (specialized sales halls). However, the flourishing of the art market was ultimately a direct result of the increased demand for luxury goods, both foreign and domestic, and Antwerp was essentially the locale where supply and demand for art converged.

According to Vermelen, Postdoctoral Fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders, at the University of Antwerp, the booming art market led to increased commodization of works of art; art dealers entered on the scene and further professionalized the art trade during the second half of the sixteenth century. In painting, commercialization led to a diversification of the genres, a form of product innovation that generated new demand. Clearly, Antwerp's pivotal position in the European trade network and its pioneering role in introducing capitalist commercial techniques had transformed the way art was marketed and produced. The outbreak of the Dutch Revolt during the last third of the sixteenth century severely disrupted the economy of the Southern Netherlands, and as a result, the Antwerp art market collapsed in the mid-1580s. However, in the difficult closing years of the sixteenth century, a transformation process began to take shape for yet a new era of cultural eminence for the city of Antwerp.

Painting for the Market is based on Vermeylen’s dissertation, defended at Columbia University, and contains an extensive bibliography. In the first part of the book, Vermeylen surveys the emergence of Antwerp as one of the most important art markets in Europe during the long sixteenth century. The vicissitudes of the art market can be broken down into three distinct phases. In an initial period of expansion, from 1490 to 1540, Antwerp established itself as a major center for the production and distribution of paintings (Chapter 1). The number of artists present in the city increased dramatically, largely due to substantial im­migration. The second phase started with the establishment of a new and modern art gallery in the new bourse in 1540, which marked the consolidation of Antwerp as a permanent international market for painting where interested buyers and sellers could meet year-round. The beginning of the end of this era of growth came with the outburst of iconoclasm in 1566, an event which ignited the Dutch Revolt. The following twenty years marked a period of stagnation and decline which ultimately led to the collapse of the art market in 1585 (Chapter 2). There is very little evidence of activity pertaining to the art trade during the first decade following 1585, and it appears that conditions did not improve substantially until the years leading up to the signing of the Twelve-Year Truce in 1609 (Chapter 3).

Painting for the Market follows the subsequent stages of growth and decline of the Antwerp economy during the sixteenth century as they have been outlined by the economic historian Herman Van der Wee. This approach allows for an exami­nation of the relationship between the vicissitudes of the overall economic conditions and the state of the art market. In doing so, the book addresses the question of how closely the art market followed the cycle of the economy as a whole.

The second, interpretative part of the book is devoted to an analysis of the supply and demand factors on the Antwerp art market. In Chapter 4, the various inputs that make up the supply-side are evaluated, devoting considerable attention to the artists workshop and the regulatory environment as it was determined by the Guild of Saint Luke. Next, Vermeylen discusses the importance of the demand factor for the expansion of the Antwerp art market – both domestically and internationally – and examine the role of religious and civic institutions as well as private patronage (Chapter 5). How artistic production and marketing of art in Antwerp was shaped and impacted by the forces of supply and demand, forms the subject of Chapter 6.

Besides investigating the correlation with the general economic trend, Painting for the Market focuses on the mechanisms of distribution of works of art. In other words, who was selling art in Antwerp, when and where? The traditional practice to obtain a work of art was undoubtedly through the various kinds of patronage, which is  discussed in Chapter 5. However, given the prominence of free-market sales in the city, the book concentrates on those channels which catered to the selling of on spec-produced paintings, carved altarpieces, retables, tapestries, musical instruments and other luxury goods. First of all, an artist could market the fruits of his labor directly from his studio or shop. Secondly, an artist could offer up his wares at auctions or lotteries. Thirdly, during the second half of the sixteenth century, painters would increasingly rely on the services of an art dealer. Art dealers have been seen primarily as a phenomenon of the seventeenth century, but research in the archives has revealed a wealth of data pertaining to the crucial role these individuals already played in the professionalization of the art trade in Antwerp during the previous century. The emergence and activities of these important intermediaries between artist and buyer is studied in Chapter 7.

Last but certainly not least, Antwerp painters, sculptors and the like could exhibit their artwork at one of the many panden or sales rooms in the city designed to market a specific category of luxury goods. And these appear to be the last channel that was most cost-effective and time-saving, if success is any judge. In sum, the artistic community of Antwerp could rely on multiple channels to market their valuable wares, which denotes a highly-sophisticated art market.

Painting for the Market, thoroughly research, will be of interest to art historians. It remains to be seen whether artists will find it supportive of their depression around having to paint to suit the market or just more depressing.

Cooking, Food & Wine

Noteworthy: A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival by Ravinia Festival Women's Board (Chicago Review Press)

In celebration of the Ravinia Festival's centen­nial season, this bestselling & award-winning collection of over 600 recipes, culled from nearly 2,000 submissions by enthusiastic Ravinia picnickers and music lovers are the result of three years of collecting, testing, tasting, collating, and indexing. These elegant yet easy-to-prepare appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, breads, and desserts were twice-tested by Ravinia-area families, who ensured the criteria of excellence was met. The book is now available again for today's busy cooks. Noteworthy was orchestrated by the Ravinia Festival Women's Board as a way to raise money for music scholarships and the venerated music festival.

The wide-ranging recipes stand the test of time and include picnic fare, family dinners, and special occasion dishes. Simpler dishes include homey pumpkin bread and simple pickled beets. More adventurous cooks may want to try

• Chevre and Leek Tarts
• Summer Symphony Soup
• Osso Bucco Milanese
• Chicken Wellington with Champagne Sauce
• Vegetarian Lasagna
• Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
• Zesty Lemon Tea Bread
• Chocolate Torte with Raspberry Glaze

Music lovers might want to try guest conductor Claudio Abbado's Crab Caponata and Ravinia music director James Levine's Classic Chicken Salad, or Variations on a Brownie and Summer Symphony Soup.

A superb collection of recipes ... Chicago's Ravinia Festival has inspired a work of culinary art. – McCall's

The wide range of recipes represented will please everyone. – Good Housekeeping

Noteworthy recipes score; a good mix of trendy dishes, basics, and updated classics for all levels of cooks. – Chicago Tribune

The wide variety of savory dishes, the clear and concise presentation of recipes, and the quick gourmet selections for those who are short on time have made Noteworthy a favorite for 15 years. Featuring full-color photos of 46 enticing dishes, Noteworthy is a treasure for food and music lovers alike.

Cooking, Food & Wine

Cooking In The Lowcountry From The Old Post Office Restaurant by Jane Stern & Michael Stern, with recipes by Philip Bardin (Roadfood Cookbook Series: Rutledge Hill Press)

No one drives too fast and nothing is rushed on Edisto Island. It's a "beachy, semitropical version of Mayberry," says Melinda Hester of the Chamber of Commerce. There are no traffic lights, no motels, and no fast-food franchises. What Edisto Island does have are beaches, tranquility, and loggerhead turtles that nest there from May through autumn. "We're off the beaten path and we like it that way," says Char­lie White, proprietor of the Edisto Beach Cafe.

Edisto Island also has The Old Post Office Restaurant, which serves brilliant meals cooked in the Lowcountry style in a building that really was Edisto's old post office and later a general store and gas station. The exquisite menu at The Old Post Office Restaurant has garnered this one-of-a-kind establishment legions of fans from around the country. Chef Philip Bardin and David Gressette opened the restau­rant in 1988, and it has been receiving acclaim ever since from publications such as the New York Times, Travel and Leisure, USA Today, Wine Spectator, and Gourmet magazine. Chef Bardin says, "Breads and desserts are prepared daily and all of the produce and seafood are local and the freshest available in the area. Our stone-ground grits – milled to our specifications – have been a specialty since 1988."

Like a visit to this historic Southern island (less than an hour from Charleston), Cooking In The Lowcountry From The Old Post Office Restaurant contains more than 150 favorite recipes for Southern dishes with a classical twist, such as Fussed Over Pork Chop, P.B.'s Ultimate Filet Mignon, Coca Cola Cake, and Key Lime Mousse. It includes an 8-page color insert.

I cannot imagine being on Edisto Island and not eating at the Old Post Office at least once. When I am not on Edisto, I dream of Chef Philip Bardin's shrimp and grits. It's simply the best I've ever tasted. – Legendary Broadway actress Patti LuPone

Philip Bardin has turned making grits into an art. – The New York Times

Chef Philip Bardin continues to be one of South Carolina's most beloved chefs. His generous plates of honest and wholesome food are rooted in the southern classics. – John Martin Taylor, culinary historian and author of Hoppin'john's Lowcountry Cooking

Cooking In The Lowcountry From The Old Post Office Restaurant captures the essence of Lowcountry cooking from historic and sultry Edisto Island, South Carolina. And whipping up a recipe from the book will enable readers to pay a leisurely, relaxing visit to a unique restaurant in a carefree part of the world and enjoy some of the best cooking in the Lowcountry.

This exciting new cookbook is part of the Roadfood Cookbook Series by Jane and Michael Stern, two of the most popular and successful food writers in America. Previous Roadfood cookbooks include: Blue Willow Inn Cookbook, El Charo Cookbook, Durgin-Park Cookbook, Harry Carey’s Cookbook, Louie's Backyard Cookbook, Cookbook, and The Famous Dutch Kitchen Restaurant Cookbook.

Education

Learning and Instruction: Theory into Practice, 5th edition, by Margaret E. Gredler (Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall)
Against the tapestry of changing educational and social events, theories of learning continue to address the complexities of human learning and cognitive development. Rapid popularity of a theory, typically followed by misinterpretations, is sometimes followed by corrected perceptions and, as the theory matures, a legacy of one or more major concepts that enter the mainstream of educational thought. New in this edition of Learning and Instruction are discussions of the current research on the human brain and the cognitive models and theories of academic motivation, an expanded review of the philosophy known as constructivism and further clarification of the key concepts in Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory. Author Margaret E. Gredler, University of South Carolina, has clarified these concepts, particularly the role of the teacher and subject-matter learning in cognitive development. Also included are current applications of classical conditioning and Gestalt psychology, new developments in contemporary theories, and similarities and differences between each theory and other perspectives.

Following a consistent chapter format, Learning and Instruction provides a logical scaffold for comparing and contrasting theories, and includes a set of instructional planning steps and a model lesson for each theory. It offers clearly designed tables and figures to reinforce material with visual representations of the book's more complex and abstract concepts. Two new chapters appear in this edition: one introduces information processing theory; another explores meta-cognition and problem-solving. Readers will also find updated material and references throughout, particularly in the discussions of constructivism Paiget, self-efficacy, and Weiner's theory.

With an increased emphasis on cognition and constuctivism, Learning and Instruction is a well-organized text offering superior coverage of contemporary learning theories and their application to educational practice. Popular among students, it translates basic assumptions and principles of seven contemporary learning theories into easily understandable guidelines for classroom instruction, and discusses issues related to each theory, including readiness, motivation, problem-solving, and the social context for learning.

Education

The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test: Standards, Assessment, and Educational Reform edited by William A. Firestone, Roberta Y. Schorr, & Lora Frances Monfils (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers)

Testing is one of the most controversial of all state and federal educational policies, and the effects of testing are ambiguous. The same test may lead to different consequences in different circumstances, and teachers may use very different strategies to prepare students for tests. Although most experts agree that mandatory testing leads to teaching to the test, they disagree about whether it leads to meaningless drill, wasted time, deprofessionalizing teachers, and demotivating students, or to more challenging and thoughtful curricula, more engaging teaching, increased student motivation, and increased accountability.

To help sort through this ambiguity and provide a firmer basis for decisions, The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test offers a hard look at the effects of state testing. It  thoroughly examines the ambiguity of test preparation and how test preparation practices are influenced by what teachers know and the leadership coming from the school and district. Drawing on data from a three-year study of New Jersey's testing policy in elementary mathematics and science, it helps to explain the variety of ways that teachers modify their teaching in response to state tests, raises important questions, and offers guidance on how state policymakers and local and district school administrators can implement policies that will improve educational equity and performance for all students. It also offers an in-depth analysis of classroom practices that should inform teachers and teacher educators whose goal is to meaningfully implement conceptually based teaching practices.

This comprehensive look at the statewide variation in testing practice features:

• a data-based, non-ideological treatment of how testing affects teachers, in a field characterized by ideologically driven beliefs and by anecdotes.
• an extensive and well-integrated combination of qualitative and quantitative data sources that provide a statewide overview as well as an in-depth analysis of teachers and classrooms.
• a careful analysis of the variety of forms of teaching to the test.
• a multilevel exploration of how a variety of personal and leadership factors can influence teaching to the test.

The first chapter sets the stage by describing the debates surrounding state testing policies: how they should be designed, what they should strive to accomplish, and what local factors affect how teachers respond to state tests. It also describes the policy context in New Jersey.

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the conceptually based perspective that supports recent "inquiry-oriented" approaches that challenge conventional practice and require students to become more active learners. The chapter then explores the current state of mathematics and science instruction by New Jersey's fourth-grade teachers. It relies primarily on interview data and observational data. The interview data show that teachers really believe that they are changing the instructional strategies they use to be more consistent with current inquiry-oriented approaches to teaching and learning. Direct observation suggests that although many teachers "talk the talk" of reform, their actual practices remain more traditional. Moreover, the teacher surveys show only very modest changes in the amount of time given to various mathematics and science content areas. There is some reduction in the very large amounts of time spent on drill of mathematics facts, but no commensu­rate increase in some of the newer areas of mathematics.

Chapter 3 uses survey, interview, and observation data to illustrate the fundamental ambiguity of test preparation. New Jersey teachers actually engage in two forms of test preparation. Decontextualized test preparation is what most people criticize when they talk about teaching to the test. It con­sists of special "cramming" shortly before the test is given and intensification of conventional, didactic practice. However, some teachers also engage in "embedded" test preparation – that is, changes in teaching throughout the year to reflect the state standards and the content of the test. Teaching to the test is distributed inequitably with districts serving poor students spending more time on specific test preparation activities as compared with those districts serving wealthier students. Ironically, teachers accommodate to the state test more from what they have learned about test items than test results.

Chapter 4 explores teachers' perceptions of the pressure and support that they experience. Pressure comes most directly through signals from administrators that raising test scores is very important. Chapter 5 explores the special role of the principal in supporting instructional change. Principals' contribution to instructional improvement is different from that of the district office. Whereas the latter provide most of the formal learning opportunities for teachers, the former can support teachers' efforts in important, but less formal, ways. In fact, principal support for standards and assessments contributes to both short- and long-term teaching to the test and more inquiry-oriented instruction.

Chapter 6 describes seven districts' contribution to improved instruction using interviews with district personnel and teachers along with district records. This chapter suggests that districts that are quite similar in terms of tax base and student characteristics take very different approaches to state tests. Whatever the nature of the student body and financial resources, the district's approach to instruction is shaped substantially by local understandings of the purpose of the state standards and tests.

Chapter 7 explores equity issues by examining changes in New Jersey's fourth-grade test scores over time. These analyses show that student demographic factors – for example, the number of children on free lunch – are much more powerful than any school characteristics measured. Moreover, although test scores have increased slightly over time, scores for African American stu­dents have not, suggesting that the complete set of interventions in New Jersey – standards, assessments, whole-school reform programs, changed financing, and so forth – have had little impact on the underlying complex of factors that maintain inequities in the American educational system.

The conclusion suggests that New Jersey's approach to state testing leads to only modest change. Still, the key to improved teaching is the offering of greater opportunities for teacher learning rather than increased pressure on teachers (or administrators). Educators must deepen their understanding of the content they are expected to teach, how children learn that content, and the associated effective pedagogical practices that lead to increased understanding of the content taught and how to teach it before students can actually learn more mathematics and science.

[This] is a strong volume ...addressing the education system's response to testing and accountability. Based on solid, important studies ... the analyses are remarkably balanced and grounded in evidence. – Robert E. Floden, Michigan State University

The Ambiguity of Teaching to the Test is an important and comprehensive book for researchers, professionals and students in educational testing, educational policy, educational administration. mathematics and science education, educational reform, and the politics and sociology of education. It will also prove useful for state policy makers, school and district leaders, and teacher educators and curriculum specialists who are making decisions about how to design and respond to stress testing systems.

Entertainment / Film / Literature

Sexual Visuality from Literature to Film, 1850-1950 by Dennis Denisoff (Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture Series: Palgrave Macmillan)

With the body, what you see is not exactly what you get.

For centuries, vision has been held as the purest, most direct encounter between the individual and the outside world. By manipulating common notions of the visual, Gothic and other texts challenged sex­ and gender-based assumptions that marginalized certain types of people. Recent visuality theory, however, has demonstrated that the process of seeing is always influenced by other senses, cultural elements, memory and history. Meanwhile, scholarship on gender and sexuality has developed a conception of the body itself as a 'text' written by more than one person and read in more than one way.

Sexual Visuality from Literature to Film, 1850-1950, by Dennis Denisoff, a member of the Graduate School in Communications and Culture of  Ryerson University and York University, Toronto, is a study of the role of Gothic and sensationalist texts in the construction of sexual visuality. It begins by considering some of the issues that would have been on the minds of the producers themselves. The first two chapters therefore consider the relation of visuality to economics and the gender of the artist – first as a distinction between women and men, and then as one within the masculine gender. Addressing Geraldine Jewsbury's The Half Sisters (1848), Dinah Mulock Craik's Olive (1850), and Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret (1862), the first chapter introduces the familiar view that men were better suited than women to artistic professions. It analyses the way in which this position led society to envision a woman who attempted to infiltrate the hegemony as a sexually deviant, masculine threat. As the chapter demonstrates, however, Jewsbury, Craik, and Braddon all tried to harmonize this image of women with that of artists through extended considerations of a woman-centered economy of art and attraction. In the following chapter, Dennisoff considers Wilkie Collins's por­trayal of ideal artists in Hide and Seek (1854), The Woman in White (1869), and The Law and the Lady (1873). Putting the conservative image of the hard-working, bourgeois, male painter on a pedestal seemed not to be enough for the author, who also worked to lower the image of other manly identities.

Having addressed novelists' sexualized visualizations of the artist, Dennisoff turns in the central two chapters to an exploration of explicit depictions of deviance and portraits. While such images seem an obvious starting point for the project, he has found that their focus on the genre itself also offered the best opportunities for articulating some of the more nuanced elements of my argument. In Chapter 3, he addresses The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890, 1891), the most famous example of portraiture in literary visualizations of sexuality. Turning to Queensberry's poem The Spirit of the Matterhorn and the 1891 edition of Oscar Wilde's novel, the codes of portrait painting presented in the men's photographs are used to shed light on the importance of visuality to the formation of decadent identities based on the interaction of sexuality, culture, and commerce.

The fourth chapter returns to the issue of a woman-centered economy with which Sexual Visuality from Literature to Film, 1850-1950 opens, but the emphasis shifts toward the economy of desire. Dennishoff’s claim is that Vernon Lee's ghost story Oke of Okehurst (1892) and Virginia Woolf's equally supernatural novel Orlando: A Biography (1928) both imbue visual art with a feminist aesthetics that allowed them to take perceptual conventions that hindered self-expression and reconfigure them into tools of contestation for women who wished to articulate their unsanctioned emotional needs and desires. The one question that loomed larger and larger over this project as it progressed was what would happen to Victorian sexual visuality once film overtook the novel as the dominant genre of popular culture. As the final two chapters suggest, the sexual visuality articulated through the novel changed but nevertheless maintained its potency into the twentieth century, with the mass visuality stimulated by the main­streaming of cinema remaining heavily invested in the rhetoric and strategies found in Gothic and sensation fiction. Dennishoff’s penultimate chapter analyzes a notion of masculinity related to but in large degree independent of sex and sexuality as it operates in Daphne du Maurier's novel Rebecca and Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel. His principal argument is that the visual culture that developed during the nineteenth century supports both a model of manliness defined by self-restraint and conservatism and another defined by boyish adven­turousness. By disengaging the personae from a specific sex, Dennishoff reveals that the haunting found in so much portrait literature has been conceived as fantastic only because the spectral personae have been forced to cohere onto sex-based identities. As his consideration of gender ambiguity in du Maurier's Rebecca demonstrates, nineteenth­century visuality haunts twentieth-century literature and film as an inescapable inheritance.

The final chapter turns to film in order to consider more directly the way in which the ekphrastic (the literary representation of visual art) strategies Dennishoff have found in fiction play out in celluloid. Through three portrait-films within the genre of film noir – Otto Preminger's Laura and Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street and Blue Gardenia – the chapter notes the parallels between portraiture and Hollywood's roles as definers of both ideals and the possibilities of transgression. The films reveal that society recognized that portraiture offered an emotional space that sanctioned not just the visualization, but the vivification of the unsightly. It motivated readers – like the willing subjects of a portrait painter – to acquiesce to the destabilization of sexuality, economic privilege, and subjective identity. As the films make clear, nineteenth-century struggles over cultural authority resulted in the formation of a portraiture-based visuality that has circumscribed Western society's conception of sexuality and gender well into the twentieth century.

Sexual Visuality from Literature to Film, 1850-1950 explores the ways in which Gothic, sensation and noir literature and cinema manipulated common notions of the visual in order to foreground our unsightly desires. Addressing authors and directors such as Mary Braddon, Wilkie Collins, Oscar Wilde, Vernon Lee, Virginia Woolf, Daphne du Maurier, Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger and Fritz Lang, this study shows that what a society gets is often what it tries hardest not to see. Sexual Visuality from Literature to Film, 1850-1950 is a must-read for scholars and students of visuality, gender and sexuality.

The book is part of a series; Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture is a new monograph series that aims to represent the most innovative research on literary works that were produced in the English-speaking world from the time of the Napoleonic Wars to the fin de siecle.

Entertainment / Popular Culture

From Walt to Woodstock: How Disney Created the Counterculture by Douglas Brode (University of Texas Press)

With his thumbprint on the most ubiquitous films of childhood, Walt Disney is widely considered the most conventional of all major American moviemakers. The adjective "Disneyfied" has become shorthand for a creative work that has abandoned any controversial or substantial content to find commercial success.

But does Disney deserve that reputation? In From Walt to Woodstock, Douglas Brode overturns the idea of Disney as a middlebrow filmmaker by detailing how Disney movies played a key role in transforming children of the Eisenhower era into the radical youth of the Age of Aquarius. Using close readings of Disney projects, Brode, playwright, screenwriter, and journalist who teaches cinema studies at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, shows that Disney's films were frequently ahead of their time thematically. Long before the cultural tumult of the sixties, Disney films preached pacifism, introduced a generation to the notion of feminism, offered the screen's first drug-trip imagery, encouraged young people to become runaways, insisted on the need for integration, advanced the notion of a sexual revolution, created the concept of multiculturalism, called for a return to nature, nourished the cult of the righteous outlaw, justified violent radicalism in defense of individual rights, argued in favor of communal living, and encouraged antiauthoritarian attitudes. Brode argues that Disney, more than any other influence in popular culture, should be considered the primary creator of the sixties counterculture – a reality that couldn't be further from his "conventional" reputation.

Excerpt: The screens’s first confrontation between a youthful 1960s rebel and an admonishing conservative adult takes place in Pollyanna (1960)... In the film, elderly Mr. Pendergast (Adolphe Menjou) comments on the long, straggly locks on Jimmy Bean (Kevin Corcoran):

Penndergast: Your hair’s too long! Why don’t you get it cut?

Jimmy Bean: ‘Cause I like it long!

Brode's thesis is both revolutionary and totally without precedent. He steals from no one. Significance? No other moviemaker or mogul – Louis B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg, Orson Welles, etc. – has had such a deep and lasting impact on American popular culture as has Disney. – James MacKillop, author of Contemporary Irish Cinema: From The Quiet Man to Dancing at Lughnasa

This one came out of left field. From Walt to Woodstock is a well-documented, utterly believable, absorbing read for all children of the 60s – it certainly rings true to what this reviewer can remember from her childhood and extended adolescence.

Entertainment / Biographies & Memoirs

Cecil B. Demille's Hollywood by Robert S. Birchard (The University Press of Kentucky)
Cecil B. DeMille was one of the giants of twentieth-century Hollywood. His box-office record was unsurpassed, and his swaggering style established the public image for movie directors. His career was studded with big-budget epics that expressed a Victorian sensibility committed to uplift as much as entertainment.

Best remembered today for screen spectacles such as The Ten Commandments, Samson and Delilah, and The Greatest Show on Earth, DeMille was often criticized for his success and accused of pandering to the lowest common denominator. As early as the 1920s, the story circulated that when audiences proved indifferent to his artistic efforts, DeMille decided to give up on art and offer the public what it wanted: SEX, SIN, and SATAN with a half reel of redemption thrown in for good measure.

DeMille set the standard for Hollywood filmmakers and demanded absolute devotion to his creative vision from his writers, artists, actors, and technicians. Equally significant was his influence on the art of motion pictures: he had a profound impact on the way movies tell stories and brought greater attention to the elements of decor, lighting, and cinematography. In a forty-five-year career he directed seventy films and was involved as producer, co-director, screenwriter—even actor—in dozens of others. In addition to the biblical epics that distinguished his career, DeMille shot Westerns, realistic chamber dramas, and a series of daring and influential social comedies. Highly loyal to a core group of actors and production staff, he was largely responsible for making screen stars of Gloria Swanson, Charles Laughton, and Charlton Heston.

Birchard, a noted film editor and historian, in Cecil B. Demille's Hollywood, traces the director's career and uses DeMille films as the organizing point for his chronological study. Both the unique structure and the extensive archival research upon which the book is based help produce a far different image of the director than what has emerged from scant earlier scholarship. Although a number of books about DeMille have appeared in the past, including an autobiography, none of the previous volumes took such a comprehensive historical and critical approach to DeMille's work as a filmmaker. Birchard goes beyond the director's standard image as an imposing, autocratic, and tyrannical force on his movie sets. For example, the fiercely loyal DeMille repeatedly found roles for Silent Era and Golden Age players whose moments of renown had long since passed. Also, for decades after the release of The King of Kings, DeMille maintained a strict policy of providing the film at drastically reduced prices to any organization that chose to display it.

What a valuable contribution to film scholarship! – Leonard Maltin
A fascinating history of Cecil B. DeMille’s singular career in Hollywood. – James Curtis, author of W.C. Fields: A Biography and Between Flops: A Biography of Preston Sturges
Cecil B. Demille's Hollywood is undoubtedly the definitive work on the films of this most American director and showman. – Anthony Slide, author of Silent Players and The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry

Drawing extensively of DeMille’s personal archives, Birchard offers a revealing portrait of the filmmaker that goes behind the studio gates and beyond the persona. Cecil B. Demille's Hollywood is a detailed and definitive chronicle of cinematic work that changed the course of film history and a fascinating look at how movies were made during Hollywood’s golden age. The impressive, newly unearthed data about each of his films alone – including reel length, production costs, and box office grosses – would make the book a valuable reference tool for film researchers and casual fans alike.

Entertainment / Humor / Biographies & Memoirs

Cartoon Success Secrets: A Tribute To 30 Years Of Cartoonist Profiles by Jud Hurd (Andrews McMeel Publishing)

Author Jud Hurd tells friends that he's been "in the cartooning business since year one," but it only seems like it.
Hurd caught the cartooning bug in 1925, and at age 90 he’s still not cured. Now, in Cartoon Success Secrets, the 35-year founder and veteran editor of the cartooning industry’s leading insider magazine, CARTOONIST PROfiles, shares the colorful stories and sage advice of his cartoonist colleagues. Through his personal encounters with virtually every cartoonist legend of the last four decades, Hurd amassed countless insights from the world’s best cartoonists on how they rose to the top of their field. Now, for the first time, he shares his early conversations with such famous cartoonists as Walt Disney, Rube Goldberg, H. T. Webster, George McManus, Frederick Opper, and countless others who succeeded in selling their creations to major syndicates and attaining their cartooning aspirations. Their words will inspire all who dream of becoming famous cartoonists. Many books have profiled cartooning legends, but never before has a book compiled detailed advice from these creators on how they achieved their success.

Cartoon Success Secrets, the book in which more than twenty of today's most widely read comic strip creators reveal the professional secrets that have made them world famous, offers a veritable comics college education on how to succeed as a cartoonist, along with colorful stories to boot. It is sure to fascinate cartoon enthusiasts, from fledgling cartoonists looking to break into the industry to fans of the funny pages wanting to know how their favorite artists made it big.

Education

E-Learning Games: Interactive Strategies for Digital Delivery by Kathleen M. Iverson (Pearson Prentice Hall)

E-learning naysayers have expressed valid concerns about the cost, engagement, and quality of e-learning, frequently stating, for example,

It is too expensive. I can't spend $50,000 designing a ten-minute training program!

It's boring. My learn­ers will fall asleep at their computer screens.

My students won't learn as much as they will in the classroom.

Designers and educators must overcome this negativity with quality, low cost, and highly effective courseware. The goal of E-Learning Games is to guide the rapid design and delivery of interesting, engaging, highly interactive e-learning environments that facilitate knowledge construction.

Until recently, most interaction in web-based training environments was technologically driven. Intelligent tutors, video, audio, and animated graphics were the accepted vehicles for adding interest and excitement to otherwise bland and boring script-based training. Although these advances are valuable, they come with a price in both development time and dollars. E-Learning Games contains ideas and practices that will add excitement to courseware without considerable expenditure of resources. Relying primarily on low-tech vehicles such as synchronous and asynchronous chat, e-mail, and instant messaging, the activities described in this text can be implemented in web-based training and educational courses alike. Written by Kathleen M. Iverson, Associate Professor of Training and Development, Roosevelt University, Chicago, the book is based on principles of constructivism and grounded in instructional design theory. It contains openers, closers, practice exercises, peer learning activities, and idea generators that will engage e-learners from their first click.

Chapters 1 through 3 provide perspective on the premises that guide interactivity and motivation in e-learning, reviewing principles of constructivism, instruction design, and web­based interaction. In these chapters there are also useful tables and checklists to help teachers quickly plan quality e-learning products. Chapters 4 through 10 contain games, exercises, activities, and simulations that may be readily added to their course content to generate opportunities for collaboration, practice, and knowledge creation.

The author offers a lot of interesting valuable exercises to select from in the design of an e-learning course…Introduction to peer learning is a fine exposition of the value of collaboration with peers in a learning experience. – Richard Osgood, Management Consultant

E-Learning Games is a resource for trainers and teaching professionals that guides the design of engaging and interactive e-learning courses. A wide range of effective techniques is offered for a variety of circumstances from interviewing to goal setting through problem solving and team building.

Fashion / Self-help

Dress to Express: Seven Secrets to Overcoming Closet Trauma and Revealing Your Inner Beauty by Tracy McWilliams (New World Library)

What woman hasn't stood in front of a packed closet and thought, "I haven't a thing to wear." What she's really thinking, says Tracy McWilliams, is "I don't have anything to wear that looks good and makes me feel good." According to McWilliams, most women shop and dress from emotion. This book teaches them that they can dress logically with a bit of self-awareness and planning. Dress to Express defines the seven principles of good dressing – among them, Accessories Make an Outfit, Quality Never Goes Out of Style, Dress from the Top Down, and Visualize Yourself Beautiful – and explodes clothing myths. In the process readers learn how to devise their individual, best dressing process, dressing plan, and dressing picture.

By understanding why women dress the way they do and the clothing emotions that drive clothing craziness, readers can learn how to dress to reveal their inner beauty. "The image we have of ourselves in clothes comes from who we believe ourselves to be. By taking an active role to create the desired clothing image instead of allowing other factors, childhood clothing experiences, and the influences of other people do that for us we can learn to dress from our own sense of self and heal closet trauma in the process," McWilliams says.

McWilliams, lifestyle consultant, a former investment banker, first began exploring her approach to clothing when she was new to the business world. "I was interested in finding outfits that were business-like yet still allowed me to show my feminine side," she says.

Dress to Express gives women the tools to understand their clothing emotions to make getting dressed easy. "Most clothing and dressing anxiety starts with a lack of a clear sense of self relative to image and not having a basic idea and plan about clothing," she continues. "No one teaches us what looks good, what works with your body, or how to assess the best clothing choices based on your shape. Dress to Express bridges the gap between the mental and the physical processes of getting dressed and looking your best."

Both savvy and compassionate, Dress to Express tells all you need to know to make peace with the fitting room and fall in love with clothes again. – Victoria Moran, author of Younger by the Day

In Dress to Express, women learn how to make smart clothing choices – without becoming slaves to trends that don't fit their bodies or personalities. The book shows women how to connect their inner beauty and to reflect that image in the clothing they purchase and wear. We can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Health, Mind & Body / Psychology & Counseling

Group Psychotherapy and Recovery from Addiction: Carrying the Message by Jeffrey D. Roth (Haworth Press)

Learn what it’s like to be a member of an addiction recovery group!

Group Psychotherapy and Recovery from Addiction is NOT a self-help book. Instead, it’s a rare opportunity to sit in on a virtual therapy group and take part in a virtual Twelve Step meeting. The book’s unique perspective lets readers compare and contrast the experience of participating in a psychotherapy group and a Twelve Step group. The book demystifies the process of recovery, demonstrating all the important elements of the group process, including free association, resistance, transference, re-enactment, boundary management, interpretation, and confrontation.

Rather than relate shared stories of addicts in recovery or present abstract formulations on the group experience, Group Psychotherapy and Recovery from Addiction takes readers inside the experiential process of recovery that can’t be achieved in isolation. The experience as a group "member" will help readers solve the mystery of the group process and provide insight into the scientific elements of recovery as the book builds a bridge between the Twelve Step programs and a psychoanalytic model of group functioning.

Group Psychotherapy and Recovery from Addiction examines:

• how the group carries the message of recovery
• the higher power of the group as a symbol of authority
• the development of prayer and meditation as group analytic functions
• addiction as a family disease
• making amends as an export process
• powerlessness and free association
• unmanageability and resistance
• surrender and transference
• inventory and re-enactments
• humility and working through

This book is full of important lessons for every therapist. Jeffrey D. Roth, MD, has written an unusual text on group psychotherapy and addiction recovery that is challenging and provocative. The reader will join his group, coming right into the room to learn, by experience, just how much of addiction, recovery, and psychotherapy come down to paradox and letting go, for the client and the therapist. – Stephanie Brown, PhD, Director, The Addictions Institute, Menlo Park, California

I recommend this book to anyone who works with addicts or their family members in group therapy; to anyone who needs to know how Twelve-Step concepts can be helpful to people in therapy; and to addicts and their family members who are moving out from the first stage of their recovery to dismantle old beliefs, memories, and attitudes. – David Burgdorf, MA, MDiv, Director, Outpatient & Family Services, Betty Ford Center

Group Psychotherapy and Recovery from Addiction is a unique resource for group therapists, addiction treatment professionals, and anyone else interested in group therapy—especially those who have personal experience with Twelve Step programs.

Health, Mind & Body, Psychology & Counseling

Faith in Freedom: Libertarian Principles and Psychiatric Practices by Thomas Szasz (Transaction Publishers)

The libertarian philosophy of freedom is characterized by two fundamental beliefs: self-ownership is a basic right, and initiating violence is a fundamental wrong. Psychiatric practice violates both of these beliefs. It is based on the assumptions that self-ownership – epitomized by suicide – is a medical wrong, and that initiating violence against persons called "mental patients" is a medical right. Thomas Szasz raises fundamental questions about these assumptions. Are self-medication and self-determined death exercises of rightful self-ownership, or manifestations of serious mental diseases? Does deprivation of human liberty under psychiatric auspices constitute odious preventive detention, or is it therapeutically justified hospitalization? Should forced psychiatric drugging be interpreted as assault and battery on the person, or is it medical treatment?

The ethical standards of psychiatric practice mandate that psychiatrists coerce certain innocent persons. Abstaining from such "intervention" is considered malpractice – dereliction of the psychiatrists' "duty to protect." This duty reflects the fact that psychiatry is an arm of the coercive apparatus of the state, converting it to an institution Szasz, professor of psychiatry emeritus at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C., calls "psychiatric slavery." How should friends of freedom – especially libertarians – deal with the conflict between elementary libertarian principles and prevailing psychiatric practices? In Faith in Freedom, Szasz addresses this question. After examining the theoretical underpinnings of the problem, with precision, he presents several analytical studies.

Szasz's book is superb. He makes a devastating logical and factual case against what he calls the new slavery. As someone who has in a small way experienced the slavery, I can appreciate his advocacy of voluntary psychiatry. He has written a literate, sophisticated brief for what Adam Smith called 'the simple and obvious system of natural liberty' applied to the one area of modem life in which our liberties are still eroding: psychiatry.  – Deirdre McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, English, and Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago

Szasz provides biting profiles of leading libertarian figures and what they've said about psychiatry. Ignorance, laziness, omission, and inconsistency are exposed – Hayek's work on theoretical psychology is 'a monumental mistake.' Szasz's consternation is justified and cause for concern that even libertarians think of some as less equal than others. – Daniel Klein, associate professor of economics, Santa Clara University

Szasz has again written an immensely valuable monograph. Expanding on ideas first developed in the groundbreaking and controversial works The Myth of Mental Illness, Ceremonial Chemistry, and Liberation by Oppression, Faith in Freedom is a strikingly original book, written by one of the foremost champions of psychiatric freedom. It will be of lasting interest to psychiatrists, sociologists, mental health practitioners, and students of political science.

Health, Mind & Body / Self-Help

If You Make the Rules, How Come You're Not Boss? Minding Your Body's Business by Elaine Smitha (Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.)

With the high cost of medical care outstripping the ability of the average person, it will take drastic measures to turn the country’s health care system around. Elaine Smitha shares why, where and how to enjoy a brighter future with a healthier body, save a lot of money, and have a whole lot more fun, even if the health care system is broken.

Readers discover how to bypass the medical conveyor belt and take control of their lives, save 70% on prescription drugs, reprogram their genes, reverse aging and disease, and create a lifetime of unlimited health with more certainty than ever before.

Well-being enthusiast Smitha has researched multiple avenues of self-powered techniques geared to the progressive track of personal growth. In If You Make the Rules, How Come You're Not Boss? she reports her findings:

• Why everyone is a radio-controlled robot.
• How the body eavesdrops on conversations.
• How sickness is an investment in a belief.
• Five stress-inducing agents.
• How the body can heal in a moment.
• How beliefs affect the ability to deal with life.
• How others have succeeded in reclaiming their lives.
• The secrets of one’s hidden power.

In 1992, Smitha, jewelry designer, professional speaker, consultant, workshop leader, businesswoman, and college instructor, created the Evolving Ideas television show as a venue for cutting edge ideas, and serves as the show's host and producer. Now she has moved on to writing her ideas and personal research.

This work excites, thrills, defies, clarifies, reminds, touches, and challenges readers to become self-motivated, self-aware, and self-empowered with the goal of living long, healthy, rich lives. I've been exploring the author's premises for my own well-being and have found them helpful and energizing. They are fun too. – Jean Houston, Ph.D., author of Jump Time and A Passion for the Possible

This work reflects the passion, commitment, and brilliance of Elaine Smitha .. . a leader in the revolution that is reshaping the way we view human health and disease. – Stephen M. Fulton, M.D., Chair, Biology Department and Director of Pre-Health Services, Saint Martin's College

This beautiful book is worth more than gold. Elaine's words string together like precious jewels. She is a more successful medical communicator than myself in my medical life. – Thieu Nghiem, M.D., former Washington State Chief of Public Health

A bubbly combination of self-help and motivational hype, If You Make the Rules, How Come You're Not Boss? is for those who need a positive psychological goose without the academic clutter.

Health, Mind & Body / Grief & Loss

Grief Steps: 10 Steps to Rebuild Recover and Renew After Any Life Loss by Brook Noel (Champion Press, Ltd.)

9/11, Columbine, the abuse scandal, TWA flight 800, Nicholas Beck, Egypt Air 990, Oklahoma City – recent years have brought unparallel grief to individuals and the nation. Throughout the country, people tune in to nightly news broadcasts, only to discover another threat, hideous attack or act to be broadcast into their living room. Front pages report late-breaking news that leaves many individuals feeling angry, bereaved or helpless.

Decades ago, most grievers suffered alone, behind closed doors. Now, grief has reached epidemic proportions. Much like those who grieved alone decades ago, people are reporting difficulty finding peace, forgiveness, letting go, moving on and finding renewed hope. As a nation, does our grief need to fuel our anger or our own detachment – or can we rebuild and renew and find something more for our lives and our country?

Brook Noel, co-author of the bestselling book I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye, founder of GriefSteps.Com, a 24/7 free support community for the bereaved, advises that we can renew and reinvent. Grief Steps summarizes the results of a three-year study in which Noel discovered 10 key steps used by those who were able to heal and create a springboard from their grief while observing how others became wrapped so tightly in their pain that their health declined and ultimately, their hope declined.

Grief Steps reveals the steps that everyone who has suffered a loss must take to face grief and heal. Whether readers have suffered a loss recently or years ago, Grief Steps shows them how to resolve and reconcile their world to find contentment and purpose in life.

Health, Mind & Body / Diet

The Martini Diet: The Self-Indulgent Way to a Thinner, More Fabulous You! by Jennifer Basye Sander, with a foreword by Martin G. Neft (Fair Winds Press)

There is yet another new Harvard study out that shows that regular moderate drinking can lower one’s risk of heart attack. That study, which followed 40,000 men for twelve years, found out that those who drank one or two alcoholic drinks 5 to 7 days a week lowered their risk of heart attack 30 percent. Women also benefit, but they must weigh those benefits against the risk of breast cancer. Still, far more women die of heart disease than breast cancer. Similar studies show that caffeine is good for a body, as is red meat and salmon and red wine and anything dipped in olive oil.

Readers of The Martini Diet will learn to abandon awful restrictive diets and punishing workouts and relax their way thin, with Sander's self-indulgent secrets:

• Why French women can eat so much rich food and drink so much wine and still be thin and suffer less heart disease than American women do.
• Why caffeine, alcohol, olive oil, chocolate, and salmon are good for you.
• How to kiss the gym goodbye and take up more elegant athletic pursuits.
• Why hot sex is heart healthy.
• How to eat fat and be skinny.
• Why massage might be better for cellulite than running.
• When to say no to a salad and yes to another glass of wine.
• The three secrets to staying thin FOREVER!

Jennifer Sanders, best-selling author of more than a dozen books, does not keep the conclusion of her secret: A glass of red wine, a bite of dark chocolate, a pat of butter, a petite filet mignon – now that's a diet for the self-indulgent! And why not indulge? Good food and good drink are healthful; the beautiful bodies of French women and a host of medical studies will say the same. So eat up, drink up, and indulge yourself thin!

The Martini Diet is "Gin" Sander's follow up to Wear More Cashmere and is dripping with every bit as much style, sophistication, and savvy as a flute of crystal.

Health, Mind & Body / Psychology & Counselling

Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths by Alan Carr (Brunner-Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group)

Remediating deficits and managing disabilities has been a central preoccupation for clinical psychologists for much of the past 50 years. Positive psychology, in contrast, is concerned with the enhancement of happiness and well-being, involving the scientific study of the role of personal strengths and positive social systems in promoting optimal well-being. The central themes of positive psychology, including happiness, hope, creativity, and wisdom, are all investigated in Positive Psychology in the context of their possible applications in clinical practice.

Clinical psychology has traditionally focused on psychological deficits and disability. It has rarely privileged clients' resilience, resourcefulness and capacity for renewal. But a  new branch of psychology is primarily concerned with the scientific study of human strengths and happiness. Like Leopold Bloom whose words open this foreword, it is concerned with identifying factors that promote well-being. However, unlike Bloom the mission of positive psychology is to base conclusions about what would make a better world on science rather than opinion or rhetoric. Unfortunately accessible textbooks on positive psychology for undergraduates are in short supply. Alan Carr, Director of the Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology at University College, Dublin, decided to write this text.

In the opening chapter findings from psychological research on happiness are outlined. The next four chapters deal with topics of central concern to positive psychology: flow, optimism, emotional intelligence, giftedness, creativity and wisdom. Chapter 6 is concerned with research on human strengths associated with particular traits and motives. Chapter 7 focuses on four aspects of the self-system that contribute to resilience. These are self-esteem, self-efficacy, functional coping strategies and adaptive defenses. Positive relationships over the course of the lifecycle are addressed in Chapter 8. Included here is a review of research on aspects of friendship, marriage anal parenting. Chapter 9 is concerned with how we can bring our strengths to bear on opportunities for growth and challenges that require us to make changes in our lifestyle. The stages-of-change model, which has underpinned so much important research on prevention, is a central organizing framework for this final chapter.

A number of features have been used to help students understand ideas presented in Positive Psychology. Each chapter opens with a detailed chapter outline and a set of learning objectives. Throughout all the chapters, Carr makes liberal use of headings and subheadings to help students make their way through the material. Towards the end of most chapters, a table is included which summarizes the implications of ideas discussed in the body of the chapter for self-help and clinical practice. This is followed by a section highlighting some of the controversial issues, debates and disagreements within the field. Each chapter ends with a concise summary.

Questions at the end of each chapter are divided into those which focus on self-development and research questions. The self-development questions invite students to reflect on aspects of their own lives and to consider taking steps to enhance the quality of their lives using ideas discussed in the chapter.

The research questions invite students to design and conduct research studies. Of course in most instances students will probably only have the time and resources to design studies. But there may be occasional opportunities for actually completing the suggested projects. In most chapters there is a research question which is pitched at an introductory level and could be suitably addressed in a second-year undergraduate psychology laboratory course. Carr has also included more challenging questions that require students to conduct literature searches and to find articles describing studies which they are invited to replicate. These questions are for students taking an honors degree in psychology, or majoring in psychology, who wish to do their undergraduate thesis on a topic in positive psychology. Lists of measures or psychometric instruments for use in research are also given at the end of each chapter. This is done to stimulate undergraduates into considering conducting their undergraduate thesis in positive psycho­logy and also to signal that there are ample resources available to make postgraduate work in this field viable.

Carr’s Positive Psychology is a magisterial text, an enormously informative and inclusive synthesis of this new branch of science. It is a model of a contemporary textbook, with references to websites, useful copies of text forms, and provocative questions at the end of chapters. The positive psychology movement is fortunate to rate such an excellent textbook so soon after its inception. – Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, Claremont Graduate University

This book does more than provide a thorough review of the extant research in positive psychology – it outlines available resources, methods of measurement, offers a critique of available research and makes recommendations for further reading and research. Alan Carr’s background in systematic psychotherapy and critical psychology enables him to add theoretical richness to the field of positive psychology by integrating contextual and relational perspectives with this inherently individualistic approach. – Ariene Vetere, University of East London

Positive Psychology is unique in offering an accessible introduction to this emerging field of clinical psychology. It will prove a valuable resource for psychology students and lecturers who will benefit from the learning objectives and research Stimuli included in each chapter. It will also be of interest to those involved in training in related areas such as social work, counseling and psychotherapy.

History

The D-Day Companion edited by Jane Penrose (Osprey Publishing) is a study of D-Day, written by more than a dozen historians from either side of the Atlantic, for the sixtieth-anniversary commemoration in June, 2004.

Operation Overlord saw some of the Allies' greatest military strategists, Eisenhower and Montgomery, pit their wits against Hitler in a bold bid to liberate continental Europe. Edited by Jane Penrose, The D-Day Companion consists of essays discussing the strategic and tactical aspects of the operation, and also the logistics, to explore history’s greatest amphibious assault. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the D-Day landings, from the build-up to the attack to the experiences of the troops on the ground.

Contributors to the volume include:

• Duncan Anderson, Head of the Department of War Studies, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
• Ronald J Drez, Author of Voices of D-Day: The Story of the Invasion Told by Those Who Were There
• Carlo D’Este, Author of Decision in Normandy; Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943; Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome
• Andrew Gordon, Reader, Kings College London
• Christina Goulter, Senior Lecturer, Kings College London
• David I. Hall, Lecturer, Kings College London
• Russell Hart, Assistant Professor of History at Hawai’i Pacific University
• Stephen A. Hart, Lecturer, Department of War Studies, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
• Allan R. Millett, Mason Professor of Military History, Mershon Center / Department of History, The Ohio State University
• Williamson Murray, Professor Emeritus of History at The Ohio State University
• Sam J. Newland, Department of Distance Education, US Army War College
• Dennis Showalter, Professor of History at Colorado College and Past President of the Society for Military History

[The D-Day Companion is]...composed by an elite group of historians who have worked to become a literary ‘band of brothers’... – Major Richard Winters, Commander of Easy Company as featured in Stephen E. Ambrose’s Band of Brothers
This impressive volume is an excellent historical account. – Thomas Childers, Sheldon and Lucy Hackney Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania
Anyone who wants to understand D-Day...should start their reading here. – Gary Sheffield, Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies, King’s College London

The D-Day Companion brings together the perspectives of some of the most respected military historians working today who have collaborated to produce a unique and incisive examination of the momentous events that surrounded June 6, 1944.

History / Social Sciences / South Africa

Mandela's World: The International Dimensions of South Africa's Political Revolution, 1990-99 by James Barber (Ohio University Press)

It is unusual for a state to achieve a political revolution by negotiation. It is equally unusual for it to transform its status. Yet South Africa achieved both in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War. “The miracle," writes James Barber, "was in the means as well as the end."

Mandela's World discusses how the demise of apartheid, the release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years in Victor Verster prison, and a new constitution that fostered a democratic government all helped to transform South Africa's international status.

Barber, member of the Centre of International Studies at Cambridge University, writes, "When the new government came to power, South Africa's international status changed dramatically – rejection gave way to acceptance; criticism to praise; the old pariah was embraced as the prodigal that had returned, the sinner that had repented."

In South Africa, the decade was divided into two parts. The period from 1990 to 1994 was dominated by negotiations about the country's future between the African National Congress, led by Nelson Mandela, and the white government, led by the state President F.W. de Kierk. The new political dispensation favored the ANC, and in 1994, the first democratic elections led to a predominantly ANC government, with Mandela as President. During the second period from 1994 to 1999, the international community applauded South Africa's efforts to set about its tasks at home and abroad. The new government responded to the expectation that it would be an example for other troubled areas to follow and lead Africa's economic and political revival by identifying itself with the Third World, and committing itself to idealized principles drawn from "liberal" values and the ANC's experience as a liberation movement.

However, Mandela's World shows it was not all straightforward. Mistakes and miscalculations were made and principles compromised when interests were in conflict. The government also had mixed fortunes in Africa. South Africa's relative strength and wealth gave it giant status in a poor unstable continent. "While in global terms, South Africa is a small/medium power, in Africa it is a giant – having the continent's largest and most vibrant economy, its most advanced infrastructure, an advanced (if uneven) educational system and substantial military forces," Barber writes. South Africa did help some neighbors, but its actions also bred resentment and accusations of bullying. The new South Africa succeeded in making a positive contribution both in Africa and in the wider international community. In Nelson Mandela it had a leader who, by his tolerance, charm, and wisdom, captured the world. Mandela's World is not about him as an individual, but, that having been said, it is impossible to ignore the impact he had, both at home and abroad," Barber writes. "From a South African's perspective it truly was 'Mandela's World."'

Barber relates the engrossing saga of Mandala’s transformation of South Africa in this readable academic presentation, providing readers an eye-opening and mind-expanding  international perspective. Mandela's World is the third in a sequence of books, which analyze South Africa's foreign policy from 1945 to 1999.

History / Military / Medieval

Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels: The Ways of Medieval Warfare by Antonio Santosuosso (Westview Press) examines the motives and terrors of war during the Middle Ages, the rise and fall of ethnic and religious groups, and the actions of good and evil military leaders during this violent and colorful period.

Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels is a sweeping chronicle in which historical figures and major campaigns such as Charlemagne, the Magyars, and the Crusades are presented not as icons b