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SirReadaLot.org


We Review the Best of the Latest Books

ISSN 1934-6557

May 2006, Issue #85

Guide to this Issue's Contents

Arts & Photography / Painting

Painters of the Wasatch Mountains by Robert S. Olpin, Ann W. Orton & Thomas F. Rugh (Gibbs Smith, Publisher) 

The American West's Wasatch Range has been the focus of numerous painters since the nineteenth century and persists as such even today. These ‘painters of the Wasatch’ have set many precedents through their artistic interpretations of this mountain subject matter. Painters of the Wasatch Mountains presents for the first time a survey of the gamut of painters who formed and have carried forward an expression of nature's mighty gift to both visitors and residents of Utah.
A sequence of painted scenes of ordered Wasatch environments and the artists who form this group underscore the painting development that is directly, and by each generation, linked to modern landscape paintings. Though the Wasatch Range forms part of the Rocky Mountains, it is quite different in the sense that the Painters of the Wasatch developed their own character and history. The Rocky Mountain School and Painters of the Wasatch were related, but not as a national phenomenon in the first instance and not merely one of its ‘regional’ echoes in the second. According to H. L. A. Culmer, the Wasatch Rocky Mountains have long foothills; the Wasatch Range does not.

But what makes the Wasatch unique is not only its geology but also its cultural roots: The Mormon pioneers set down roots in Utah in 1847. Throughout time, a variety of immigrant artists settled along the Wasatch Front and in the mountain valleys, carrying forward a careful scrutiny of the Wasatch not unlike that received by the Hudson River country. In this way the Wasatch is the setting for a school of painting in the West that is quite like a Hudson River School in the East, and the Painters of the Wasatch persist to this day because of the values associated with that first of America's art movements – a dedication to place and a careful study and interpretation of the environment in a spiritual and cultural context. According to authors Robert S. Olpin, faculty in art and art history at the University of Utah including art history program director, department chair, and College of Fine Arts dean, and founding co-director of the Utah Fine Arts Institute; Ann W. Orton, editor and public affairs representative for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and Thomas F. Rugh, Sid and Mary Foulger Executive Director of the Museum of Utah Art & History, the Painters of the Wasatch are not defined by a particular style or medium. They are defined by a physical presence that has unlimited appeal and inspiration. Ann Orton provides a researched reference to the Wasatch, titled "The Wasatch Mountains," that documents the various peaks and valleys. Robert Olpin and Thomas Rugh's essay titled "Painters of the Wasatch" establishes the foundation of a perspective on nineteenth-century Utah Wasatch art.

Painters of the Wasatch Mountains, the first in a forthcoming series of books on the art of the West and the collections of the Utah Museum of Art & History. This book will be the basis of a forthcoming exhibition at the museum also titled "Painters of the Wasatch Mountains."

Around 275 artworks are included, from the earliest examples of painting in the nineteenth century to works by Utah’s contemporary artists. Also included are brief biographies of each artist, with occasional stylistic analysis. Artists featured in this book include: Frank Ward Kent, Dan Weggeland, James T. Harwood, John VI. Clawson, Edwin Evans, Lee Greene Richards, John Tullidge, Lawrence Squires, VaLoy Eaton, LeConte Stewart, Mahonri Young, John H. Stansfield, Hal Burrows, Waldo Midgley, Maynard Dixon, Joseph A. F. Everett, and Francis L. Horspool, among many others.

Painters of the Wasatch Mountains is a lavish celebration of the best-loved artists of the Wasatch Mountain Range. This book presents for the first time a sequence of painted scenes firmly positioned within the context of ordered Wasatch environments; the artists who form this group known as Painters of the Wasatch. The book, especially the essay on the painters, will encourage further study and visual investigation.

Arts & Photography / Performing Arts

The Performing Set: The Broadway Designs of William and Jean Eckart by Andrew B. Harris, foreword by Carol Burnett, preface by Sheldon Harnick (University of North Texas Press) 

The show that Jean and Bill offered me gave me my big break. And so they were not just brilliant designers and producers, but also really good friends. – Carol Burnett, actor and star of Once Upon a Mattress and Fade Out – Fade In, television, and film (from the foreword)

The sets for Maine were the first of the really magnificently choreographed sets. The furniture and the set pieces moved on and off without breaking the flow of the action. We never needed the curtain to come down for a change of scenery. It never stopped. Everything was just so fluid and marvelous. – Angela Lansbury, actor in Maine; Anyone Can Whistle; Sweeney Todd; and Dear World

The large-scale Broadway musical is one of America's great contributions to world theatre. Bill and Jean Eckart were stage designers and producers at the peak of the musical, and their designs revolutionized Broadway productions. At a time when sets were meant to remain simply backdrops that established time and place but not much else, an Eckart set became part of the performance on stage, equal at times to an actor. Anyone who has seen Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables has seen the innovations that the Eckarts brought to the large Broadway-style musical production. They were best known for their designs for Damn Yankees (1955): Once Upon a Mattress (1959), in which Carol Burnett made her Broadway debut: and Maine (1966) with Angela Lansbury. According to Charles Nelson Reilly, director and actor in The Mother of Us All; Hello, Dolly and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, they were, by far, the finest design artists of their time.

Author Andrew B. Harris, stage director and producer, former chair of theatre departments at Columbia University, Texas Christian University, and Southern Methodist University, currently pro­fessor in the Department of Dance and Theatre at the University of North Texas, uses production stills and the Eckarts' sketches from every show they worked on to illustrate the magic behind an Eckart design. The Performing Set, containing more than 500 full-color illustrations, is a tribute to the couple who helped make it great.

Contents of The Performing Set include a foreword by Carol Burnett, a preface by Sheldon Harnick, Getting Together, Enchantment: The Golden Apple, Split Screen and a "Style" Show, Damn Yankees, Sets That Move, Shows That Don't, Li'l Abner, Cinderella, Hollywood, Riding the Broadway Roller Coaster, Once upon a Mattress, Fiorello!, Feast Or Famine, She Loves Me, Express Yourself, Mame, Disenchantment: Age of Aquarius.           

The book also includes an epilog, a chronology, notes, a bibliography, and an index.

Sheldon Harnick in his preface, writes about his memory of a set that needed meticulous craftsmanship – a Turkish bath. “Its creators not only needed to be architects, engineers, plumbers, and safety experts, but they also had to be gifted with the eye, hand, and wit of a Daumier. In the scene that had been written by our bookwriters, Joe Stein and Will Glickman, the fight manager had come to plead with a promoter to set up a match using one of his boxers. Clouds of steam hovered over the stage, with more steam constantly hissing onto the set. The promoter was sensibly attired in a Turkish towel while Jack wore a suit and tie which grew progressively limp and waterlogged during the scene. Alas, this pre-dated the days of the Lincoln Center Archives, so the scene is not available for viewing. You will have to take my word that the scene itself, what with the pleading, soggy Jack Warden plus the perfectly realized steam room set combined to create one of the most hilarious scenes I have ever witnessed.”

He also says: “I had the pleasure of working with Bill and Jean once more when Hal Prince invited them to design and light She Loves Me. It's difficult to conceive of three shows more dissimilar in look and tone, scenically, than the three we did together. It's a tribute to the Eckarts' wide ranging versatility that they could move so successfully from the gritty realism of The Body Beautiful, to the nostalgic little-old-New York atmosphere of Fiorello! to the delicious Old World, Art Nouveau charm of She Loves Me. For this last show, what the Eckarts created was so in tune with our score and Joe Masteroff's book that it left an indelible, glowing memo­ry in the minds and hearts of those aficionados of the musical theatre who saw it.”

Chock full of new and valuable information and which in my opinion will be an important book on the history of the American musical. . . I found it an excellent précis of the theatrical process and one which brilliantly shows the collaborative aspects of design. . . Dr. Harris is well known as a theatre educator. His Broadway Theatre is a highly regarded, award-winning book. – Robert Taylor, Curator for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Bill and Jean Eckart were unsung heroes of the Golden Age of Broadway, and Andy Harris' book tells us why, and brilliantly. I have never known a book to take the reader through an entire process so magically – from initial drawings through set construction to costume fittings ending up with the finished productions. This book is a must for anyone interested in the American theatre and its rich history. – Theodore S. Chapin, President, Rodgers and Hammerstein

Lavishly illustrated, creatively presented, The Performing Set takes readers nostalgically back to the era of the grand musical and pays fitting tribute to William and Jean Eckart.

Audio / Mysteries & Thrillers

Champagne for One [UNABRIDGED] (4 audio cassettes, 5 CDs, running time 6 hours) by Rex Stout, narrated by Michael Prichard (Audio Editions Mystery Masters Series: Audio Partners)

Champagne for One begins at the annual gala for unwed mothers. When Faith Usher dies after drinking champagne at the soiree, everyone assumed it was suicide…

This mystery from one of America's best-loved writers, Rex Stout, features one of the greatest fictional detectives of all time – Nero Wolfe. An orchid-growing, gourmandizing, demanding genius, Wolfe solves this case with the able assistance of his legman, Archie Goodwin, who narrates with his usual wry humor.

Usher had been telling anyone willing to listen that she wants to kill herself. So when she dies, everyone insists that it was suicide. Everyone except Archie, that is.

Now it's up to Wolfe, who is even more stubborn than usual, asking question after question until he learns the surprising truth.

Rex Stout (1886-1975), inimitable master of detective fiction, wrote 73 mysteries. His career also included writing three novels, chairing the War Writers' Board, and mobilizing public opinion against the use of nuclear devices.

The audio version of Champagne for One is ably narrated by Michael Prichard, a Los Angeles-based actor who has recorded more than 400 audiobooks, including novels by Clive Cussler and Tom Clancy. Smart Money magazine named him one of the ‘Top Ten Golden Voices.’

In this 1958 Nero Wolfe mystery, the rotund, beer-guzzling super sleuth and his sidekick, Archie Goodwin, endeavor to prove that a socialite's apparent suicide was actually a murder. – Library Journal

[Nero Wolfe mysteries] are the perfect reconciliation between the classic British drawing room mystery and the naturalistic American novel of the mean streets – Sherlock Holmes meets Sam Spade.  – William G. Tapply, introduction to The Second Confession

It is always a treat to [hear] a Nero Wolfe mystery. The man has entered our folklore. – The New York Times Book Review

Rex Stout, through the voice of Archie telling us about his world (a full third of which was occupied by Nero Wolfe), raised detective fiction to the level of art with these books. He gave us genius of at least two kinds, and a strong realist voice that was shot through with hope. – Walter Mosley

Nero Wolfe, the fat detective of Rex Stout's novels, towers over his rivals... he is an exceptional character creation. – The New Yorker

Stout's supreme triumph was the creation of Archie Goodwin. – P.G. Wodehouse

The urbane antics of Nero Wolfe and his legman, Archie, always provide enjoyment. – AudioFile

Another complex and gratifying case solved by www.sirreadalot.org’s favorite duo, Wolfe and Goodwin, second only to Holmes and Watson. Oh, if only PBS would bring them both back!

Business & Investing

Competing for Customers and Capital by Victor J. Cook, Jr. (Thomson South-Western) 

Not only do the goals of marketing departments often fail to match those of finance, they sometimes outright conflict. The two departments speak different languages, they have no clear link, and, bottom line, the markets for customers and investors are separate. But one innovative book can change everything.

Competing for Customers and Capital illustrates a cause-and-effect model of relationships between marketing and finance based on a common language, economic theory, and financial accounting data. This model links intangible assets to the market value of firms. Breaking with the tradition of valuing companies based on unrelated ratios and metrics, Victor Cook, Professor of Marketing Strategy at Tulane University, identifies three metrics that bind marketing and finance: the Value Sales Principle, the Rule of Maximum Earnings, and the Competitive Valuation Paradigm.

According to Cook, the golden egg of business mythology probably can be found in the spaces between the markets that serve customers and those that create capital. The managers of product and stock markets speak different languages, rely on different theories, and use different data. These markets are separate, but equally important. Yet, they share a fundamental force – both are driven by competition.

Competition drives managers to create the greatest possible net value per dollar of expenditure. Investors evaluate a company's future productivity and risk to price its common stock. They also compare systematically the perfor­mance of one company with its peers. Other things being equal, those com­panies that are expected to be the more productive, lower-risk ones within a group of peer companies will be more highly valued by investors. Those that are expected to be higher risk and less productive than their peers will be valued less. This leads to a new approach to stock pricing – competitive stock valuation.

Some companies make more efficient use of their resources than others. Some maximize earnings while others don't. Companies that maximize earnings after the cost of sales return the largest possible residual to the bot­tom line. Understanding this profit-maximizing behavior leads to metrics that blend financial and marketing processes together. When these metrics are combined, the result is the rule of maximum earnings.

The competition for customers and capital leads to systematic interac­tions between product and stock markets. While subtle and complex, this interaction can be explained by value-sales principles. Applying these prin­ciples to the way we assess company performance leads to new and surpris­ing insights about investment risk and the impact of enterprise marketing expenses on shareholder value.

Competing for Customers and Capital introduces and applies competitive stock valuation, the rule of maximum earnings, and value-sales principles to a wide range of public en­terprises. These concepts were developed and tested in Cook’s research over the last twenty-five years using financial data to bridge the gaps between corporate finance and enterprise marketing. The gaps remain wide and the bridge is still under construction.

Both marketing and finance are about maximizing returns.

Cook breaks new ground by linking product and capital markets and revenue and share-holder value together in a way that is at once analytical and readable. Not the least of his insights is the way he portrays selling and general administrative expenses, not as the overhead most see but as an important value driver. Everyone who wants a rounded view of business strategy should read this extraordinary book. – Tim Ambler, Senior Fellow, London Business School

In an era of ever-greater specialization, we sometimes forget that new insights are often generated by those who are able to merge fields to gain fresh perspectives. This rigorous yet readable book is a major contribution to our understanding of what drives enterprise value. – Harry L. Davis, Roger L. and Rachael M. Goetz Distinguished Service Professor of Creative Management, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago

Competing for Customers and Capital is a thoughtful and thought-provoking presentation of the critical and at times subtle relationship between marketing and finance. Cook's analyses are quite perceptive and present the material in a realistic and engaging fashion. This book will enlighten students, scholars, and practitioners. – Meyer Feldberg, Senior Advisor to Morgan Stanley and Dean Emeritus of Columbia Business School

In building a quantitative bridge between marketing and the finance department, Cook has constructed the elusive linkages between enterprise marketing investments, brand equity, and shareholder value. Cross the bridge and embrace the new science of marketing and corporate finance – you'll be at the vanguard of nothing short of a business revolution. – Dave Sutton, Co-author, Enterprise Marketing Management: The New Science of Marketing

The groundbreaking principles presented in the book point to a model that unites important metrics from marketing and sales and adds to the understanding of exactly what drives the value of an organization. Competing for Customers and Capital may stimulate integrative research in finance and marketing and, as Cook hopes, the faculties of colleges, universities, and centers of corporate educa­tion may find this book a catalyst that drives the cross-listing of courses in their organizations.

Business & Investing / Economics

Spatial Disparities in Human Development: Perspectives from Asia edited by Ravi Kanbur, Anthony J. Venables & Guanghua Wan (United Nations University Press) 

Spatial disparities are a measure of the unequal distribution of income, wealth, power and resources between peoples in different locations.

Amidst a general and growing concern about global inequalities, consid­erable policy interest has begun to be directed at regional disparities within developing and transition economies. Spatial variations in living standards – as reflected in average incomes, the incidence and depth of poverty, health indicators, and education status – are particularly pro­nounced in large nations such as Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa; but marked regional differences are also evident in many smaller coun­tries, especially in Africa. Although spatial inequality is of interest in its own right, the topic takes on added significance when spatial and regional divisions align with political and ethnic tensions to undermine social and political stability.

According to editors Ravi Kanbur, Anthony Venables and Guanghua Wan, in Spatial Disparities in Human Development, variations in living standards within countries have a number of un­derlying causes. They may reflect historical differences in the pace of development (Sao Paulo versus northeast Brazil), the uneven impact of economic reform (Guangdong versus Qinghai), discrimination in the provision of economic and social infrastructure (South Africa during apartheid), and impediments to labor migration (China and Russia). Unfavorable agricultural conditions and geographical remoteness from principal markets also play a role. Whatever the original source, there is a widespread perception that spatial disparities in human development have recently become more visible and that they are increasing over time. Furthermore, increasing spatial variations are very often thought to be linked in some way to greater openness of economies, and to glob­alization in general.

Despite the significance of the problem, little systematic scholarly ana­lysis has been devoted to the causes of growing inequalities within coun­tries and their cumulative detrimental impact on human development. The UNU-WIDER project on "Spatial Disparities in Human Develop­ment", directed by editors Kanbur and Venables in collaboration with Wan, set out to rectify this neglect by drawing together expertise from all regions of the globe in order to better understand the incidence, significance and causes of spatial variations within countries, and to contribute to the global policy debate.

Separate meetings were convened to focus on the experiences within Africa, Latin America and Asia. Spatial Disparities in Human Development is a collection of studies on Asia first presented at a large scientific conference orga­nized by UNU-WIDER (Helsinki) and co-sponsored by the United Na­tions University Centre, held in Tokyo, March 2003. Seven of the chapters are minor revisions of pa­pers published in a special issue of the Review of Development Econom­ics in February 2005.

Spatial Disparities in Human Development focuses on issues directly related to the Millennium Development Goals including conflict, poverty, and the causes and consequences of inequality. It applies the latest research techniques including regression-based decomposition, poverty decomposition and computable general equilibrium models.

Contributors to Spatial Disparities in Human Development include:

  • Kathryn H. Anderson, associate professor of economics at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Arsenio M. Balisacan, Director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), and a professor of economics at the University of the Philippines Diliman.
  • Bob Baulch, fellow of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
  • Sanjoy Chakravorty, an associate professor of geography and urban studies and a fellow at the Center for Public Policy at Temple University.
  • Shatakshee Dhongde, former intern at WIDER in Helsinki.
  • Comoki Fujii, consultant for the World Bank.
  • Nobuhiko Fuwa, visiting research associate at the School of Economics, University of the Philippines, and associate professor of agricultural economics at Chiba University (Japan).
  • Scott Gates, Director of the Centre for the Study of Civil War at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) and professor of political science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
  • Henning Tarp Jensen, assistant professor at the Institute of Economics, University of Copenhagen.
  • Ravi Kanbur, T. H. Lee Professor of World Affairs and professor of economics at Cornell University.
  • John Knight, professor of economics at the University of Oxford.
  • Stanislav Kolenikov, research associate at the Centre for Economic and Financial Research, Moscow.
  • Somik V. Lail, senior economist at the Development Research Group of the World Bank (USA).
  • Li Shi, professor of economics at the Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
  • Nicholas Minot, research fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute.
  • S. Mansoob Murshed, a professor of international economics at the Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, and at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague.
  • Richard Pomfret, professor of economics at the University of Adelaide (Australia).
  • Anthony Shorrocks is Director of WIDER (Finland).
  • Finn Tarp, professor of development economics at the Institute of Economics at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark) and Coordinator of the Development Economics Research Group.
  • Anthony V. Venables, Chief Economist in the UK Department for International Development and Professor of international economics at the London School of Economics (UK). He also directs the globalization programme at the LSE Centre for Economic Performance.
  • Guanghua Wan, senior research fellow and project director at UNU­WIDER in Helsinki.
  • Xiaobo Zhang, research fellow at the Division of Development Strategy and Governance, International Food Policy Research Institute (USA), and president-elect of the Chinese Economists Society.
  • Zhao Renwei, Emeritus Professor and former director of the Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
  • Zhangyue Zhou, associate professor in business studies at the Faculty of Law, Business and Creative Arts of James Cook University (Australia).

The great value of this book comes from comparing, through detailed analysis, the problems of regional inequality and poverty in different Asian countries. … With contributions from leading regional scientists and economists, this book also examines the policy experience of Asian countries in closing regional gaps and the effectiveness of public interventions in this field. – Jussi Pakkasvarta, Director and Professor at the Institute of Development Studies. University of Helsinki, Finland

Kanbur, Venables and Wan make an important contribution by bringing together a collection of articles that discuss not only methodological issues in measuring regional disparities but also empirical evidence from small and large countries of Asia. Of interest are the varied explanations of what causes these inequalities that will no doubt be useful for policymakers and practitioners dealing with development issues. – Brinda Viswanathan, Associate Professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India

The papers in this volume represent economists' great efforts to achieve a better understanding and measurement of rising regional disparities facing Asian economies. Its theoretical and methodological contents make this book of much value to both students of economics and to policymakers in developing Asia. – Zhang Jun, Director and Professor at the China Centre for Economic Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Spatial Disparities in Human Development is the first serious attempt to examine spatial inequality in Asia from multiple perspectives, and it contains val­uable information and advice for both policy makers and policy takers. The book will be essential reading for academics and students interested in this research area and a useful reference source for others wishing to know more about a topic of growing national and international significance.

Children’s / Adventure / Ages 6-9

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Partners by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa Series: Harcourt, Inc.) 

Saddle up, wranglers!

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Partners is the next installment in the adventures of Cowgirl Kate and her trusty cowhorse, Cocoa.

The best friends are as feisty as ever as they ride the range, play hide-and-seek, get new shoes, and after a long day of herding cows, learn the true meaning of friendship. They're partners through thick and thin, partners going everywhere and doing everything together.
Author of the Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa Series is Erica Silverman, who has written many books for children, including When the Chickens Went on Strike and Don't Fidget a Feather. The books are illustrated by Betsy Lewin, a well-known illustrator of children’s books.

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Partners, the amusing sequel to the engaging Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa (2005), features four short, episodic chapters, each telling a new tale of the little cowgirl and her horse. In the first, Kate has difficulty convincing Cocoa that horseshoes are a better choice for him than cowboy boots. In the next, they play hide-and-seek on the range. Kate tries to use the uncooperative Cocoa for cow-roping practice in the third adventure, and in the fourth, they explore the highs and lows of the horse-and-rider partnership. The clean lines and buoyant spirit of the watercolor artwork reflect the simplicity and humor of the entertaining text. This is a pleasing choice as either a beginning reader or a picture book to read aloud. – Carolyn Phelan, Booklist

The humorous text, warm friendship between horse and owner and captivating illustrations add up to a cowgirl and ‘cowhorse’ with enough star power to ride the range together in subsequent sequels. …Both girls and boys will enjoy this fresh new series, another winner in the publisher's stable of excellent books for emergent readers. – Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

With its lively text and spirited illustrations by Caldecott Honor recipient Betsy Lewin, this second book in the Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa series, Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa: Partners, is sure to have young readers everywhere chomping at the bit for more.

Children’s / Outdoors & Nature / Ages 4-8

Kelly of Hazel Ridge by Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen, illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen (Hazel Ridge Farm Series: Sleeping Bear Press) 

As told in Kelly of Hazel Ridge, Kelly is a young girl growing up on Hazel Ridge Farm, aware of how special the place she calls home is. After all, it's not everyday that your backyard lets you view white-tailed deer and sand-hill cranes, swim in ponds populated by snapping turtles or hear the hoot of an owl named Jackson as he keeps watch as you sleep each night. Here Kelly can help nurse a fawn back to health and drift off to sleep each night to the hoot of the owl. At Hazel Ridge Farm, Kelly's parents are committed to maintaining a natural wilderness, and they have created a wildlife sanctuary where both the land and its residents (animal as well as human) are nurtured and can live in harmony.

Kelly of Hazel Ridge is the third title in the Hazel Ridge Farm series (Saving Samantha and Adopted by an Owl) by husband-and-wife team, illustrator Gijsbert (also known as Nick) and writer Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen. For over 20 years, the van Frankenhuyzens have nurtured the land back to health and raised and released injured and orphaned animals.

The Hazel Ridge Farm books are fun to read and educational while they stimulate a child's interest in the outdoors and nature. Young people that know and care about the outdoors will continue to take care of it for future generations to enjoy. These books and their subject matter are a great way to enlighten young people with that caring attitude of stewardship for wildlife and the environment. – Dr. Jim Sikarskie, Director of Michigan State University's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

The van Frankenhuyzens have created something unique and inspiring for children's literature. Their commitment to nature shines through Robbyn's stories and Nick's art, engaging readers of all ages. – Holly Frakes, Children's Coordinator, Schuler Books

Kelly of Hazel Ridge pairs Nick's vivid illustrations with Robbyn's prose, based on the experiences of their daughter, Kelly. Kelly of Hazel Ridge is a charming story to be read to, and by, kids of all ages. The art really shines.

Cooking, Food & Wine

The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon (Tuttle Publishing) 

A tour de force – Craig Claiborne, The New York Times

The world is changing rapidly, and in no way has it changed more rapidly than in the pop­ularity of Asian cooking through travel and immi­gration. Witness the way Japanese, Thai and Viet­namese restaurants have mushroomed in diverse pla­ces. Chinese restaurants, of course, seem always to have been there in most countries. With the movement of migrants and refugees has come an abundance of Asian ingredients throughout the western world, bringing authentic Asian flavors within everyone's grasp.

Through newspapers, magazines, television, cooking schools, and over 25 books, Charmaine Solomon is one of the world’s best known and respected cookbook writers. Since The Complete Asian Cookbook was published in 1976 and has been reprinted almost every year since then. Over a million copies have been sold, and the book has been translated into German, French, and Dutch. In print now for 30 years, The Complete Asian Cookbook ventures into culinary areas that are often overlooked: the sour-hot dishes of Thailand, the Nonya cooking of Singapore and Malaysia, the soul-warming hotpots of Korea; as well as excitingly different dishes from the lands of Burma, Laos and Cambodia.

According to Solomon, there is no real mystery to being able to cook well – no magic potions or charms, just a healthy interest in good eating and in getting the most pleasure possible from each meal. A reliable cookbook is also a great help.

Solomon groups the foods of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir within one chapter. The chapter on China draws heavily on her on-the-spot experiences in Hong Kong, but in addition to the world-famous Cantonese cuisine, the cooking of other mainland provinces is well represented. Much of Singapore's excellent Chinese food is also found in Hong Kong, so to avoid repeti­tion she makes a particular feature of the island republic's Nonya dishes. Many dishes in Malaysia and Indonesia are the same, or are strikingly similar, so again she chooses those that seem most representative of each country.

For those who are unfamiliar with some of the ingredients and methods used in the recipes, the introduction to each chapter provides useful information, both general and specific. Besides being practical in terms of what readers will need in the way of special ingredients and utensils, the introductions evoke some of the color and flavor of every country visited in this culinary tour. Solomon provides the list of synonyms and equivalents. There is also an extensive alphabetical glossary.

Those readers who are already familiar with some of the Asian cuisines will find recipes to interest and excite them in The Complete Asian Cookbook, and will be tempted to explore cuisines with which they are less well acquainted. For those who are coming to Asian cooking for the first time, or whose previous experience with Asian food has been limited to restaurant fare, Solomon takes care to ensure that the essential steps are clear and precise.

There are special sections devoted to the use of cooking oils, the best ways to prepare rice (and the types to buy), the making of coconut milk, the handling of chilies and several other worthwhile tips that apply to many of the recipes.

This edition has been updated by the author, incorporating new information Solomon has learned in the intervening years since the first edition.

Solomon says that while she still uses the recipes she wrote so many years ago, she finds there are ways to cut down preparation time by taking advantage of modern appliances.

It is all very well to be able to cook, but says Solomon, writing down recipes so other people can get the same results was no simple task. It meant cooking over again the familiar dishes, this time weighing and measuring instead of shaking a bottle of sauce or spice or seasoning over the dish until it tasted as it should. The result is that every dish can be successfully recreated from The Complete Asian Cookbook, and she can pass on to her children and to their children the legacy of a tradition of Asian cuisine; a cuisine whose magic is woven through her childhood memories, and years of living in Asian lands.

Charmaine has successfully compiled one of the most comprehensive culinary works encompassing all Asian cuisines. Hats off to her for bringing the varied flavors of each country into people's kitchens through not only tasty recipes, but also ones that are easy-to-follow. Peace and Good Eating! – Ming Tsai

For almost ten years this has been my primary reference for the cookery and the dishes of the whole vast region which it covers, and I am delighted to have the new revised edition. It is entertaining as well as informative, and the recipes are laid out with admirable clarity. A real treasure. – Alan Davidson

With over 800 recipes from 16 countries, Solomon’s classic The Complete Asian Cookbook is the perfect introduction to the food of Asia. Solomon makes it possible for avid cooks everywhere to explore the cooking of Asia – and to prove that real Eastern meals can be produced in a Western kitchen. It’s clear that she has tried and tested every recipe, ensuring that they are easy to prepare and that every ingredient and every step is explained in easy-to-follow terms.

Cooking, Food & Wine

Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts by Maida Heatter (Andrews McMeel Publishing) 

Chocoholics unite! Maida's back and bringing the world's best chocolate recipes with her. Maida, of course, is Maida Heatter, respected cookbook author, sorceress supreme of all things chocolate. Chocolate creators know they can turn to Heatter for tantalizing confections, cookies, cakes, pies, puddings, and sauces that transcend the ordinary and make for memorable dining experiences.

Now cocoa aficionados, food fiends, and master chefs everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief as Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, the classic New York Times best-seller, returns after ten years out of print.

Heatter is justifiably famous for her respected series of cookbooks, ranging from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts to Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies. But it was always her Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts that inspired the highest praise, admiration, and following from home and restaurant dessert cooks around the world. Features include:

  • An in-depth explanation of the process of how the fruits of the cocoa (or cacao) tree become sweetened chocolate. From the tree blossoms to the seeds to the fumigating and shelling process at the factory, Heatter knows her chocolate.
  • A discussion of the types of chocolate and the specific uses for each. Heatter even identifies the proper sugars, flours, and eggs used to create the most perfect chocolate dessert. Her personal notes and detailed instructions make readers feel as if Heatter is in the kitchen with them, cheerfully helping guide them toward culinary success and a chocolaty reward.
  • A brief tutorial on kitchen tools and techniques that can turn anyone into a chocolate artist. Readers learn to melt, fold, decorate, serve, and freeze like the pros. And they learn the merits of a small, narrow metal spatula, the fine points of a rolling pin, and the right way to whip egg whites and blanch hazelnuts.

This jacketed hardcover includes all the original Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts recipes that have become favorites, along with changes and updates from the dessert doyenne herself.

Maida’s wonderful chocolate recipes are the true key to joy and happiness. Hallelujah! – Wolfgang Puck

Whenever I prepare one of Maida Heatter's desserts I fall into a state of euphoria. . . . If  I have a valentine, Maida is mine. – Craig Claiborne

The quintessential Queen Mother of desserts has iced the cake yet again. Heatter's reputation as a dessert maker in the USA comes through in her meticulous, delicious recipes that can turn culinary clods into pastry chefs. – USA Today

Maida's extraordinary passion for baking, her professionalism, and her expertise are all on display here. This useful book will be welcomed by anyone interested in good food and good life. – Jacques Pepin

When it was first published in 1980, Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts became a New York Times bestseller and then won a James Beard award. The book is Heatter's third, a mouthwatering compendium of superb but easily achieved chocolate cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, confections, sauces, and more. Like all of Heater's books, Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts balances good taste with warm, meticulous instruction that anticipates and addresses every question and concern a dessert-maker might have. Cooks at every skill level, from amateur to professional, will find Heater's recipes, and their results, a joy. – Arthur Boehm, www.Amazon.com

Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts contains more than 200 unique desserts. From brownies and macaroons to truffles and mousses, there is something for everyone in this encyclopedia of chocolate, and enough of it to satisfy even the strongest chocolate craving. Those who have worn out, shared as a gift, or misplaced their original version – or who want to replace their later paperback edition – will welcome this book, as will anyone who enjoys cooking with and eating chocolate.

Cooking, Food & Wine / Health, Mind & Body

Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection by Jessica Prentice, foreword by Deborah Madison (Chelsea Green Publishing) 

In Full Moon Feast, accomplished chef and passionate food activist Jessica Prentice champions locally grown, humanely raised, nutrient-rich foods and traditional cooking methods. The book follows the thirteen lunar cycles of an agrarian year, from the midwinter Hunger Moon and the springtime sweetness of the Sap Moon to the bounty of the Moon When Salmon Return to Earth in autumn. Each chapter includes recipes that display the flavors of foods tied to the ancient rhythm of the seasons.

Prentice decries our modern food culture: mega farms and factories, the chemically processed ghosts of real foods in our diets, and the suffering – physical, emotional, cultural, communal, and spiritual – born of a disconnect from our food sources. She laments the system that she says is poisoning our bodies and our communities.

But Full Moon Feast is a celebration, not a dirge. Prentice, professional chef, teacher and food activist, has emerged from her own early struggles with food to offer health, nourishment, and fulfillment to her readers. She recounts her relationships with local farmers alongside ancient harvest legends and methods of food preparation from indigenous cultures around the world.

Fired by the abuses of modern industrialism, this poet-chef tells her life story as a vision-quest for a world of harmony and connectedness, which she finds in the voices of traditional cultures past and present, condensed in poems, myths, foods, feasts and fasts, tuned to the rhythm of the seasons. As we follow her lunar calendar from Hunger Moon to Wolf Moon, we discover in recipes for Nettle Soup, Sourdough Crackers, Yarrow Ale, new uses and new meanings in the gifts of earth and sea. Meanings multiply in a work that is not a quick bite, but a vertical tasting to be savored slowly. – Betty Fussell, author of The Story of Corn and My Kitchen Wars, A Memoir

Full Moon Feast is the perfect title for this surprising and ultimately hopeful book. It is full of fascinating information and lived wisdom about the plants and animals, fish and birds we consume and how we are misusing the planet we share with them. … Like a memorable meal, Full Moon Feast is convivial, stimulating, comforting, at times piquant, and always deeply satisfying. A feast indeed! – Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader

Jessica Prentice’s far-ranging culinary explorations bring us back to the rhythms of seasonal being. … Full Moon Feast reminds us of ancient cultural wisdom, encourages us to deepen our connections to the sources of our food, and invites us to make these seasonal rhythms our own. – Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods

Combining the radical nutrition of Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions, keen agri-political acumen, and a spiritual sensibility that draws from indigenous as well as Western traditions, Full Moon Feast is a call to reconnect to the food, the land, and each other.

Education / Elementary / Arts & Humanities

Creativity and the Arts with Young Children, 2nd edition by Rebecca T. Isbell & Shirley C. Raines (Thomson Delmar Learning) 

Today's world is filled with new challenges of global issues, concerns about safety, and ex­panding technology. Never before has there been such a need for creative thinking by both teach­ers and young children. An early childhood edu­cator must create a supportive environment for young children that accepts them as they are and nurtures them so they can reach their potential. The early childhood classroom should be filled with meaningful learning experiences, intrigu­ing materials, emergent literacy, and opportuni­ties to be creative investigators. To meet these diverse expectations, an early childhood educa­tor must understand the holistic nature of chil­dren's development and be able to design an environment that matches their unique ways of learning.

The creative arts, defined as visual art, music, drama, and movement/dance, are power­ful tools that inspire children to use their intelli­gence, think in unique ways, work together, and make connections across content areas. Partici­pation in the arts gives young children the opportunity to discover the world around them and provides ways to expand into new areas that are both enjoyable and challenging. For this to occur, teachers must develop their own creative thinking and value the inclusion of the creative arts as an essential part of their classroom. This textbook is designed to help teachers discover and gain information that will help them inte­grate creativity and the arts into their early child-hood classroom.

Creativity and the Arts with Young Children, 2nd edition is written specifically for early childhood educators as well as professionals who work with children – birth through age eight. The focus of this book, now in it’s second edition, is on making the vital connection to music, movement, drama, and the visual arts in all areas of the classroom, as well as, developing creative teachers and professionals who will be able to foster an artistic environment. The book, written by Director of Tennessee’s Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Learning and Development, and Professor of Early Childhood Education at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN; and Shirley Raines, President and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Memphis, includes observations and pictures of teachers and children that demonstrate practical ways the arts can be used to help children reach their potential. There are expanded sections on multi-intelligences, divergent questioning, and art recipes, and Creativity and the Arts with Young Children also includes literacy connections, and activities for adults at the end of each chapter. There are many ideas in the book for open-ended activities that are important for the development of young children and will encourage them to think in new ways. The standards and recommendations from professional organizations are addressed so that readers can recognize what goals these organizations believe are important in the early years.
Creativity and the Arts with Young Children concentrates on the importance of integrating the arts into all aspects of the early childhood program. It shows how creative arts enrich a curriculum and become a motivating tool for engaging young children.
Creativity and the Arts with Young Children is based on many years of teaching that creativity course at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The content included in this text, the examples shown, and the activities pro­vided for students have been developed and refined during this process.

Creativity and the Arts with Young Children is a practical introduction to the cre­ative arts in early childhood. It is designed to nurture the creativity of new or experienced early childhood teachers. The first chapter provides the background for understanding creativity. It discusses theories, research, and environmental issues that help recognize the significance of the creative process. Chapter 2 explores the potential for creativity that exists in each person. The focus is on the creative possi­bilities that are within each early childhood edu­cator. The next chapter examines the importance of play in the development of young children and its relationship to creativity. Teachers can design play environments that will nurture young children's creative endeavors in the early childhood classroom. The chapters that follow address specific areas of the creative arts such as art, music, move­ment, and drama. Each chapter includes what, why, and how the art form should be included in early childhood programs, and gives specific ways to enrich their development. Chapters 9 and 10 provide insight into the meaningful inte­gration of the arts across the curriculum. These chapters include developmentally appropriate approaches for making the arts an important component of the classroom content.

Special features of second edition include:

  • Observation of Creativity with Reflections. Each chapter begins with the description of an experience that demonstrates the creative child or adult, doing his best work. The episode is followed by a discussion of what can be learned from observing creative moments that occur throughout the day. At the end of each chapter, questions are posed to assist readers in reflecting on the episode and identifying the creative aspects of their observations.
  • Quotes. The powerful words of artists, philoso­phers, and creative teachers provided through-out the book promote new ways of thinking about creativity and the arts. These quotations provide inspiration to teachers for including the arts in programs for young children.
  • Increased Number of Pictures and Drawings. For many people, visual images provide impor­tant connections for learning. Throughout this book, wonderful images of children and adults are included that demonstrate active participation in the arts. In addition, specific examples of chil­dren's work are included to show the range of cre­ative possibilities across the early childhood pe­riod. These provide another way of understanding the creative potential of young children.
  • Expanded Research. Each chapter includes new research and publications related to the creative arts, visual arts, music, movement, and drama.
  • Possibilities for Adult Learners. At the end of each chapter, there are several examples of activ­ities that can be used with adults. These activi­ties provide opportunities for students in college courses to experience the power of the arts and the creative process for themselves.
  • Open-Ended Activities for Young Children. Each chapter includes open-ended activities for young children. Examples are provided for both PreK-K and primary grades so adult students can recognize opportunities for the creative arts across the early childhood developmental span. The focus of these activities is on diverse and unique responses instead of on ‘cute products.’
  • Additional Reading. This section at the end of each chapter provides references for additional reading on the chapter's topic. These sources are for students who want to expand their knowl­edge of a subject or search for additional infor­mation on these topics.
  • Application of Theory. Chapters include exam­ples of thematic units, centers, projects, and ac­tivities related to the application of theory.
  • Children's Literature. Children's books are a resource that provides additional support for learn­ing about the arts and creative thinking. Each chapter includes recommended and recently pub­lished books to extend children's understanding and provide a literary connection to the arts.
  • Expanded Helpful Web Sites. An expanded list­ing of Internet resources is included in the Online Companion. These on-line resources provide additional informa­tion related to the content of each chapter and identify other avenues for obtaining current information.
  • Appendices. Much of the information contained in the appendices of the first edition has been incorporated into the chapters. The appendices of this second edition provide a great deal of practical information for the teacher to use in early childhood classrooms. The appendices also provide stories for dramatizing and a creative unit to demonstrate some unique possibilities. The appendices are a resource for educators and pro-vide new materials that will enrich classroom offerings.
  • Key Terms and the Glossary. When a new term or concept is introduced in the text, it ap­pears in color print. The bolded terms are listed at the end of each chapter and defined in the glos­sary at the back of the book. Terms used by artists in their field also are included. These terms and definitions can be used to expand the vocabulary of early childhood teachers and may be used with children as they participate in the arts.

Rebecca Isbell and Shirley Raines have pre­sented us with a wonderful book on creative arts with young children. As they state, the creative arts are a powerful tool when used with young children. It accommodates to their needs and means of instruction. I do not know why we have had so little of this kind of education. …The authors use separate chapters in addressing specific areas of the creative arts: art, music, movement, drama, and literature. They use inspiring quotations from artists, philoso­phers, and creative teachers throughout the book to promote new ways of thinking about creativ­ity in the arts. They also use pictures, open-ended activities, and children's literature to stimulate creativity and imagination. I feel confi­dent that readers in the early childhood educa­tion field will find many helpful ideas in this book for developing creativity. – E. Paul Torrance, author of Georgia Studies of Creative Behavior

Isabell and Raines believe that creative classrooms begin with a teacher who is knowledgeable about the creative process and can effectively in­tegrate all of the arts into a program that engages and inspires young children. The content of Creativity and the Arts with Young Children is designed to help early childhood ed­ucators in this exciting adventure. Thorough in its coverage, the book speaks to children with special needs and cultural diversity, leaving readers with the most complete information regarding arts in the young child’s learning environment.

Education / Policy

Discipline, Achievement, and Race: Is Zero Tolerance the Answer? by Augustina H. Reyes (Rowman & Littlefield Education) 

Discipline, Achievement, and Race provides a comprehensive analysis of policy, the practice, the affects, and recommendations for solutions to the exclusionary discipline policies of zero tolerance.

Zero tolerance refers to the state-mandated school discipline policies that have gained national popularity for their ‘get tough’ approach on student misconduct. Zero tolerance became popular on the stage in Columbine, Colorado and other states experiencing student kill­ings. In 1974, an eighteen-year-old honor student shot and killed a janitor and firefighters in a well-planned attack on his school. Since 1974 there have been thirty-seven school shootings. Following Col­umbine, school districts made enormous investments in school security equipment, including metal detectors, cameras and student and staff identi­fication card systems. Schools have limited the number of entrances to cam­puses and searched backpacks and lockers. Some schools have used bomb-sniffing dogs. Lock-down drills, hotlines, and campus police are used in many campuses. In 2000, a Palm Beach County, Florida, school student walked into a school and killed a teacher. The school was fully equipped with the most sophisticated security equipment, including a card-access system and a full-time guard. Principals have learned that expensive equipment is not enough to maintain a sale school environment.

The evidence from Columbine and successful campus crime-prevention efforts show that school climate and good relationships with students are the best crime prevention tools. According to a U.S. Secret Service report, in 75 percent of the school shootings, the students told someone else about the shootings. School districts in Twentynine Palms, California; Fort Collins, Colorado; Elmira, New York, have all prevented major violent crimes by using information provided by students and staff. Crime prevention comes from investments in resource personnel counselors, staff development, and student development. Other resources include provid­ing teachers and other staff with communication and management skills. The intent of zero tolerance policies that prevent violent crime is important for every school. While Department of Education reports show schools to be one of the safest places for our children, school safety should be the primary con­cern of every school principal. School safety takes precedence over school testing and many other school programs.

The concerns with zero tolerance policies are the thoughtlessness with which they are implemented and the extension of crime-prevention policies to daily school behavior defined as discipline infractions. The lack of admin­istrative flexibility and discretion led to student expulsions for the possession of Midol, a misplaced butter knife in a truck, and coming to school without a uniform when the family could not afford to buy the uniform. According to Discipline, Achievement, and Race, the original intent of providing school safety by keeping guns, other weapons, drugs, tobacco, and violence off the school campus has evolved to the criminaliza­tion of student behavior. The overrepresentation of Latino African American, low-income, poor, and at-risk students in zero tolerance discipline categories fueled a debate about the real intent of these policies. Are there more real alternatives that also produce better achievement?

The difficult question is whether or not zero tolerance after ten years of implementation is the most effective method to judge adolescent behavior.

The purpose of Discipline, Achievement, and Race is to increase the school principal's understand­ing of zero tolerance policies and their lifelong consequences. This book identifies and discusses the policy and the practices of zero tolerance nationally and for selected states.

Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEP) and the expansion of zero tolerance into school disruptions will be analyzed. The professional beliefs of teachers and principals in context of a national and state, school discipline policy environment that has silenced the professional beliefs of principals and teachers are explored.

Chapter 1 provides the national context. The 1997 case of Timothy Nanvares was not unique to Texas. The stage for the Navares case was set during the 1990s when a number of school shootings became high profile news events, culminating with the April 1999 killings at Columbine High School. News coverage and expert testimony predicted a wave of juvenile crime, even as the U.S. Department of Justice reported a 20 percent decrease in crime and a 30 percent decrease in juvenile crime during 1990-1999. During this period, U.S. Census data showed an increase of minority populations, particularly a growth bubble that represented minority youth. Public testimony predicted a juvenile crime bomb with the "coming of 40 million 10 year old and under ... fatherless, godless and jobless". School dis­tricts across the United States developed ‘zero tolerance’ policies that were codified in the state statutes of education and in criminal procedures. The zero tolerance policies gave absolute power to juvenile authorities in collabo­ration with school officials. The goal of the new policy was to remove stu­dents who were troublemakers from the classroom through suspension or expulsion. School discipline was no longer an issue of adolescent behavior; it became an issue of criminal record.

Chapter 2 defines zero tolerance. Zero tolerance refers to public school discipline policy that applies automatic, prescribed, mandatory sanctions for student discipline infractions with little or no consideration to the conditions, circumstances, intent, or understanding of the individual committing the offense. Zero tolerance policies are enforced by school officials who may not have or may choose not to exercise any discretion and flexibility. Zero tolerance policies mandate expulsion and suspension for specific discipline infractions that his­torically were dealt with using counseling, mediation, teacher intervention or teacher classroom management techniques. The federal laws were tied to federal funding in public school, through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. The ESEA required that federal funding be withheld from school districts that did not enforce the PL IO3-227.

Chapter 3 discusses disciplinary alternative education programs. Reactions to school shootings and perceived school violence spurred state legislatures to develop safe school legislation to frame all student discipline actions and consequences. Theoretically, the most severe disciplinary infrac­tions lead to student isolations or the use of DAEPs. In practice, DAEPs in the United States and Texas were used to isolate problem students. The dis­proportionate enrollment of urban, African American, Hispanic, low-income, at-risk, and male students raises concern about the intent and practice of DAEP policy. In 2004, African Americans made up 13.5 percent of all the first graders in Texas and 37 percent of all the first graders and 38 percent of all the third graders in the DAEP. A com­mon trend in zero tolerance violations is the disproportionate number of chil­dren of color who are disciplined or separated out of the regular school into disciplinary alternative education programs as early as the first grade. This chapter defines DAEP and discusses the operation of Texas DAEPs in the context of state policy. It sum­marizes DAEP program enrollment, teacher certification, achievement, and curriculum policies. This chapter also defines and describes the JJAEP, dis­cusses JJAEP policy, and discusses how JJAEPs are used.

Chapter 4 tells the courtroom drama. It discusses the evolution of zero tolerance policies from policies intended to control criminal activity of guns, drugs, and felonies to policies intended to control student development. During a period of adolescent development when students need adults to guide the behavior of future citi­zens, instead of guidance they receive citations. For example, the names of all the students who commit class C misdemeanor offenses of zero tolerance policies will be entered into a criminal justice information management system. While their criminal records are expungable offenses upon the age of majority, 25 percent of examined cases do not return to expunge their teen record (citation).

In Chapter 5 teachers talk about discipline, suspensions, and zero tolerance policy. The purpose of this chapter is to report the findings identified after conducting five focus groups of public school teachers in middle and high schools in one New England state. Through these focus groups, Reyes’ team sought to better understand what drives teachers' attitudes toward the use of zero toler­ance and other exclusionary disciplinary measures in their schools, and whether these are related to the types of schools they teach in, the level of support they feel from their administration, their level of experience, and the population of students they teach.

Chapter 6 relates how exclusion is not the only alternative: it discusses the children left behind project. In this chapter, Karega Rausch and Russell Skiba focus on the context of a national and state school discipline police environment that has silenced the professional beliefs of principals and teachers. This chapter describes many of the philosophies and approaches of principals interviewed as part of the Children Left Behind project at the University of Indiana, an endeavor seeking to begin a statewide dialogue about disciplinary philoso­phy, policy and practice and disseminate research-validated and locally gen­erated alternative disciplinary practices to key educational stakeholders in an attempt to influence disciplinary practice and policy in one midwestern state.

Chapter 7 gives the conclusions. Current research and the interviews in Discipline, Achievement, and Race describe numerous success­ful alternative student discipline strategies that result in increased student achievement. There is a need to analyze zero tolerance data, reevaluate zero tolerance policies, refocus on the original intent of zero tolerance, and provide teachers and administrators with the time and resources to develop tomorrow's citizens. Mentoring, anger management, peer mediation, cross-cultural understanding and the use of behavior models like Consistency Management all require time from the school day and funding for staff devel­opment and materials. Zero tolerance was never intended to segregate minority, low-income, and at-risk students. It was intended to remove drugs, guns, other weapons, murders, and students recommended by the courts. It was not intended to remove students who disrupt the classroom. Classroom management and other techniques were intended to control classroom behavior. Innovate alternative alternative schools were intended for nonliterate students who misbehave when they do not understand the instruction. Teachers and administrators have the capability to restore discipline in the classroom but must have the time and resources to complete the mission.

Professor Reyes's work expertly details the criminalization of student behavior and forces us to exam­ine more closely zero-tolerance policies that disproportionately affect students of color and poor stu­dents classified as at-risk. The book is a must-read for faculty in principal preparation programs and for school leaders who are concerned about a more socially just educational system. – Linda C. Tillman, associate professor of educational leadership, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The research by Professor Reyes makes a significant contribution to the ongoing research on school safety and how some school policies adversely affect minority students. In addition, she offers some important recommendations that education decision makers should consider as they formulate safe school policies. – Richard R. Verdugo, senior research scientist, Human and Civil Rights Division, National Education Association, Washington, D.C.

This book is a must-read for those concerned for the safety and academic well-being of our nation's youth. Professor Reyes's well-researched and documented book reminds us that metal detectors, armed school police, and rigid school behavior policies do little to stop school shootings. Positive school climate and good relationships between adults and their learners are the best strategies for school safety and academic achievement. – H. Jerome Freiberg, John & Rebecca Moores Professor, University of Houston; founder of Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline

Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, inequalities in public education are evident in the number of Black and Latino students who are held back, fail to graduate from high school, or have been removed from school by zero-tolerance discipline policies. Reyes contends that when ineffective zero-tolerance discipline policies disproportionately remove minority and low-income students from schools, the very roots of a democracy are threatened. It is important for educators to understand the effects of zero-tolerance discipline policies on low-income students, at-risk students, special education students, and students of color. It is equally important that edu­cators critically investigate the effects of zero-tolerance discipline policies, and re-evaluate the use of these policies in public schools. Discipline, Achievement, and Race provides the necessary information, offering a comprehensive analysis of policy and practice and recommending solutions to the discipline policies of zero tolerance. It will be of interest to teachers, principals and assistant principals, counselors, and concerned parents.

Education / Social Sciences / Race Relations

A Curriculum of Repression: A Pedagogy of Racial History in the United States by Haroon Kharem (Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education Series:  Peter Lang) 

A Curriculum of Repression examines the pedagogy of white supremacy in the United States, the American Colonization Society, and the eugenics movement during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. According to author Haroon Kharem, both education and the larger society promoted the idea of the sacred mission of Anglo-Christians, who were seen as God's chosen people. Public policy and education were used to teach whites that black people were inferior and unsuitable for citizenship. Federal, state, and local governments, as well as religious leaders in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, argued for the removal of all black people from the United States. Others used education as a means of discrediting the intelligence of African Americans while, at the same time, miseducating and deculturalizing African Americans to artificially create a homogenous society.

While many have chronologically examined the historical evolution of the ideological beliefs of white supremacy, Kharem, Assistant Professor of Education at Brooklyn College, in A Curriculum of Repression has chosen to examine how white supremacy pedagogically ensured its influence upon the American public and how it continues to influence education. While there is a wealth of scholarly works on white supremacy and how it has historically influenced the American public to believe in black inferiority, these studies have not focused upon the men who governed and framed this nation's laws formulated white supremacist ideology, made it the law, and taught the American public blacks were not only inferior, but also a threat to this nation's well-being. Furthermore, the plan to remove all black people from American society, keeping them in poverty, and the insidious eugenics movement that eventually led to the rise to Nazi ideology and the resurgence of social Darwinism in the form of statistical measurements of intelligence are also a part of maintaining white supremacy in the United States.

A Curriculum of Repression, divided into six sections, follows both a historical and thematic arrangement. This first chapter introduces certain concepts and definitions of white supremacy, its ideas and the specific ways white supremacist thought maintains its control in America. It includes the purpose of the study, the background of the problem, methodologies that explain how this study will view white supremacy through the knowledge of oppressed groups and their hermeneutic interpretations of history and culture, and the significance of the study.

Chapter 2 describes white supremacy and its manipulative influence upon the American people and its control of the public school system in the United States. It examines the curriculum of internal colonial education and the curriculum of ‘Americanization’ that reinforces passive obedience, the continual celebration of Anglo Protestant American culture, events and mythical heroes used to indoctrinate children. It investigates the cultural values, patriotic nationalism, political and economic systems along with the language, and religion that reflect Anglo Protestant Americanism.

Chapter 3 discusses white supremacy and its maintenance through the curriculum of repression and exclusion. It analyzes Anglo Protestant culture as it seeks to Americanize children through education.

Chapter 4 investigates the American Colonization Society, the foundations of white supremacist ideology, and how white government and public figures articulated a theory that black people were inferior and a threat to the nation's security. Chapter 5 concentrates on how white supremacy turned to scientific determinism to validate racism from the colonial period to the eugenics movement in the United States in the twentieth century, and how it incorporated an ideology of black inferiority and set out to influence public policy concerning education and crime. Chapter 5 also addresses how white supremacy continues to manipulate public policy that causes inequity and disparity within American society. Chapter 6 explores the debate of I.Q. and its claim that African Americans are less intelligent than whites. While individual wealth plays a part in the opportunities of education, public policy shapes the lives of those who have and those who have not and the widening destructive disparity of economic resources.

A Curriculum of Repression sheds new light on the fact that these old beliefs are still operating in American society. Hopefully, this will cause new debates concerning this ideology, educate the American public forthrightly about what white supremacy actually is, and begin to implement and enforce public policies to bring about a more equitable and emancipatory educational system in our society. A Curriculum of Repression is not only significant for scholars, but also for teachers in understanding why most urban schools remain in poverty and why most urban students continue to play catch up with white students in better suburban schools, and for school administrators, who need a working knowledge of white supremacy and how they consent to white supremacist public policy set in place by government officials.

Education / Special Education

The Deaf Experience: Classics in Language and Education edited by Harlan Lane, translated from the French by Franklin Philip (Gallaudet Classics in Deaf Studies Series: Gallaudet University Press) 

The seminal study of the antecedents of Deaf culture is now back in print. Edited by renowned scholar Harlan Lane, The Deaf Experience presents a selection of the earliest essays written by members of the nascent French Deaf community at the time of the Enlightenment, a rich period of education for Deaf people.
Many historians attribute the commencement of a renaissance in American deaf education in the 19th century to the influence of Deaf French writers Lane, the Matthews Distinguished University Professor in the Psychology Department at Northeastern University, Boston, MA, explores these antecedents of Deaf culture in this collection. The Deaf Experience shows how an extraordinary era of French Deaf education influenced the adoption of the manual method by the first schools for Deaf students in America, in sharp contrast to the oral movement that repressed sign-language-centered education for nearly a century afterward.

This fifth volume in the Gallaudet Classics in Deaf Studies series features works written from 1764 up to 1840. First, Pierre Desloges offers a paean to sign language in an excerpt from his book, the first ever published by a deaf person. Saboureux de Fontenay and Jean Massieu, two prominent leaders, relate their respective experiences in autobiographical accounts. In separate essays, Charles-Michel de l’Epée and Roch-Ambroise Sicard describe their systems for teaching manual French, followed by a critique of these methods by Roch-Ambroise Bébian, a well-known hearing friend of Deaf people during that era. Ferdinand Berthier, a renowned Deaf teacher and writer in the 19th century, concludes with a history of Deaf people up to that time.

Founded in 1980, Gallaudet University Press has published more than 300 titles on Deaf studies and issues. A nonprofit division of the only liberal arts university for Deaf and hard of hearing students, Gallaudet University Press publishes scholarly and general interest books, children's books, and sign language and other textbooks.

The Deaf Experience is a seminal work presenting, in clear and stirring language, a selection of the earliest essays written by hearing educators and members of the nascent French Deaf community at the time of the Enlightenment. Deaf studies scholars and students alike will welcome the return of this invaluable resource.

Entertainment / Movies / Arts & Photography / Popular Culture

Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos compiled & edited by Kerry Gammill & J. David Spurlock (Vanguard Productions) 

The ‘monster craze’ among baby-boomers, sparked by the release of hor­ror classics to television in the late 1950s, gave birth to a new phenomenon – the monster magazine. Famous Monsters of Filmland, was the premier publication for young horror film fans.

Issues of the new magazine practi­cally leapt off the newsstand due in no small way to their striking cover paint­ings by Basil Gogos. Like a Bizarro Norman Rockwell, his stylish portraits of horror film characters and stars were seen on magazine covers throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Gogos' Technicolored interpretations of Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Phantom of the Opera, breathed new life into the old black and white images. His use of color and bold, impressionistic brushwork gave a sense of excitement and sophistication to his paintings which has never been matched.

To many the name Basil Logos is as familiar as that of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi or Vincent Price. Logos' paint­ings are as iconic as his subjects. Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos is a celebration of the career of the acknowledged master of film mon­ster portrait art. This long-overdue retrospective, compiled by Kerry Gammill, comic book artist turned conceptual artist and J. David Spurlock, commercial illustrator and pop-culture historian, features high-quality reproductions of many of his most famous paintings as well as many previ­ously unpublished paintings and draw­ings of classic film creatures and actors as well as the artist's magazine, book cover, Rock CD cover art, and movie posters. Also featured are in-depth interviews with the artist and commen­tary from his contemporaries and film professionals.

Basil's art was an amazing gift for me as a filmmaker. Fans knew the movie would terrify them before they got to the theater. – Roger Corman, director of The House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Raven, and Mask of the Red Death

To create paintings of intense beauty featuring Frankenstein's monster, The Creature from the Black Lagoon or even Herman friggin' Munster and turn them into something that is ready to be hung in a gallery is, in my opinion, truly a mad genius at work. – Rob Zombie, Rock musician and director of House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects

Basil's marvelous, moody makeovers of movie maniacs make him a maven of macabre masterpieces. He has truly helped to keep horror fandom and our best fiends ALIVE! – Forrest J. Ackerman, founding editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine

Gogos ...is second to none. His covers are superior to my monster (paintings). Thanks to this collection, his work should endure. – James Bama, legendary artist of sixty-two Doc Savage paperback book covers

Seeing Gogos' art in Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos offers readers a fascinating look at what was one of the last havens for realistic artists during the waning days of the great era of magazine illustration. Gogos’ decades of inspirational art did so much to make being a classic horror movie lover an even more delightfully unique experience – the book brings it all back.

Entertainment / Movies / Biographies & Memoirs

Female Brando: The Legend of Kim Stanley by Jon Krampner (Backstage Books) 

Between 1949 and 1964, Kim Stanley created starring roles in twelve Broadway productions. In roles such as Cherie, the ‘chantoosy’ from Bus Stop; Millie Owens, the angst-ridden adolescent in Picnic; and Sara Melody, the headstrong innkeeper's daughter in A Touch of the Poet, Stanley had critics scrambling for superlatives. She was Oscar-nominated for her work in the films Seance on a Wet Afternoon and Frances, and was also the leading lady of live television drama.

No actress dazzled Broadway like Kim Stanley. She was acclaimed the greatest stage actress of a gen­eration that included Julie Harris, Geraldine Page, and Anne Bancroft. Arthur Penn called her the American Eleanora Duse. Elizabeth Taylor (in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) and Marilyn Monroe (in Bus Stop) copied her stage per­formances on film. Men longed for her; scandal shadowed her. And theatergoers couldn't get enough of this Method-inspired performer from the Actors Studio.

Like other self-destructive icons – Elvis, Marilyn, or Marlon Brando, to whom she was often compared –Stanley's talent was matched only by her ability to undo herself. After fifteen years of stardom, this extraordinary actress walked away from the theater never to return, embarking upon a long Garbo-like odyssey of mystery and reclusiveness. What happened? Female Brando answers that question with a meticulously researched, empathetic biography that tells all – not only about her colorful and caution­ary personal life, but about her unrivaled theatrical brilliance and what became of this stage legend when the house lights went dark. The book traces Stanley’s childhood, her early training, her stardom – and her tragic descent into alcoholism and loneliness.

Entertainment history writer Jon Krampner conducted 225 interviews for the book, says he came to this book out of his interest in live television drama. According to him, Stanley was not an easy person, and neither was writing about her. She was secretive and had a complex, shape-shifting personality, encrusted over with several layers of self-mythologizing. Getting to the heart of that was no easy matter: Sometimes she seemed less a person­ality than a loosely affiliated collection of primal impulses.

Many of her colleagues had died, had Alzheimer's, had pickled their brains in alcohol, or didn't want to talk about her for reasons ranging from still-simmering anger to protectiveness. Family members would cooperate one day and then, with no explanation, not be on speaking terms with Krampner the next. Her worshipful students regarded him as the intellectual equivalent of a grave robber. But many people did speak, many resources on Kim were available, and gradually she came into focus. Still, the whole story is not here. In writing Female Brando, Krampner says, “I've aspired to the Venus de Milo standard: I hope people will find beauty in it, but important parts are missing.”

While Kim was remarkably complex, it's easy to delineate the three things she was best at: acting, teaching acting, and self-destruction. The first is why he wrote this book; the third is why it's so sad.

Kim was the great actress of my generation. She was the muse, the archetype, the female Brando to all of us who aspired to someday do great work on stage or screen. Jon Krampner has done us a huge favor by presenting to us a full picture of this remarkable actress and her life. – Sydney Pollack

I thought I knew Kim Stanley. However, after reading Jon Krampner's excellent biography of Kim, now I really know her. – Eva Marie Saint

Reading Female Brando brings back memories of an actress I adored and idolized. Kim Stanley was the best and brightest actress of her generation, and no other actress has ever illumi­nated Broadway the way Kim did. Krampner takes us to the heart of the demon that made Kim great. Broadway's lights dimmed considerably when that same demon sabotaged her career. Through Krampner's work, Kim shows us what real acting was, is, and should be. – Julie Harris

For those who admired and loved her, this is the book to read. And for those who want to find out about one of our best actresses, this is the book to read. – Jack Klugman

A must for every practicing artist. – Nehemiah Persoff

Female Brando is a compelling story of triumph and tragedy. Much more than a mere cautionary tale, the book is a clear-headed examination of Kim Stanley’s brilliance that places her in the pantheon of great American artists.

Entertainment / Sports / History

Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank: The Unforgettable Era that Transformed Baseball, with DVD – Baseball Comes of Age by Phil Pepe, with a foreword by Bucky Dent (Triumph Books) 

With the advent of steroids and other physically-enhancing drugs in the 1980s,there's no wonder why the 1970s is considered the last ‘clean’ era in the game.

Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank by Phil Pepe reveals the 1970s as the decade that witnessed the most abundant changes in the sport's history. It was the first time a player ever earned a million bucks. Hank Aaron became the all-time home-run king. Electronic scoreboards blazed against the night sky. Fans screamed "Ya gotta believe" and sang "We Are Family." While many fans may recall the most vibrant visuals and well-sung anthems of the era – Rollie Fingers' handlebar mustache, the Houston Astros' mammoth Astrodome and Chicago's Disco Demolition Night – Pepe discovered in his extensive interviewing with players that the decade is the bridge from the ‘old school’ know-how of the game to the ‘nu skool’ physical ability that was not previously associated with the game.

To chronicle the change in the sport that occurred during the '70s, veteran sportswriter Pepe interviewed more than 60 former players, managers, coaches and executives, including: George Steinbrenner, Marvin Miller, Tommy Lasorda, Tim McCarver, Billy Martin, Bowie Kuhn, and George Brett. Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank is an oral history; in it Pepe talks to the stars of the day about their fondest memories and their greatest highlights and captures the spirit of the day through scores of archival photographs. Union leader Marvin Miller recounts St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood’s monumental challenge of the ironclad reserve clause, which dawned the age of free agency. Ron Blomberg recalls his time at bat as the game’s first designated hitter. Earl Weaver and Brooks Robinson describe the Orioles dismantling the Big Red Machine. Ralph Houk and Rusty Staub relive the actions and antics of Tigers rookie sensation Mark ‘the Bird’ Fidrych.

I made the 1971 All-Star team as an alternate. I was to replace Tony Oliva, who got hurt. I remember my [Oakland A’s] teammate, Sal Bando, telling me, ‘Don’t embarrass us and strike out...’ – Reggie Jackson

I used to pound Clemente inside, pound him inside, pound him inside, and he liked the ball out over the plate and he’d hit the ball to right center. I threw a slider down and away and it was a damn good pitch, and he hit a line drive right down the right field line... – Tom Seaver

We were in a car going to get some ice cream, not far from our house in New Jersey, and the guy said over the radio, ‘Thurman Munson just died...crash...’ Audry and I just looked at each other and didn’t say a word for I don’t know how long. – Chris Chambliss

Catfish, Yaz, and Hammerin' Hank proves to be a lot of fun. Through the memories and the marvels of more than 60 voices, Pepe weaves one of the most enjoyable baseball memoirs ever written into a keepsake book, along with a companion DVD featuring players and moments from a decade that changed the game forever.

Fantasy & Science Fiction / Horror

Tarra Khash: Hrossak! by Brian Lumley (Tales of the Primal Land Series: Tor Books) is classic Lovecraftian horror from one of the masters of the form, British Fantasy Award-winner Brian Lumley.

Tarra Khash is a Hrossak, a barbarian from the steppes beyond the River Luhr. A fearless adventurer, Tarra roves the island continent of Theem-hdra in search of his next fortune, his next drink, and warm, willing females to share his bed. The Hrossak is a most fortunate man, for he has faced more than one god during his travels, and so far escaped unscathed . . . .
In Tarra Khash: Hrossak!, seeking to avenge the murder of a beautiful young woman of the half-mystical Suhm-yi race, Tarra joins forces with her husband, now the last of his kind. Each worships a moon-god, and together, their faith and Tarra’s weapons wreak a terrible vengeance on those who stole the treasure of the Suhm-yi and destroyed that noble race. Eager for wealth, Tarra is trapped by a wily old man who has lured him into plumbing the depths of a treasure-filled cavern guarded by golden statues of the Great God Cthulhu. Cthulhu’s treasure is not easily plundered, and Tarra nearly loses his life to the monstrous forces of the Elder God.
Many men have met the lamia Orbiquita, but none have lived to tell of her extraordinary powers of love-making – until Tarra Khash, who treats her as a woman wants to be treated and so earns her forgiveness and his life. Others who assume her to be weakened by love for Tarra Khash are not so lucky.

… These entertaining, unpretentious stories in the pulp tradition show Lumley at his relaxed best. – Publishers Weekly
Lumley deserves a wide audience among those who love Anne Rice . . . John Grisham . . . and Stephen King. – VOYA
An accomplished wordsmith, Lumley wields a pen with the deft skill of a surgeon, drawing just enough blood to titillate without offending his readers. – The Phoenix Gazette
Lumley's strength is in his jovial voice, a diction that dominates the narrative. Lumley's love of his pulp-horror subjects is gleefully apparent. He revels in every telling detail, in stories-within-stories and convoluted histories. – San Francisco Chronicle
Whether humorous or atmospheric and chilling, Lumley’s tales are delightful. – Booklist

A faithful tribute by veteran fantasist Lumley to horror author H.P. Lovecraft. A good addition to most libraries’ horror collections and a title with special appeal to fans of the Cthulhu mythos. – Library Journal on Beneath the Moors and Darker Places

Lumley is the author of the bestselling Necroscope series of vampire novels. An acknowledged master of Lovecraft-style horror, Brian Lumley has won the British Fantasy Award and been named a Grand Master of Horror. His works have been published in more than a dozen countries, have inspired comic books, role-playing games and sculpture, and have been adapted for television. In Tarra Khash: Hrossak!, third in the series Tales of the Primal Land, he is at his usual best.

Health & Fitness / Diet & Exercise

The Culprit and the Cure: Why Lifestyle Is the Culprit behind America's Poor Health by Steven G. Aldana (Maple Mountain Press)
 
As Americans struggle to eat healthy foods, be physically active, avoid chronic diseases, and control body weight, The Culprit and the Cure may act as a lifeline, a beacon of scientific truth and a practical plan for change.

Steven G. Aldana, professor of lifestyle medicine in the College of Health and Human Performance at Brigham Young University, has cut through the marketing hype, sorted through reams of research, and consolidated mountains of evidence to put together a real-world guide to healthy living. His book The Culprit and the Cure is a practical guide that allows real people to improve the quality and length of their lives.

According to Aldana, it’s really quite simple: Lifestyle is the culprit behind our nation’s declining health and increasing problems with obesity and chronic diseases. The cure is transforming unhealthy lifestyles into healthy ones, resulting in chronic disease prevention (and even reversal), a longer life and maintaining a healthy weight. There are no quick fixes: if readers want lifetime benefits, they need to make permanent lifestyle changes.

In The Culprit and the Cure, readers get the ‘whys and the hows’. First, they see the science: why does lifestyle impact the risk of chronic disease, and what are all those research study results really saying? Science has already solved much of the good health puzzle, and here it’s presented in clear, concise terms. Aldana goes on to explain how to have a healthy diet, what makes up good nutrition, how much physical activity is optimum for good health and how to make effective, permanent lifestyle changes. The Culprit and the Cure empowers readers with hands-on tips and achievable guidance for embracing healthy choices. Once they see how this information transforms their lives, Aldana says, they will want to share it with those they care about. 

Now you can connect the dots between a healthy lifestyle and the prevention of chronic diseases. – Midwest Book Reviews
This book is a unique guide to health that examines the need for healthy lifestyle changes in nutrition and exercise. – www.ebook-reviews.net
This book can do more to improve well being, now and for years to come, than the best available medicines. – Walter Willett, Harvard School of Medicine
Every adult, every patient, and every doctor in American should read this book. – Roger L Greenlaw, FACP, Rockford Gastroenterology
No quick fixes or miracle diets here, just accurate information on how to live a long, healthy life. – Total Healthy and Longevity

The Culprit and the Cure presents a wealth of evidence that reveals how a healthy diet, exercise, and other healthy lifestyles can impact life-span and the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases. It provides easy-to-follow guidelines that may help individuals begin and maintain a healthy lifestyle for life. No infomercials here, just the facts from an authority who knows – the author is one of the nation’s most respected experts on chronic disease prevention and an advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the highest ranking health expert in the nation. Still, the only person to help readers have good health is they, themselves.

History / Europe

Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds by Natalie Zemon Davis (Hill and Wang) 

Al-Hasan al-Wazzan – born in Granada to a Muslim family that in 1492 went to Morocco – where he traveled extensively on behalf of the sultan of Fez – is known to historians as Leo Africanus, author of the first geography of Africa to be published in Europe (in 1550). Al-Hasan had been captured by Christian pirates in the Mediterranean and imprisoned by the pope, then released, baptized, and allowed a European life of scholarship as the Christian writer Giovanni Leone; it was then that he wrote his famous Description of Africa. After the sack of Rome in 1527, it is likely that he returned to North Africa.

Drawing on all al-Hasan’s manuscripts – including ones previously unknown – Natalie Zemon Davis in Trickster Travels explores, as no other historian before her, the places and people al-Hasan encountered and the books that shaped his work. Readers see him studying law and theology in a Fez madrasa; talking with nomads and merchants; reciting poetry; teaching Arabic to a cardinal in Rome; creating an Arabic-Hebrew-Latin dictionary with a scholarly Jew in Bologna. And readers see him emerge as an author, using Arabic genres but writ­ing in Italian and Latin for European readers.

Further, Davis, Henry Charles Lea Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton University, in Trickster Travels describes all the sectors of her hero's life in detail, scrutinizing the evidence of al-Hasan's movement between cultural worlds; the Islamic and Arab traditions, genres, and ideas available to him; and his adventures with Christians and Jews in a European community of learned men and powerful church leaders.

… Al-Hasan al-Wazzan had the (mis)fortune to live in ‘interesting times’: the Ottomans were on the march, the Habsburgs were on the rise and the Protestants were alarming the pope, yet al-Hasan al-Wazzan managed to flit among a myriad of worlds (including, Davis speculates, taking a formerly Jewish wife). Eventually, he returned to a North Africa riven by turmoil and slaughter, and disappeared from our view. He rose above hard-drawn lines and presented "himself simply as an independent polymath," says Davis, and his life provides a lesson in the "possibility of communication and curiosity in a world divided by violence." – Publishers Weekly
… Davis, a history professor, posits that her purpose is to portray his place in the sixteenth-century society of North Africa, peopled by Berbers, Andalusians, Arabs, Jews, and blacks, and with "Europeans eating away at its borders." With 16 pages of black-and-white illustrations and 100 pages of notes, Davis has brilliantly re-created the man and his world. – George Cohen, Booklist
Trickster Travels is a masterpiece of the historian’s craft and craftiness. A brilliant storyteller, Natalie Zemon Davis reconstructs the life of Al-Hasan al-Wazzan, the great Renaissance geographer known to the West as Leo Africanus. And what a life it was: exile from Muslim Spain in the wake of the Catholic conquest; restless travels in Africa in the service of the sultan of Fez; capture by pirates and imprisonment in Rome; conversion to Christianity and release from prison; an outpouring of remarkable books, introducing Africa and Islam to European intellectuals; and finally a return to North Africa and to the language, culture and faith in which he had been raised. Davis’ great gift lies not only in her tenacious ability to follow this twisting path but also in her scholarly determination to tease out its rich implications. This is an essential book for anyone who wishes to understand what it means to live between two violently warring worlds. – Stephen Greenblatt

Trickster Travels is an engrossing, accessible and engaging study of Leo Africanus and his famous book, which introduced Africa to European readers. In this fascinating book, Davis offers a virtuoso study of the fragmentary, partial, and often contradictory traces that al-Hasan al-Wazzan left behind him, and a superb interpretation of his extraordinary life and work. The book bears witness to the possibilities for connection, exchange, and even intimacy among peoples living in a divided world, and to the many ways that they negotiate cultural barriers and fuse divergent traditions.

History / U.S.

Liberty or Death: Wars That Forged a Nation by Carl Benn & Daniel Marston, with a foreword by Fred Anderson (Essential Histories Specials Series: Osprey Publishing) is a multi-volume history of war seen from political, strategic, tactical, cultural and individual perspectives. 

Read them and gain a deeper understanding of war and a stronger basis for thinking about peace. – Robert O’Neill, Series Editor

At the beginning of the 18th century, America was a colonized land with European countries squabbling over its many natural resources. In 1754, the French-Indian War broke out as a decisive battle between the French and British for control of North America. The French and Indian War was the American theatre of the Seven Years' War and a crucial part of the six-decade process that led to the destabilization of the Native American tribes who had till then been key players in the battle for imperial domination. As the Native Americans found themselves overwhelmed by the Anglo-American expansionist scheme following the war, their capacity to influence military outcomes in North America was undermined.

Liberty or Death is comprised of three parts: I: The French-Indian War 1754-1760, II: The American Revolution 1774-1783, and III: The War of 1812.

Britain did eventually prevail, but greater British governmental involvement in North America following their victory led to an increasing number of clashes with the staunchly independent American colonies, resulting in open rebellion in 1775.

The American Revolution culminated in an independent United States of America and during the following years, there was an uneasy peace between Britain and the fledgling States. However, in 1812 war broke out again, and the ensuing bloody conflict between British, French, and First Nations' forces tore through the continent. Liberty or Death discusses the wars in North America from the beginning of the French-Indian conflict until the end of the War of 1812 which brought permanent peace between Britain and the United States.

The book was written by bestselling historians, Carl Benn, Chief Curator of the City of Toronto's Museums and Heritage Services, and Daniel Marston, Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK. They also examine the just-war ideology propagated in 1811, the War of 1812's most significant legacy, that has been evoked as the rationale for every American War since then.

The decision to combine these three excellent books in a single volume is a most welcome one, for the wars they describe, while they are seldom treated together, were intimately interrelated ... the connections between them become apparent when they are seen in juxtaposition. – Professor Fred Anderson

Read them and gain a deeper understanding of war and a stronger basis for thinking about peace. – Professor Robert O'Neill, Series Editor

The three wars so well described in this volume can be seen as the crucible in which Americans forged their enduring attitudes toward the justification and practice of war...nearly two centuries after the Treaty of Ghent we live with the consequences of these three critical conflicts, even now. – Fred Anderson in the Foreword

Written in an accessible fashion, Liberty or Death, the compilation of three Osprey books from the Essential Histories Series, is a must read for understanding our nation's roots.

History / U.S. / Civil War / Biographies & Memoirs

To Rescue My Native Land: The Civil War Letters of William T. Shepherd edited by Kurt H. Hackemer (Voices of the Civil War Series: The University of Tennessee Press) 

“The salary of a private in the army is $12, monthly and fed & uni­formed. I know it is a hard life, but anything for my Native Land," wrote William T Shepherd, a Wisconsin native enlisted in Battery B of the First Illinois Light Artillery. During his three years in the Western theater, Shepherd served as both an artilleryman and a clerk in several ordnance offices, all the while carefully recording his experiences and observations in letters to his family.

A keen chronicler of camp life and the vicissitudes of soldiering, Shepherd, as told in To Rescue My Native Land, wrote extremely detailed and enlightening battle accounts. Highly educated compared with many other soldiers of his rank, Shepherd expresses the life of the common combatant in an unusually articulate way. He saw significant action at Fredericktown, Belmont, Forts Henry and Donelson, and Shiloh, with his battery playing a critical role in several of these engagements. In the fall of 1862, he became an ordnance clerk. From a unique vantage point rarely known by historians, he described the logistical apparatus supporting the Union advance against Vicksburg and later across Tennessee.

In his new capacity as a rear-area soldier, Shepherd had the opportunity to interact with local civilians. He regularly attended civilian churches, had black servants and housekeepers and witnessed ‘colored balls,’ met Southerners on the street on a daily basis, and boarded in a Southern home. Because of these experiences, Shepherd came to view the South's citizens as more than battlefield abstractions, and his understanding of the occupied South grew increasingly nuanced.

Shepherd did not see himself as a gallant adventurer seeking the romance of war. He was too reflective, too intellectual, and too spiritual to pursue such a reckless course. Shepherd thought deeply about the com­ing war and wondered how it might touch the people back home. "Our two American principles of freedom and liberty must be preserved," he wrote on April 21, 1861. "Often when thinking of the great question of the day my heart jumps – sending a chill through my veins, inspiring my soul with courage to do anything in the cause of my country & liberty. I never had such feelings before. It seems as though I must do something to rescue my Native land from destruction and ruin, though my efforts be ever so weak."

Trying to understand Shepherd's desire to ‘do something’ presents readers with an opportunity to explore the inner world of a Union soldier. His distinctive voice, moreover, helps readers locate common patterns of thought and action among other men who gave themselves to the Northern cause. Shepherd's religious expressions are of particular note in To Rescue My Native Land. Such sentiments reveal a dimension of the Union soldiers' experience that are often overlooked. Historians have generally empha­sized the piety of the Confederate rank and file without fully considering that Northern soldiers also made meaning of the war through a Christian framework. Shepherd drew comfort from knowing that God provided a suit of armor for his chosen ones. If the suit had a chink and he was struck by an enemy missile, Shepherd knew a heavenly award awaited him. His faith in God was more than a source of courage in battle. Shepherd envisioned the United States as divinely blessed, and treason, in his mind, constituted a violent act against God's will. The only honorable response, Shepherd concluded, was to enlist and fight in a cause that had both politi­cal and religious stakes. "The cause is a good one," he wrote on April 23, 1861, "especially as a person who knows the love of God can be of service to his Heavenly Father as well as his country – I care not for military honors & glory."

Author Kurt H. Hackemer, associate professor of history at the University of South Dakota, explains to readers how he came to write To Rescue My Native Land; while home on Christmas break from his second year of graduate school in the winter of 1990, he ran across an article in the Kenosha News titled "Letters Bring War Home." In the wake of Ken Burns's acclaimed Civil War documentary that aired on public television, a local reporter had visited area archives, located letters written during that conflict by area sol­diers, and printed excerpts in the paper. All of the excerpts were interest­ing, but those written by a young soldier named William Tryon Shepherd caught his eye. His prose was clear and his descriptions were compelling. Something about his writing made Hackemer want to learn more, and so he paid a visit to the old headquarters of the Kenosha County Historical Society and asked to browse through his letters. What he found absolutely amazed him. Even as a young graduate student, he understood that Civil War-era letter collections were not unusual. A quick perusal of library databases and press catalogs confirmed that Willie Shepherd ran the risk of being just one more voice amid many. However, the more he looked through his letters, the more convinced he became that he had something unique to offer scholars and enthusiasts almost 150 years later.

This collection has several characteristics that, taken together, offer an almost unmatched combination. To begin with, Willie was an invet­erate letter writer. The collection housed at the Kenosha County Historical Society's new History Center, written primarily to his parents but also on occasion to his siblings, contains over 250 letters. This subset of his larger letter-writing effort is evenly distrib­uted across his entire term of service.

Throughout his three-year enlistment, he generally wrote home several times a week. Not all of his letters have made it into To Rescue My Native Land, because there were times when he did not have much new information to share, but Hackemer have preserved the spirit of the continuous conversation he had with his family during their long separation.

Even within the context of letters written by enlisted men, Shepherd's career was more varied than most. He also had a knack for being in impor­tant places at the right time. Willie started the war in a very traditional role as a member of Battery B, Chicago Light Artillery. He saw combat at the Battles of Fredericktown (where his battery's impact was recognized even in Confederate reports), Belmont (where his battery is credited with saving Ulysses Grant's force from destruction), Fort Henry, Fort Donel­son, and Shiloh. He entered Memphis with the rest of the Union army in July 1862. In September 1862, Shepherd's enlistment deviated from that of most of his contemporaries when he was reassigned to the post ord­nance office in Memphis to serve as a clerk. He performed that duty for the rest of his enlistment but was moved first to the Fifteenth Army Corps ordnance office and then to the Army of the Tennessee's ordnance office. In his new capacity, he described in great detail the logistical apparatus supporting the Union advance from a perspective rarely seen by histori­ans and enthusiasts. He found himself once again right in the middle of historic events, especially during the Vicksburg campaign, where he wit­nessed Union transports running past the city's protective batteries, the siege itself, and was on the second steamer to dock at the levee after the city's surrender. He made it all the way to Chattanooga with William T. Sherman's army before his enlistment expired in the summer of 1864.

Willie's interaction with and observation of Southerners varied quite dramatically over the course of his enlistment and demonstrates the com­plexity of the different types of relationships Union soldiers had with the presumed enemy, especially civilians. As an artilleryman living and fight­ing in the field early in his enlistment, Shepherd generally viewed Southern soldiers and civilians as abstractions, and then rarely in a favorable light. In that sense, he reflected his peers. However, once he became a rear-area soldier, Willie interacted with Southerners in a very different way than he had as a combat soldier. While in Huntsville, Ala­bama, he became friendly with the matron of a local women's college and spent time with her students. She liked him well enough to suggest mar­riage to one of her charges, and he claimed to have become ‘notorious’ among Huntsville women for his gentlemanly behavior. In short, proxim­ity changed his perspective. His letters offer historians a fascinating window into the world of the occupied South, a view not often seen in Civil War letter collections.

There are more than 250 of Willie Shepherd's letters at the Kenosha History Center, a number large enough to require some organization. Hackemer divides the letters into nine chapters and have written a short introduction for each chapter that provides essential context. The first seven chapters cover Willie's service as a combat artilleryman. The last two chapters encompass Willie's time as an ordnance clerk until the end of his enlistment. The first eight chapters include almost all of Willie's known letters home from April 1861 to November 1862, in large part because he saw so many different things in so many places and was such an astute observer of all that happened around him. The ninth chapter covers a longer period of time than any other chapter and does not contain all the letters he wrote from December 1862 until July 1864. Included are thirty-five letters that focus pri­marily on Willie's interaction with Southern civilians, life in a garrison town, and observations about the Union army's logistical tail.

To Rescue My Native Land traces the evolution of a young recruit to veteran artilleryman and administrative operative and provides a unique look at the behind-the-scenes operations of several of the Civil War's most important engagements.

Hackemer has been reading Willie Shepherd's letters, comparing them with those written by other soldiers, and thinking about his Civil War experi­ence for a long time now. In the end, Willie provides an informed and highly readable look at enlisted life from an insider's perspective, and a unique one at that. He fascinated Hackemer for over a decade, and he will do the same for those who take the time to peruse his writings home.

History / U.S. / 19th Century

Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America by James Green (Pantheon) 

The decades following the Civil War witnessed a surge of labor battles. Nowhere was this struggle as fierce as in Chicago, the industrial powerhouse of the Midwest. On May 5, 1886 Americans awoke to the news that a bomb had exploded during a Chicago labor rally, the largest national strike Americans had ever seen. The bomb was thrown by a person who was never identified.

The mass hysteria it created, followed by a sensational trial and executions, made headlines across the country and created the nation’s first red scare.

Shortly after, labor leaders August Spies and Albert Parsons, along with six more alleged anarchists, stood convicted of murder on sparse evidence. Four of them went to the gallows in 1887; another committed suicide. The surviving three received pardons in 1893. National sentiment turned against the burgeoning labor movement, ending a moment of hope for the nation's working class.

Death in the Haymarket brings these remarkable events to life, re-creating a tempestuous moment in American social history. Author James Green recounts the rise of the first great labor movement in the wake of the Civil War and the epic twenty-year battle for the eight-hour workday. He shows how the movement overcame numerous setbacks to orchestrate a series of strikes that swept the country in 1886, positioning the unions for a hard-won victory on the eve of the Haymarket tragedy.
As he captures the frustrations, tensions and heady victories, Green also gives readers a portrait of Chicago, the Midwestern powerhouse of the Gilded Age. Readers see the great factories and their wealthy owners, including men such as George Pullman and get an intimate view of the communities of immigrant employees who worked for them. Throughout, readers are reminded of the increasing power of newspapers as, led by the legendary Chicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill, they stirred up popular fears of the immigrants and radicals who led the unions.

Death in the Haymarket also brings to life the principals in this tragedy: the anarchists, Albert and Lucy Parsons, who became infamous international celebrities; the mayor, who tried to keep Chicago from erupting like a volcano; the police officers who found themselves in harm's way; the lawyers who argued over the anarchists fate; and the many people all over the world, from Emma Goldman to Oscar Wilde, whose lives were changed by the Haymarket tragedy.

Green, professor of labor history at the University of Massachusetts, says, “I decided to write about Chicago, its immigrant workers and the Haymarket affair because I wanted to write history on a grand, even epic, scale. Most of the accounts of labor and radical movements I read, and some that I wrote, kept workers' struggles on the margins of American history, almost as a sideshow in the greater story of the United States and its people. In Death in the Haymarket, stories of immigrants and workers are presented as part of the larger national narrative, so that the readers will see how the lives and struggles of once invisible working people affected an entire society at critical point in the history of American capitalism.”

James Green tells a powerful story of Chicago, America and the industrial world of the nineteenth century. His talents as a historian and a writer bring to life social and political struggles that helped make modern American society. – Steven Hahn, Pulitzer Prize winning author of A Nation Under our Feet
Green’s re-creation of this terrible moment exposes the deep divisions that marred America at the dawn of the industrial age. As the nation again struggles with wrenching economic change, we need to hear the story that Death in the Haymarket so passionately tells. – Kevin Boyle, National Book Award winning author of Arc of Justice
The Haymarket affair was a pivotal event in United States history. Green explains its significance with a scholar’s sure grasp of context and a storyteller’s skill at weaving a dramatic narrative. – Michael Kazin, author of A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan
It’s about time that the great dramas in the rise of an American labor movement earned center stage in the history of American capitalism. Death in the Haymarket is a great read – and a required one. – Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers’ Republic
Filled with the suspense of a good novel, Death in the Haymarket vividly illuminates the shifting industrial terrain of late nineteenth-century America. This is a work of art as well as history. – Alice Kessler-Harris, Bancroft Prize winning author of In Pursuit of Equity

At a time when labor leaders fight to inject new meaning into America's labor movement and transportation strikes highlight labor disputes, Death in the Haymarket illuminates the beginnings of those movements and their considerable effects on American society. Death in the Haymarket brilliantly restores labor unions – once one of the nation's great social and economic movements – to their central role in the growth of American capitalism in the late nineteenth century. Blending a gripping narrative, outsized characters and a panoramic portrait of a major social movement, Death in the Haymarket is an important addition to the history of American capitalism and a moving story about the class tensions at the heart of Gilded Age America.

History / U.S. / State & Local

Homeplace Geography: Essays for Appalachia by Donald Edward Davis (Mercer University Press) 

Homeplace Geography is a series of essays, arranged chronologically in the order in which they were first written, representing Donald Edward Davis's twenty-year career as a writer, environmental activist, and scholar of all things Appalachian. Davis, a native of Northwest Georgia, explores the region, consistently under attack by mining interests, developers, and the tourist industry, and consistently misunderstood by scholars. Approaching this unique region from both historical and environmental angles, award-winning author Davis offers twenty essays to help illuminate the problems, peoples, and places of what may be the oldest mountain range in the world.

Several of the essays in Homeplace Geography were published in independent journals with somewhat limited audiences, while others were never formally submitted for publication. A few of the writings were reprinted in several different works, including the opening chapter, "Homeplace Geography." Nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize, this essay was originally published in 1989 in Mescechahe, one of America's first bioregional publications. "Homeplace" speaks of a lost rural landscape.

The second essay, "On Building Ecological Fences," was printed in the Canadian journal Trumpeter in 1988. The essay is based upon a morning encounter with Kentucky environmental activist Hazel King and speaks of the irrelevance of ecological philosophy to rural residents, especially those living in the more remote areas of the mountain region. "The Greening of Appalachia" (Chapter 3) is a substantially revised paper delivered in fall 1989 at the Southern Sociological Society's annual meeting in Norfolk, Virginia. As a former student of social theorist Murray Bookchin, whose scholarly work inspired the formation of the German Green movement, Davis says he was hopeful that the Green Party might one day improve the environmental conditions of the mountain region. He was also aware that the success of the movement depended ultimately on a more inclusive and forthright community organizing approach.

Parts of the fourth chapter, "The Politics of Wilderness in Appalachia," were first read at the fourteenth annual Appalachian Studies Conference held in Berea, Kentucky, in March 1991. Davis argues throughout the now updated essay that wilderness in Appalachia is a social construct that means different things to different stakeholders in the region, each of whom possesses institutional or cultural biases about how best to manage the mountain landscape. Essay five in Homeplace Geography, "Community Organizing in Appalachia," was based upon research Davis did while attending a graduate seminar at the University of Tennessee. Environmental sociologist Sherry Cable was the seminar instructor; her research on the Yellow Creek Concerned Citizens of Middlesborough, Kentucky, forced him to reconsider the question of how group structure might influence the long-term success of grassroots environmental organizations in the region.

"Gore in the Balance" was first published in the Southern Reader in spring 1992. This review essay points out the contradictions in the then-future vice president's environmental words and political deeds, anticipating the nationwide campaign that literally had hundreds of readers of Gore's Earth in the Balance mailing the book directly to Senator Gore's office with the personalized inscription "To Al Gore: Read this Book!"

Essay seven, "Feist or Fiction?: The Squirrel Dog of the Southern Mountains," was first published in the winter 1992 issue of the Journal of Popular Culture. Written with the editorial assistance of sociologist Jeffrey Stotik of the University of South Alabama, the finished article was the culmination of a four-month ethnographic study of the American Treeing Feist Association and its members.

"Roads to Ruins," the eighth essay, was first presented at the 1993 Appalachian Studies Conference in Johnson City, Tennessee, and was edited heavily in its original form by historian Margaret Lynn Brown of Brevard College. The piece was inspired by a three-month investigation of the hiking trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a research stint funded by the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association. The research led to the publication of the regionally best-selling book Hiking Trails of the Smokies, a work published in 1994 that featured Davis as a ‘historical consultant’ and ‘hiker-writer’ for six individual trail narratives. The ninth selection is a brief review essay of Shelby Lee Adams's Appalachian Portraits, a book that has received high acclaim by art critics but was not generally well received by longtime Appalachianists. Davis’ review appeared in the spring 1994 issue of Appalachian Heritage.

The tenth essay in Homeplace Geography, "Grassroots Movements and Rural Policy in Appalachia," was submitted for publication in The State, Rural Policy, and Rural Disadvantage in the Late Twentieth Century, a book that was to be compiled and edited by the late sociologist Fred Buttel of the University of Wisconsin and never published. The updated essay summarizes the history and principal activities of several Appalachian organizations, all of which claim to have represented the grassroots, or least a grassroots perspective, in their public missions. The next selection, "Before Albion's Seed," was presented in 1994 at the seventeenth annual Appalachian Studies Association Conference at Virginia Polytechnic University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Much of the material was derived from Davis’ research while completing his dissertation at the University of Tennessee, a massive project that surveyed environmental and cultural change in southern Appalachia from 1500 to 1800. While a great deal of scholarly attention had focused on the Scots-Irish origins of mountain culture, his thesis was that Appalachian culture is derivative of many cultural traditions, including Native American ones.

"The Forest for the Trees" was first presented at the University of Wisconsin Land Tenure Center's conference "Who Owns America?" that was held at Madison, Wisconsin, in summer 1995. The essay surveys community opposition to US Forest Service timber management practices in the mountain region, which at that time included efforts to stop clear-cutting, extensive road building, and the proliferation of pine-plantation monoculture. The narrative was largely informed by his organizing work with the Armuchee Alliance, a grassroots group formerly incorporated in the state of Georgia.

Selection thirteen, "Living on the Land: Blue Ridge Life and Culture," was printed in the official publication of the Georgia Wildlife Federation in spring 1997.

Chapter 14, "Razing Appalachia," was written for the journal Techné, which is published occasionally by the Jacques Ellul Society. This brief essay, published in the journal's second issue in 1998, concisely and directly discusses the phenomenon of mountaintop removal, perhaps the single most ecologically destructive force in the Appalachians today. The fifteenth chapter, "A New Beginning," consists of several journal entries taken from a yet unpublished memoir, My Place on Earth: A Gordon County Almanac. Davis wrote the diary entries mostly in 1999 as he struggled to reconnect with the hundreds of undeveloped acres that surrounded his John's Mountain home in northwest Georgia.

"Medicinal and Cultural Uses of Plants in the Southern Appalachians" (Chapter 16) was presented at the European Institute of Ecology in Metz, France, during summer 1999. The paper appeared in the bulletin of the French Society of Ethnopharmacology, titled Ethnophamacologia. The study surveys 400 years of medicinal plant use in southern Appalachia and ends with a brief discussion of how plant collecting in the region for medicinal purposes might irrevocably impact mountain ecosystems.

Chapter 17 in Homeplace Geography, "A Whole World Dying," was published in the Journal of the American Chestnut Foundation in 1999 and is based on materials found in the concluding pages of Davis’ book Where There Are Mountains. For more than two centuries, American chestnuts may have been the single most important living thing in the Appalachians as the abundant trees were used for numerous wood products and were an important food source for both humans and livestock. The loss of the trees due to an exotic blight during the 1920s, Davis argues, ensured the end of a truly forest-dependent way of life for those residing in the Appalachian region.

Essay eighteen, "The Land of Ridge and Valley," was excerpted from the introduction to Davis’ book by the same title, which surveys the environmental history of the Northwest Georgia mountains from pre-settlement to the early twentieth century. "The Great Smokies" is a review essay of historian Daniel Pierce's study of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and its immediate environs. Pierce's book, The Great Smokies: From Natural Habitat to National Park, was based on his dissertation at the University of Tennessee and is thus well documented and researched, but includes little treatment of the pre-nineteenth-century Smokies landscape. Davis’ review appeared in the spring 2001 issue of the Appalachian journal.

The concluding essay, “Mountains of Culture: Environmental History and Appalachia," was an invited public address delivered at Berea College in September 2001. Berea's Appalachian Center, which annually presents a symposium on themes related to Appalachian history and culture, sponsored the event. The paper contains considerable unpublished research, some of which was gleaned from portions of Davis’ doctoral dissertation. The narrative's central theme revolves around the idea that the natural environment in Appalachia played a key role in shaping culture, a theoretical position not always embraced by social scientists or historians.

Homeplace Geography ranges from the heartfelt to the enlightening. In the book's title essay, for example, Davis mourns the quickly passing rural culture of Appalachia. Another essay unfolds the relationship between ecological philosophy and grassroots activism while another examines the idea of wilderness as a social construction with varied meanings. The book, like Davis’ career, both documents and celebrates the evolving human/nature relationship of humans and the mountains.

History / U.S. / State & Local / Travel

The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York by Jef Klein, with photography by Cary Hazlegrove (Turner Publishing Company) 

Anything important that has ever happened in New York City either began or ended in the City's historic bars. From the rich hardwood of downtown to the polished brass of uptown, The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York recounts the past of these storied institutions.

The book is about the people and events that have unfolded within these historic establishments; it demonstrates how each bar has served as a backdrop for both business deals and social gatherings, but also for private moments of reflection. Although their patrons have changed over the years, these bars have quietly remained a constant source of fellowship and conviviality from generation to generation. For example, to quote the book: “Even if you failed U.S. history, you will recognize the names and dates associated with the early years of Fraunces Tavern. 1775, 1776, 1783. Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton.”

The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York, written by Jef Klein, who has spent 14 years as a bartender, waitress, and Union Vice President in the restaurant industry in New York City and New Jersey, contains over 30 short profiles comprising vignettes of famous lore and little-known history. The focus of the book is the full page duotone images of the bars by Cary Hazlegrove, which will intrigue both long-time New Yorkers and visitors to The City.

Through text and striking photography, this library-quality volume tells the stories of New York's most significant establishments in a conversational style. A must-have for the New York City local interest section, The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York provides fascinating insight for both lifelong New Yorkers as well as those just discovering what the City has to offer for the first time.

History / U.S. / 20th Century

1973 Nervous Breakdown: Watergate, Warhol, and the Birth of Post-Sixties America by Andreas Killen (Bloomsbury) offers a penetrating look back at the year that gave us Roe v. Wade, White House scandal, and the beginning of the oil crisis. 

1973 Nervous Breakdown is a dissection of a watershed year in American history. To give credit where due, Lester Bangs coined the phrase ‘1973 Nervous Breakdown’ to size up a Rolling Stones album from the same year, but it served as a fitting epitaph to an era.

Tumultuous and exciting, 1973 marked the end of the 1960s and the birth of a new cultural sensibility. 1973 was a year of remarkable creative ferment. From landmark movies such as The Exorcist, Mean Streets, and American Graffiti to seminal books such as Fear of Flying and Gravity’s Rainbow, from the proto-punk band the New York Dolls to the first reality TV show, The American Family, the cultural artifacts of the year testify to a nation in the middle of an identity crisis. The fate of the family, the future of the presidency, the sanity of the masses – all of these bedrocks of society were threatened.  Faced with the collapse of traditional institutions and beliefs, Americans began to rewrite the national story line. ‘Year One of the Culture Wars,’ 1973 cast a long shadow in the realms of politics, social issues, the arts, and music. From Deep Throat, the movie, to Deep Throat, the informant, America seemed to take a sharp turn away from the idealism of the sixties. It marked an end to post-war economic prosperity and the beginning of a conservative backlash against the liberal legacy of Kennedy and Johnson – a backlash that continues today.
1973 Nervous Breakdown offers a fever chart of a year of uncertainty, fragility, and change, a year in which post-war prosperity crumbles and modernism gives way to postmodernism. Andreas Killen, Assistant Professor of History at the City College of New York, ransacks newspapers, magazines, novels, films, TV shows and music to bring to life traumatic events.

A fascinating read, 1973 Nervous Breakdown is a detailed psycho-analysis of one of the darkest, most formative and oddly exuberant years in American consciousness. This was the era when today's political and cultural fault lines were beginning to emerge, and Andreas Killen does a masterful job weaving this essential history of our time. 1973 Nervous Breakdown is far out. – Evan Wright, author of Generation Kill

According to historian Killen, not only are the 1970s the least understood of the postwar decades, 1973 stands as an under-recognized ‘cultural watershed.’ Taking a cue from Mark Kurlansky's 1968 (2004), Killen presents a cogently argued, finely detailed, and thoroughly involving portrait of the year that delivered Roe v. Wade, Watergate, the winding down of the Vietnam War, the Arab oil embargo, the completion of the World Trade Center, repeated hijackings, and an outbreak of cults. … Killen ponders the year's mix of cynicism and decadence, and society's preference for artifice over authenticity. He also chronicles the launching of big-bucks televangelism, the collapse of inner cities as the government pulled funding from domestic programs to support an unconscionable war, and criminality at the highest levels of government, drawing direct parallels between the seventies and our current decade. – Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

Killen makes a winning case . . . for seeing 1973 as a harbinger of our times in the matter of belief, charting the rise not just of Me Decade cults such as est but also of fundamentalist Christianity and offshoots such as the Children of God and the Moonies . . A smart . . . blend of social history and cultural criticism. – Kirkus Reviews

1973 Nervous Breakdown "peers into the American mind at a deeply schizophrenic moment . . . A profile of a year of uncertainty and disorientation but also of tremendous vitality and creativity." Killen transports readers back to that remarkable era. The book is an engaging and eye-opening analysis of a pivotal year in a decade in sore need of liberation both from the long shadow of the 1960s and from the backward shadow cast by the 1980s – a decade whose impact on our own cultural zeitgeist remains powerful.

Home & Garden

Beautiful Madness: One Man's Journey Through Other People's Gardens by James Dodson (Dutton) 

Beautiful Madness is a tale of shared horticultural obsession burrowing deeply into the story of how Americans became such fanatical gardeners and are today, in fact, at the forefront of what everyone agrees is a new Golden Age of Gardening, an unprecedented growth in gardening’s popularity that has – according to a recent Gallop poll – an astonishing eighty percent of adult Americans claiming to be primary hobby gardeners.

During an amazing year of living botanically, in quest of deepening his own ever-consuming knowledge and interest in gardening, James Dodson went behind the scenes of the world's two most important garden shows (the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Chelsea Garden Show in London); spent time with a man nicknamed the Botticelli of Bulbs; attended a rare plant auction of high rollers; got adopted as a personal project by a famous garden club of colonial dames; sneaked into a Hosta convention; communed with the kindred spirits of Thomas Jefferson and John Bartram; and met a man smuggling exotic day lilies in the trunk of his car; spent a weekend on the Isle of Wight with the Madman of Kew and his gardening wife (she keeps Queen Victoria's estate). Dodson, better known for his numerous award-winning books on golfing, also uncovered the secrets of ten or twelve of the Western world's most influen­tial gardens; swiped cuttings from a Founding Father's shrubbery; hung out with some of the most accomplished gardening fanatics on earth; built three new gardens of his own; and wound up hanging per­ilously from a limb on the side of a cliff in Southern Africa, where he capped off his year of discovery by tagging along with four of America's leading plant hunters on an expedition into the rugged jungles to find the exotic new species of tomorrow.

Dodson brings a rare sensibility to the craft – equal parts expertise and humanity. – Austin American-Statesman

Flower fanatics and perfectionist planters will find much to enjoy in Dodson's recounting of his year spent traveling to various gardens around the world. The author, an amateur gardener whose other books are mostly about golf, travels through the eastern U.S., England and Africa, looking at and learning about flowers and plants. … Dodson also takes readers to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate, and to his home state of North Carolina, where, in a touching scene, he reconnects with an elderly friend of his late mother. But while Dodson's travels are interesting enough, there isn't a through-line uniting his adventures other than him collecting plants he hopes will grow in his garden in Maine. While horticulture enthusiasts may delight in Dodson's descriptions of his travails, casual readers may find themselves bored by the descriptions of the plants, places and people he encounters. – Publishers Weekly

Beautiful Madness will do for competitive gardening what Word Freak did for competitive Scrabble, and what Best in Show did for competitive dog breeding – readers will never look at a potted plant the same way again.

Home & Garden / Animal Care & Pets / New Age

The Language of Miracles: A Celebrated Psychic Teaches You to Talk to Animals by Amelia Kinkade, with a foreword by Bernie S. Siegel (New World Library) 

Woof, Meow, Nay....What are your pets saying?
As a professional animal psychic, Amelia Kinkade helps clients locate lost pets, diagnose baffling behavior, and explore the indelible bond that exists between people and their animal companions. From the pets of Hollywood celebrities, to the horses of the British royal family, to the dogs, cats, and iguanas of her workshop attendees, Amelia has done readings on thousands of animals.

But Kinkade's mission is to show that everyone can do what she does with the proper dedication, training, and understanding. In The Language of Miracles, she sets out to demonstrate, enlisting the help of quantum physicists, the mechanics of how these processes work and how we all can learn to talk with animals. "Although they don't always express these psychological dynamics in human fashion," she says, "it is dangerous and foolish to assume animals are not capable of our entire range of emotion. In fact, it has been my experience that their scope is sometimes larger than that of humans not only in terms of their spontaneity, loyalty, ferocity, grace, and unprecedented powers of forgiveness, but I've found that they are also privy to transcendental states of consciousness and more miraculous states of deep healing not accessible to most humans."

Exploring the subtle cues that form the foundation of animal communication, Kinkade shows, in carefully constructed guided exercises, how readers can explore these cues for themselves. With gentle encouragement, she shows how to look for communications typically drowned out in the noise of our television-and media-saturated lives. In The Language of Miracles, Kinkade shares techniques, tools, and exercises for developing one’s ability to communicate with animals.

Amelia Kinkade elegantly synthesizes quantum physics, metaphysics, and animal communication into a fascinating read. This book will forever change and improve your relationships with animals and humans. A must-read for all animal lovers. – Arielle Ford, author of Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul

Amelia continues to revolutionize the controversial arena of animal communication through her insights, wit, and wisdom. Integrating scientific and spiritual perspectives, she guides us through the development of our profound connections with our kindred spirits. – Allen M. Schoen, DVM, author of Kindred Spirits

Filled with amazing stories of seemingly extraordinary communication, not just from Amelia herself, but from the thousands of everyday people she has taught throughout the world, The Language of Miracles will inspire readers to sit down with the animals in their lives and explore the unspoken world between them.

Home & Garden / Crafts & Hobbies

At Play with Appliqué: 7 Template-free Techniques – 10 Step-by-Step Projects by Dilys A. Fronks (C&T Publishing) 

As an accomplished quilt maker and teacher, Dilys A. Fronks have never forgotten that she was once a beginner. She tells how her teacher, Jenny Dove, started her on her quilt making journey in 1983, and how she traveled through the learning maze over the years, gathering as much knowl­edge as possible about the many techniques that come under the broad umbrella of quilt making.

At Play with Appliqué offers a workbook-based approach to appliqué that frees readers to enjoy and experiment. The basic skills, learned in the workshops, are developed through a range of projects which provide the opportunity to understand through practice. Seven techniques (including both hand and machine work) are presented step by step, with two floral projects for each one, for immediate practice. Template-free, yet super-accurate, these methods make appliqué easy.
Fronks advises readers to work their way through the straightforward four-step methods, and enjoy the journey through the workshops and projects. From simple workshop beginnings, there is room for student development through the floral projects. Each of the projects is associated with a particular workshop method, but they are also adaptable so the machine-sewn patterns can be tried by hand and the hand patterns by machine. The workshop methods can be adapted to any of readers’ favorite appliqué patterns as long as a Master Pattern is available.

The aim of At Play with Appliqué is to teach hand and machine appliqué without the use of templates. The book contains patterns drawn to size where possible, step­-by-step instructions, clear illustrations and advice, which only years of teaching can bring.

The beginner's workshops follow a reg­ular format, using a standard 9” square sample, to take readers, by text and illustration, through both the hand and machine methods of tem­plate-free appliqué.

At Play with Appliqué offers interesting and varied projects of increasing levels of difficulty to help readers gain experience and develop the techniques. Fronks shares her tried and true methods for teaching by doing, and she conveys her love for the methods she as perfected – the projects are appealing, inspiring and original. At Play with Appliqué is ideal for beginners who want to learn how to sew accurate and safe appliqué without templates. It is also perfect for more experienced sewers offering original, inspirational and stimulating projects. Teachers will find it an excellent resource book because it is laid out in workshop format.

Home & Garden / Crafts & Hobbies

Designer Machine Embroidery and Textile Decoration: Creating Accessories for Your Body and Sole by Elli Woodsford (Quarry Books) 

Anyone with a simple sewing machine and lots of enthusiasm can create the stunning clothing and accessories shown in Designer Machine Embroidery and Textile Decoration. Readers develop their fabric decoration skills as they learn to create embellished fabrics that can be used to make beautiful clothing and accessories.

From coloring, painting, dyeing, and printing fabrics to a wide range of decorative stitching techniques, talented fabric artist, designer and instructor Elli Woodsford's work shows how the simplest methods can be combined to create astonishing fabric surfaces. Each topic includes step-by-step illustrated instructions and project ideas for jack­ets, bags, shoes, hats, corsets or jewelry. Design and color principles are applied to projects, giving readers an opportunity to produce work that is both contemporary and timeless. The emphasis is on experimentation and creativity, and patterns and templates for all projects included.

Designer Machine Embroidery and Textile Decoration is about creating individual accessories using fabric coloring and machine embroidery. Each chapter contains step-by-step instructions showing basic techniques. These techniques can then be applied to projects that are also in this book. Readers will find a belt, handbags, a hat, jackets, shoes, and a wrap. When needed, patterns are included for the projects.

All the projects feature machine embroidery techniques that can be accomplished on a basic sewing machine that can perform straight, zigzag, and a few additional pattern stitches. Chapter 1 contains four fabric coloration techniques and suggests suitable fabrics for each. All the projects in Chapter 2 onward can be made using commercially dyed and printed fabrics. At every stage, readers are encouraged to make samples before starting a project.

Covering a wide range of machine embroidery and textile decoration techniques, Designer Machine Embroidery and Textile Decoration shows machine embroiderers and those with an interest in fashion and accessories how to apply exciting and innovative techniques to their work.

Home & Garden / Furnishings

The Comfortable Home by Jane Burdon (Ryland Peters & Small) provides inspirational decorating ideas for creating feel-good spaces, plus informed answers to furnishing concerns. 

  • Is your ideal sleeping spot a soft mattress with heaps of pillows or a firm bed with crisp white sheets?
  • Does your day start with a long soak or a short sharp shower?
  • Do you eat at a dining table each night or feel happier with a simple bowl of pasta on the coffee table?

Home comfort is a matter of taste. And, while it's important to live in a visually appealing environment, creating spaces that feel good as well as look good is essential.

In The Comfortable Home, Jane Burdon, stylist and interiors writer, explores Relaxing Spaces, Eating & Cooking Spaces, Sleeping Spaces, Bathing Spaces, and Outdoor Spaces. She advises readers on furniture essentials, from the right bed to the best couch, and looks at the elements contributing to the comfort of each space, from flooring to blankets. A ‘finishes’ section in each chapter details the tactile door handles, perfect flatware, and well-placed rugs that make a difference, and a series of room schemes offers further inspiration.

Illustrated throughout by illuminating photographs, and concluding with a directory of resources, The Comfortable Home gives readers the knowledge to make informed choices when tackling the decoration of home and the confidence to trust their personal instincts.

Readers will learn to create a superbly relaxing and beautiful home. The Comfortable Home offers an abundance of innovative ideas for combining style, practicality, and affordable luxury indoors and out. Whether readers are wrestling with springs and slipcovers or trying to choose between feathers and foam, here are informed answers to an assortment of furnishing dilemmas, told from a subtlely British point of view.

Literature & Fiction

The Portable Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker, edited by Marion Meade (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition: Penguin Books) 

Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) is a literary legend famed for her poetry, short stories, criticism, screenplays, and dramas. She was a founding writer of The New Yorker in 1925 and a key member of the New York literary circle, the Algonquin Round Table. During the Twenties, when she won acclaim for her humorous verse and prize-winning short stories such as "Big Blonde," she became known as the wittiest woman in America. At various times in her life she also wrote for Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Esquire. Not so well known are her political beliefs: she helped unionize Hollywood screenwriters, joined the Communist Party, and worked on behalf of various left-wing causes. In the 1950s, she was blacklisted in Hollywood. Her estate was bequeathed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and she is buried in Baltimore, at the headquarters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which became her literary executor following Dr. King's assassination. Today, four decades after her death, Dorothy Parker remains one of the most quoted writers in the world.

In 1944, The Viking Press compiled a Dorothy Parker anthol­ogy, The Portable Dorothy Parker, the fourth volume in its se­ries of inexpensive, portable paperback editions formatted for men and women in uniform. Mrs. Parker herself selected the material. It was only natural that she, a merciless critic of oth­ers' work, who had absolutely no qualms about eviscerating a lazy writer, should examine her own efforts with similar excru­ciating attention. From her two collected volumes (Not So Deep As a Well, verse, 1936 and Here Lies, stories, 1939) she chose only the work for which she wished to be remembered. This did not include her criticism or articles, the bread and butter journalism she had cranked out to pay the rent during the twenties. Neither did she decide to revive, for example, "Such a Pretty Little Picture," her first published fiction. Missing, too, was the tragicomical "Advice to the Little Peyton Girl." When faced with two stories expressing similar themes or tones, she instinctively discarded the weaker candidate. The result was a tidy package of quality wares that has remained continuously in print ever since.

Several years after her death, Viking issued an expanded collection of Parker’s work that left intact her original selections while intro­ducing new material, chiefly theater and book criticism that had previously appeared in The New Yorker and Esquire, as well as some fiction and articles written during the fifties and sixties.

This new edition, second revision in sixty years, The Portable Dorothy Parker, edited by biographer and novelist Marion Meade, ranges over the verse, stories, essays, and journalism of one of the twentieth century's most quotable authors. For this new twenty-first-century edition, devoted admirers can be sure to find their favorite verse and stories. But a variety of fresh material has also been added to create a fuller, more authentic picture of Parker’s life's work. There are some stories new to The Portable Dorothy Parker, along with a selection of articles written for such disparate publications as Vogue, McCall's, House and Garden, and New Masses. Two of these pieces concern home decorating, a subject not usually associated with Mrs. Parker. At the heart of her serious work lies her political writings – racial, labor, international – and so "Soldiers of the Republic" is joined by reprints of "Not Enough" and "Sophisticated Poetry – And the Hell with It," both of which first appeared in New Masses. "A Dorothy Parker Sampler" blends the sublime and the silly with the terrifying, a sort of tasting menu of verse, stories, essays, political journalism, a speech on writing, plus a catchy off-the-cuff rhyme she never thought to write down.

The introduction of two new sections into The Portable Dorothy Parker is intended to provide the richest possible sense of Parker herself. "Self-Portrait" reprints an interview she did in 1956 with The Paris Review, part of a famed ongoing series of conversations ("Writers at Work") that the literary journal conducted with the best of twentieth-century writers. What makes the interviews so interesting is that they were permitted to edit their transcripts before publication, resulting in miniature autobiographies.

"Letters: 1905-1962," which might be subtitled "Mrs. Parker Completely Uncensored," presents correspondence written over the period of a half century, beginning in 1905 when twelve-year-old Dottie wrote her father during a summer vacation on Long Island, and concluding with a 1962 missive from Hollywood describing her fondness for Marilyn Monroe.

There are things of which one cannot really say that they are ei­ther good books or bad books; they are really not books at all. When one has bought them, one has only got paper and print. When one has bought Dorothy Parker, however, one has really got a book. She is not Emily Bronte or Jane Austen, but she has been at some pains to write well, and she has put into what she has written a voice, a state of mind, an era, a few moments of human experience that nobody else has conveyed. Today, still a limited edition, this is a sublime collection; there is nobody like Dorothy Parker. The Portable Dorothy Parker – welcome to her world.

Literature & Fiction / Historical

Color of the Sea: A Novel by John Hamamura (Thomas Dunne Books) 

Color of the Sea takes readers back to a painful moment in history when Japanese Americans were caught between two identities and the future of a nation hung in the balance. The book was written by John Hamamura, a writer, poet and photographer who was born in the final year of World War II in a US Army hospital in Minnesota. His father was a GI Japanese language instructor and his mother's family was behind barbed wire at a camp in southern Arkansas. His father's mother and siblings lived in Hiroshima; two of them survived the atomic bomb.

In Color of the Sea, growing up in a time between wars, Sam Hamada finds that the culture of his native Japan is never far from his heart. Sam is rapidly learning the code of the samurai in the late 1930s on the lush Hawaiian Islands, where he is slowly coming into his own as a son and a man.
When Sam strikes out for California, he meets Keiko, the beautiful young woman destined to be the love of his life, and then he faces crushing disappointment – Keiko’s parents take her back to Japan, forcing Keiko to endure their attempts to arrange her marriage. It is a trial complicated by how the Japanese perceive her – as too Americanized to be a proper Japanese wife and mother – and its pain is compounded by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which ignites the war that instantly taints Sam, Keiko, and their friends and family as enemies of the state.
Sam himself is caught between cultures when, impressed by his knowledge of Japanese, the U.S. Army drafts and then promotes him, sending him on a secret mission into a wartime world of madness where he faces the very real risk of encountering his own brother in combat. He must finally confront his own sense of nationality, and determine once and for all where he belongs and with whom. Can he be a samurai warrior and an American patriot at the same time? Does he have the courage to fight a war and return with a heart still open to love?
From the tragedies of the camps through to the bombing of Hiroshima, where Sam’s mother and siblings live, Sam’s very identity puts his life at risk. Color of the Sea is a historical epic about a boy in search of manhood, a girl in search of truth, and two peoples divided by war, Sam must draw upon his training, his past, and everything he has learned if he’s ever to span his two cultures and see Keiko, or his family, again.

His writing honestly portrays the individual struggles of the immigrant experience as well as defines the equally difficult struggles of their American-born offspring. Hamamura shines as a storyteller and is definitely a name to watch. – Library Journal

[A] heartfelt debut...A poignant, fresh story told with feeling and sincerity. – Kirkus Reviews

Hamamura writes deftly and powerfully, whether about the subtle vibrations of the human heart or the bloody convulsions of war. – David Maine, author of The Preservationist and Fallen
Hamamura’s writing is sleek and powerful, and his evocation of the Japanese-American experience compelling. A haunting, beautiful story of love, honor, and dedication, Color of the Sea is a remarkable novel. – Holly Payne, author of The Virgin’s Knot and The Sound of Blue
Hamamura’s first novel is a marvel, a revelation, the story of a man torn between two great loves, two great cultures, two complex and evolving worlds. Bravo. – James Dalessandro, author of 1906 and Bohemian Heart

Through beautifully written prose, artful imagery and achingly real characters, Hamamura in Color of the Sea sweeps his readers away to a time in history that shook the world and a love story that will resonate long after the final page. The fruit of his labors, Color of the Sea reflects no less than the deep understanding and painstaking effort that his powerful words imply.

Literature & Fiction / Western / Young Adult

Will James' Book of Cowboy Stories written and illustrated by William James (Mountain Press Publishing Company) 

Sit back on your boot heels, pour yourself a cup of thick, black camp coffee, and let Will James transport you to bygone days of cattle rustling, cowpunching, bronc busting, and drifting in the American West.

Born in a covered wagon near Great Falls, Montana in the province of Quebec on June 6, 1892, Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault, Will James was an orphan at the age of three. The child was subsequently adopted by a French Canadian trapper and prospector. James left home as a teenager to live out his dream of becoming a cowboy in the American West. With no formal schooling or lessons in drawing, "he was a cowboy until a bucking horse threw him into writing," as Time magazine once said of him. James went on to write and illustrate twenty-four books and numerous maga­zine articles about horses, cowboying, and the West. He looked more like an Irish scholar than a cowpuncher, but he wrote as he talked...in a natural, easy-going way, and his works soon captured the imagination of the pub­lic. He died in 1942, at the age of fifty.

Will James' Book of Cowboy Stories contains 15 memorable stories, a gathering of some of the most enter­taining illustrated stories of cowboy life from the Will James collection.

Loping through a book by Will James is the next best thing to being there. This long-awaited reprint of the last James book, Will James' Book of Cowboy Stories, will satisfy readers' nostalgic longing for the freedom, danger, and adventure of life on the open range.

Literature & Fiction / World Literature

Suppression of the Erotic in Modern Hebrew Literature by Nitsa Ben-ari (University of Ottawa Press)

Issues of sexuality, censorship, and self-censorship in the formation of national and cultural identities are a focus of great interest in contemporary literary research. Suppression of the Erotic in Modern Hebrew Literature, written by Nitsa Ben-Ari, senior lecturer in the School for Cultural Studies and Head of Diploma Studies for Translation and Revision at Tel Aviv University, is the first work of its kind to study these combined issues in the context of translated and original Hebrew literature.

Puritan norms in the area of literary representation of sex and erotica formed in pre-state Israel, against the contradictory background of Western puritan laws and norms and Socialist liberal trends, were basically a result of a battle of power over the prevalence of Zionist ideology and the formation of an elitist youth, nicknamed the ‘Sabra.’ For several decades, a relatively small group of culture shapers dictated an image of sabra puritanism, which literature, original and translated, sought to reflect and express. More by self-censorship than by any obscenity law enforcement, the literary mainstream prohibited ‘banned books’ and cleansed its repertory of explicit erotica. In so doing, it pushed literature about sex or sexuality to the margins, to flourish in the form of pulp fiction or pseudo-medical sex handbooks.

According to Ben-Ari, the puritan expurgating trend, enhanced by old-fashioned elevated stylistic norms, had far-reaching consequences. Decades of attenuation of the erotic, and disdain on the part of professional linguists, translators, and writers to deal with the issue in the critical period of linguistic and cultural revival, resulted in continuous impoverishment and petrifaction of entire strata in the Hebrew literary repertory. Translated literature, which could have become a channel for an alternative view on sexuality, refuted its potential function of introducing innovative or subversive alternatives well into the 1970s. A rebellious awakening in the 1980s and 1990s introduced new norms of erotic presentation, especially by women writers, but the lacunae in the Hebrew literary repertoire need more time to fill.

An insightful and illuminating read, Suppression of the Erotic in Modern Hebrew Literature makes a significant contribution to literary, translation, Judaic, and gender studies.

Mysteries & Thrillers / Religion / Christianity

House: The Only Way Out Is In with CD Game by Frank Peretti & Ted Dekkerm (WestBow Press) 

Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker – two of the most acclaimed writers of supernatural thrillers – have joined forces for the first time to craft a story unlike any readers have ever read.

Enter House – where readers find themselves thrown into a killer's deadly game in which the only way to win is to lose... and the only way out is in.

On a deserted backroad in Alabama, Jack and Stephanie find themselves driving fast and running late. Their world suddenly changes when a strange accident leaves them stranded with no car, no cell phone coverage, and no help in sight. They have no choice except to continue on foot. As darkness approaches, they round a bend and see a small sign at the top of a long gravel driveway: The Wayside Inn.

The exhausted couple stands in front of an inviting house, complete with gated stone wall, ancient oak trees, and a note welcoming weary travelers. Inside they find another couple with an equally troubling story about a similar accident. It seems that backwoods pranksters have made their day miserable. Still, they are safe….

Or so they think.

But the stakes of the game become clear when a tin can is tossed into the house with rules scrawled on it. Rules that only a madman – or worse – could have written. Rules that make no sense yet must be followed.

So begins House, a story that keeps readers guessing and short of breath until the very last page. As the house slowly reveals its secrets, readers come face-to-face with the sin that haunts us all and a game that can be won by very few.

Readers, think you can win? Go ahead, walk through the door, play the game.

House comes with a CD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment containing Hangman’s Curse, The Visitation, and Thr3e Trivia Game.

Only Peretti and Dekker could have delivered this full-tilt supernatural Thriller. They had me ripping through the pages…then blew me away with a final twist I never saw coming. Can’t wait to see the movie! – Ralph Winter, producer: X-Men 3 and Fantastic Four

House is a mind-bending supernatural thriller from the creators of This Present Darkness and Showdown.

Mysteries & Thrillers

Miss Julia Stands Her Ground by Ann B. Ross (Viking) 

When long-lost relatives come out of the woodwork, it can mean nothing but trouble. Once again, it’s left to Miss Julia in Miss Julia Stands Her Ground to set things right.

Ann B. Ross’s previous recent novel, Miss Julia’s School of Beauty, was a New York Times extended bestseller, and more fans are drawn to Miss Julia’s adventures every outing.

Miss Julia Stands Her Ground finds our heroine ‘of a certain age’ looking forward to many peaceful and happy years with her new husband, Sam. But she still has plenty to worry about. When Hazel Marie’s troublemaking uncle, Brother Vernon Puckett, comes back to town, he claims to have conclusive proof that Little Lloyd is not the son of Miss Julia’s late, philandering husband Wesley Lloyd Springer – a fact to which Miss Julia would have gladly subscribed a few years back. But that was then, before Miss Julia’s life revolved around Little Lloyd, before that magical holiday when he became the apple of her eye.

As if this weren't enough for our favorite belle to handle, she also finds one Sunday morn­ing that she's been nominated to a seat in the church's session, much to the dismay of Pastor Ledbetter, who isn't quite prepared to see women involved in such business. And while she's got quite enough on her plate already, Miss Julia has never been one to back down from a challenge – and wouldn't that just show the pastor what women can do?

Meanwhile, with DNA testing the only possi­ble way to settle the dispute of Little Lloyd's paternity, Miss Julia shudders at the thought of exhuming her dead husband's body. But her housekeeper, Lillian, has a few souvenirs of Wesley Lloyd's life tucked away that, though a little creepy, might just be the key to ending the whole ugly mess.

Miss Julia is one of the most delightful characters to come along in years. – Fannie Flagg
Funny and endearing. – The Dallas Morning News

There’s little on the planet that beats a steel magnolia story. Another hilarious adventure, Miss Julia Stands Her Ground, written by fellow alumna of the University of North Carolina, confirms what readers already know in their hearts – that family is thicker than blood.

Parenting & Families / Sports

Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way: Ensuring the Best Experience for Your Kids in Any Sport by Cal Ripken, with Rick Wolff, foreword by Kelly Ripken (Gotham Books) 

We continuously strive to make sure that our passion for our children does not override our responsibility to behave and exhibit good sportsmanship for others. . . . If we put our child's needs and dreams ahead of ours, we will have a great chance of ‘returning the games to the kids’. – Kelly Ripken, from the foreword

Since he retired from baseball in 2001, Cal Ripken, Jr., has devoted his time to coaching kids, including his own son and daughter, who play baseball and basketball, among other sports.

Ripken's name has become synonymous with strength, character, endurance, and integrity. His philosophy of working hard, playing with passion and enjoying the game has made a tremendous impact on the world of sports and on fans everywhere. In 1999, the Babe Ruth League changed the name of its largest division (5-12 year olds) from ‘Bambino’ to ‘Cal Ripken’ baseball, and there are now more than 700,000 youths playing Cal Ripken baseball worldwide.

In Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way, Ripkin offers advice on guiding a child through athletics, drawing upon advice from his own father, Cal Sr.; his experiences as the father and sometime coach of two children, Ryan, aged 12 and Rachel, aged 16; and observations from the Ripken youth league.

In recent years, Ripken has noticed the increased intensity in youth sports, coinciding with the focus on the increasingly high salaries in professional sports. Playing softball, basketball, football, tennis, or soccer, for example, is supposed to be fun, but parents and kids sometimes forget that as they face increasing pressure on and off the field. Parents need help in guiding their children through this environment and avoiding common and well-meaning mistakes, such as over-emphasizing winning or over-coaching.

Ripken’s simple yet effective philosophy for helping kids get the most out of playing sports is to keep it simple, explain the ‘why,’ celebrate the individual, and make it fun!

Whether parent-readers were star players or kids who never learned to throw, Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way, coauthored by Rick Wolff, Vice President, Executive Editor at Warner Books and chairman of the Center for Sports Parenting, tells readers everything they need to know about sports parenting from the pre-school years to middle school. It covers all the bases, including:

  • How what parents do and say after the game will shape their child's view of victory – and defeat.
  • Helping one’s child learn to cope with adversity (like having to sit on the bench for their first year on the team, as his son did).
  • Teaching the basics of sportsmanship.
  • How an overemphasis on technique or winning can harm the child’s game.
  • How to develop a good relationship with the child’s coach.
  • The pros and cons of travel teams and club teams.
  • The importance of returning the games to the kids and how best to behave as a parent.
  • The latest on performance and nutrition.
  • Fun games and exercises to do with kids to encourage them.
  • Why most kids burn out on team sports by middle school and how to avoid it.

Ripken in Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way also offers special advice for the elementary school years versus the middle school years, and gives concrete guidance designed to preserve the simplicity of the game, celebrate individual accomplishments, and keep sports fun.

As parents of kids who love sports, Janet and I know that there are many factors that contribute to children having a positive sports experience. Cal Ripken offers a unique perspective on the issues surrounding youth sports today and this book provides great tips and advice for all parents with kids who have a passion for any sport. – Hockey legend and sports parent Wayne Gretzky
At no other time in the history of youth sports is a book about parenting more valuable. It’s uncanny how Cal is able to bring his experience at the highest level of sports down to the grassroots in this book. This is because he is a parent who knows the importance of all of us keeping things in perspective…in reality he really cares. – Fred Engh, founder and President, The National Alliance for Youth Sports
I couldn’t think of anyone more qualified to teach kids, parents and coaches than Cal. – Alex Rodriguez, 2003 American League Most Valuable Player
In a world where genuinely admirable men and women are in short supply, Cal Ripken, Jr. is clearly and indisputably one of them… – Washington Post Book World

Few athletes embody sportsmanship and fair play as perfectly as Cal Ripken. His advice in Parenting Young Athletes the Ripken Way will inspire confidence in kids and parents alike. And Ripken's philosophy will help parents ensure that their kids have the best possible experience in youth sports, and promote a healthy outlook on athletics and competition that will have immense value both on and off the field.

Politics / Current Events / Middle East / History

Peace Is Possible: Conversations with Arab and Israeli Leaders from 1988 to the Present by S. Daniel Abraham, with a foreword by Bill Clinton (Newmarket Press) 

When peace finally comes to the Middle East, it will be because of people like Dan Abraham. – President Bill Clinton, from his foreword

For more than fifteen years, entrepreneur Danny Abraham, founder and former chairman of Slim Fast, chose to utilize his considerable resources to facilitate Mideast peace. Together with Utah Congressman Wayne Owens, Abraham made more than sixty trips to the Middle East between 1988 to 2002, meeting with Arab leaders Hosni Mubarak, Hafez Assad, Crown Prince Abdullah, and Yasser Arafat, and Israeli prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak, and Ariel Sharon.
Using his business experience with difficult negotiations, Abraham, founder of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation in Washington, D.C., and a dedicated philanthropist devoted to Israel and Mideast peace, took an active behind-the-scenes role, setting up critical one-on-one meetings between key figures. He urged these leaders to articulate not what they wanted, but what they needed, to make peace, fostering significant advances in the peace process. Since Owens' untimely death in 2002, Abraham has continued to arrange peacemaking meetings on his own.
Peace Is Possible is a first-hand personal account of Abraham's more than 15 years of peacemaking efforts in the Middle East and the reasons he believes peace is possible. Drawing from meeting transcripts, diary entries, and extensive handwritten notes, Abraham writes in the first person about these extraordinary, often private meetings.

Some of the many never-before-told stories include:

  • In 1989, Abraham and Owens met with Yasser Arafat for the first time, in complete secrecy, under the cover of night, to discuss border negotiations with Israel. Arafat, at the time living in Tunisia and moving to a different safe house every night, met with them at a heavily guarded PLO compound in Tunis. In their conversation, which was recorded, he advocated a two-state solution, saying, "Our [the PLO's] strategic line is to live and let live," and later added, "I don't want an army. Who am I going to fight – Israel? They're stronger than I am."
  • Abraham and Owens traveled to Syria in 1996 to attempt to orchestrate a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Syrian President Hafez Assad after a marked increase in Hezbollah violence in the region. Abraham writes, "Wayne and I met with Peres, and he asked us to go to Syria and tell Assad that he wanted to meet with him. Again, our status as amateurs would enable us to operate as ‘honest brokers’ without any political leaders putting their or their country's prestige on the line." However, Assad had been angered by remarks Peres had made which were misrepresented in the international media, and instructed his Foreign Minster to refuse the meeting. Abraham and Owens reported back to Peres, and 48 hours later the Prime Minister authorized a large military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which displaced 200,000 Lebanese villagers.
  • Abraham and Owens successfully arranged a private one-on-one meeting between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 (following their Camp David negotiations). After much discussion, and Abraham's delivery of a welcoming hug and invitation from Barak to Arafat, Arafat agreed to meet at Barak's home, where he and his entourage were flown in an Israeli military helicopter. Abraham placed a call to President Clinton, who agreed to call Barak's home an hour after their meeting began, as encouragement of Barak and Arafat's efforts to coordinate peace. A large group, including Abraham and Owens, met for dinner, and then Barak and Arafat retreated to the patio for their meeting – which they agreed would have no official agenda or talking points.

Abraham writes about other major negotiations and events in a similarly intimate way,

including the Madrid Conference and Oslo Accords, and also explains why he believes peace is possible between Israel and its neighbors. He advocates Israel's return to the 1967 borders, and the creation of a separate Palestinian state. And in an epilogue, Abraham offers his views on Israel's historic withdrawal from Gaza, and the aftermath of Arafat's death.

Peace Is Possible also includes a 16-page color photo section, a timeline, the text of a June 2005 speech by Ariel Sharon on disengagement, and an index.

Dan Abraham's book is in a category apart. I do not know of any other ‘pri­vate diplomacy’ that has done so much to foster the peace process. … As dramatic as their story may be, it nonetheless strikes us by its distinctive sincerity. Their account of it is related fairly and honestly. This is indeed a book that merits attention, also because of the surprises it enfolds. – Shimon Peres

Whether utopian or realistic, Dan Abraham's obsession to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians is remarkable. His behind-the-scenes encoun­ters with various protagonists of this endless historical drama will help the reader understand its complexity as well as its need for a peaceful resolution. – Elie Wiesel

…I admire Danny's courage, unwavering commitment and relentless efforts, which are evident in this book, to achieve peace and reconciliation, a historic treaty and an end of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Danny was a creative pioneer in his thinking and in his hard work to advance the peace process, demonstrating how imaginative and helpful track-two diplomacy could be. – Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator

Danny Abraham is one of those unique people who, without any formal appointment, have dedicated their lives to search for peace in our region. He has played an imperative role over the years and has a fascinating story to tell. – Ehud Olmert, Israeli Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor

Reflecting nearly 20 years of private diplomacy, Peace Is Possible reads like the private diary of a thinking man with incredible connections to virtually everyone of influence in Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian politics. – Publishers Weekly

In Peace Is Possible, Abraham gives readers rare ‘you are there’ insight into historically significant events. In his pragmatic and hopeful book, he writes, "I am a great optimist, particularly about a region of the world that usually brings out people's most pessimistic inclinations – Israel and its neighbors."

Politics / U.S. / Government

The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land by Andrew P. Napolitano (Nelson Current) 

What ever happened to our inalienable rights?

The Constitution was once the bedrock of our country, an unpretentious parchment that boldly established the God-given rights and freedoms of America. Today that parchment has been shred to ribbons, says Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, as the federal government trounces state and individual rights and expands its reach far beyond what the Framers intended.

Thomas Jefferson once said that it is the natural order of things for government power to increase and human liberty to decrease. Now, best-selling author Napolitano upholds that Jeffersonian tradition and shines a spotlight on presidential, congressional, and judicial abuse of power. In The Constitution in Exile, Napolitano explains how lawmakers have expanded their own authority by intentionally misinterpreting key sections of the nation's founding governing document, especially the General Welfare Clause and the Commerce Clause. Over the years lawmakers have used these provisions to create vast new areas of federal power, in areas of human behavior the Constitution has reserved to the states or to individuals, free from any government regulation.

Napolitano describes how Congress has essentially ‘purchased’ unconstitutional laws, forced the states to spend money, and regulated private behavior by bribing states into passing laws Congress wants but can't legislate. And, by declaring things like violence, marijuana, and private homes to be interstate commerce", the feds have disingenuously tried to regulate all aspects of our personal lives.

“Do we still have a Constitution?" Napolitano asks. "Today the federal government recognizes no limitations on as power. It has utterly rejected the idea, integral to the constitution, that it is one of limited powers, carefully and precisely delegated. Today the federal government does whatever it wants to do. “

In tapping the immense distrust millions of Americans have of Big Government. Napolitano also discusses how the nation's highest court has, over the years, devised historically inaccurate, logically inconsistent, and outright comical justifications for approving most of the laws proposed by presidents and passed by Congresses.

The federal government today involves itself in vast areas of human behavior that are not constitutionally permissible. According to Napolitano, today, the feds decide or threaten to decide:

  • What the blood alcohol level for all automobile drivers should be.
  • What the legal drinking age for all adults in all states should be.
  • What amount of wheat a person can grow for his personal use.
  • Whether a terminally ill cancer patient can grow marijuana for her personal consumption at her doctor's direction.
  • The amount of sugar manufacturers can use in ketchup.
  • The standards for rebuilding homes after a hurricane.
  • The regulation of steroid use by athletes.
  • The size of toilets and the strength of showers in all private homes.
  • What guidelines states must use in penalizing those convicted of crimes.
  • That it is a crime to call a lawyer or journalist about receiving a self-written search warrant from the FBI.

Going back to the time of the Civil War, the federal government has claimed that it is the source of our freedoms; and since it gives freedoms it thinks it can take them away. Judge Napolitano, a champion of personal freedom, denounces that view and argues that under the natural law tradition, our freedoms come from our humanity, which is a gift from God. Only through conviction by a jury after a fair trial, argues Napolitano, can our natural rights be taken away.

Does anyone understand the vision of America's founding fathers? The courts and Congress apparently don't have a clue. But Judge Andrew P. Napolitano does, and so will you, if you read The Constitution in Exile. – Bill O'Reilly

Whatever happened to states rights, limited government, and natural law? Judge Napolitano, in his own inimitable style, takes us on a fascinating tour of the destruction of constitutional government. If you want to know how the federal government got so big and fat, read this book. Agree or disagree, this book will make you think. – Sean Hannity

In all of the American media, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano is the most persistent, uncompromising guardian of both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, very much including the Bill of Rights. Increasingly, our Constitution is in clear and present danger. Judge Napolitano - in The Constitution in Exile – has challenged all Americans across party lines to learn the extent of this constitutional crisis. – Nat Hentoff

At a time when we are, in Benjamin Franklin's words, sacrificing essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, here comes the judge with what should be mandatory reading for the executive branch cronies who are busy stealing power while they think we're not watching. Thank goodness the judge is watching and speaking truth to power. More than a book, this is an emergency call to philosophical arms, one we must heed before it's too late. – Alan Colmes

Judge Napolitano exposes presidential, congressional and judicial abuses of power in The Constitution in Exile. It is a rollicking excursion into the dark corners of the law, showing how various parts of the federal government disregard the limitations on Congress and the president imposed by the Constitution, and enact laws, illegal and unnatural, in virtually every area of human endeavor. The Constitution in Exile is a follow-up to Napolitano's best-selling Constitutional Chaos.

Religion & Spirituality / Arts & Photography / History / Europe

Words and Image in the Book of Kells by Heather Pulliman (Four Courts Press, Distributed in the U.S. by International Specialized Book Services)  

The Book of Kells contains almost 2000 decorated initials, the majority of which are formed by human figures, beasts, birds and fish. As early as 1974, Francoise Henry commented that perhaps the decorated initials related ‘to the text, as music does to words of a song’.

Written by Heather Pulliam, assistant professor of art history at Western Kentucky University, Words and Image in the Book of Kells offers an in-depth examination of the smaller decorated initials, script layout, and marginalia. The display script and full-page images are reconsidered within the context of the manuscript's minor decoration, suggesting that much of the manuscript's decoration is self-referential and articulates the manner in which the gospel text functioned as an instrument of salvation.

The book is comprised of three parts: Part One – Word and Image, Part Two – Meaning in the Margins, and Part Three – Necessary Instruments of Salvation. These are followed by the conclusion, the appendices, the bibliography, the index and the index of manuscripts.

In the last fifteen years, the Book of Kells has become more easily accessible for study due to the publication of a full-color facsimile in 1990 and a CD-Rom facsimile in 2000. Previously, the majority of the minor decoration had been accessible only through a black-and-white facsimile. Art historical scholarship has focused on the full-page images and display script, which were available in color reproductions.

An examination of the finely-colored 1990 facsimile conveys the clarity of the minor decoration and script. In color, the minor decoration and script are remarkably visible. The forms of the lively creatures that speckle the pages of the manuscript's text are easily seen, and their bright color and dark lines catch the eye as it moves over the page. In a good, color reproduction, certain words and phrases leap off the page, as they have been filled in with bright red, orange, blue, green and yellow. In both the original and modern facsimile, the yellow is particularly eye-catching, as the pigment's grains glint like fish scales. The visibility of the minor decoration and colored text within the actual manuscript demands a reassessment of the Book of Kells. Decoration disrupts the normal flow of text to such an extent that it is impossible to believe this is merely accidental ornament. An excess of 2,000 decorated initials occur throughout the manuscript, most of which include figurative or zoomorphic ornament. Additionally, unique to the manuscript, are the number of strange creatures and human figures that float, walk or fly between lines of text.

Although scholars have searched for exegetical, liturgical, and stylistic evidence in order to shed light on the mysterious full-pages of the Book of Kells, they have neglected the abundance of visual evidence inextricably bound to the manuscript. Words and Image in the Book of Kells is largely a reaction to this omission. The book attempts to rectify the somewhat artificial and hierarchical division imposed upon the manuscript by most modern reproductions, which have divided it into a series of full-page images only remotely connected to the remaining pages of text, almost 600 in number. While using patristic and contemporary sources, its findings are based primarily upon an examination of the manuscript as a whole; the minor decoration, the layout of the script and full-page imagery. Interpretations based on patristic or insular writings are repeatedly verified against the entire visual body of evidence.

In Words and Image in the Book of Kells Pulliam provides a thorough exploration of the visual apparatus of the manuscript, which imparts information as to how that apparatus works, but more importantly, points to its purpose. The Book of Kells operates on a particularly sophisticated level of signification, employing various devices to direct the eye of readers.

This approach returns the focus of scholarship to the art object. In so doing, it addresses the difficulties inherent in using liturgical and patristic evidence; repeatedly examining these interpretations against the wealth of visual data in the manuscript. Most significantly, the relationship of the parts to the whole can be assessed: Why is there so much imagery in the Book of Kells? What do the decorated initials indicate about the word-image relationships in the manuscript? How does the imagery affect the reading of the manuscript? Can the complex iconography of the Arrest page and Temptation page shed light on other pages, and visa‑versa? By placing each image within the context of the rest of the manuscript, the decorative program as a whole can be better understood. As well as exploring lost liturgies and ancient texts, the many folios that are attached to these full-page images should be looked at. In other words, the primary source for studies in the Book of Kells must be the Book of Kells.

Words and Image in the Book of Kells shows that the imagery in The Book of Kells assists readers in taking the imaginative leap from present acts to future consequences, attempting to delineate the cosmos from a divine rather than a human perspective by yoking past and future events together. In so doing, it alerts its audience to the constant presence of danger and punishment, but also to the many aids and rewards provided by God. This broader outlook – and an innate awareness of the role played by the gospels – makes up the fabric of the manuscript's ornament in a manner free of the modern tendency to compartmentalize and distinguish between the manuscript's full-page images or display script and its ‘lesser pages’ of decorated text.

The manuscript's layout, script, ornament and imagery work together to delineate its role in this process. In its articulation of its function, it shows the scriptures as inextricably linked to the chalice. Both are containers of the divine, and yet, the key to accessing the infinite Logos. The images within the gospel book assist in its purpose, enabling the spectator to partially perceive God with his or her physical senses and to contemplate the unknowable nature of the Godhead as much as possible while on earth, leading to salvation; from the visible to the invisible. The Book of Kells, as a liturgical gospel book, articulates its role alongside the chalice and church, as a guide that leads the faithful toward the apprehension of God. The manuscript, in its full-page imagery and minor decoration, portrays the frailty of humanity and the necessity of aids such as the book and chalice to leads them toward a contemplation of the Godhead. Moreover, it shows the rewards this engenders and the punishment that results in the failure to do so. Quite simply, the imagery, like the gospel book itself, opens the senses of the faithful and in so doing protects them from evil and leads them toward God.

In summary, Words and Image in the Book of Kells is a unique book, written by an art historian, which reveals ‘God in the details’, that is, the role of minor decoration, smaller decorated initials, script layout, and marginalia in conveying the message of the book to humanity.

Religion & Spirituality / Christianity

Introducing Apologetics: Cultivating Christian Commitment by James E. Taylor (Baker Academic) 

Unique to James E. Taylor's approach in Introducing Apologetics is his vision of apologetics as a discipline that should ideally lead to Christian commitment, discipleship, and spiritual transformation.

According to Taylor, professor of philosophy and chair of the department at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, confident conviction is needed by every Christian, every day and in every place, who strives to live a life governed by the reality of Jesus' resurrection in the midst of a society that is, to a large extent, secular, materialistic, immoral, relativistic, and even nihilistic. The challenge is that it is often difficult to believe Christian claims with full confidence (as Paul says to the Corinthians, his preaching of Christ cruci­fied is "a stumbling block to Jews and fool­ishness to Gentiles"), and yet it is also important to believe confidently. The sincerity of Christian worship and prayer and the effectiveness of Christian service and evangelism depend on it.

Taylor says that whether the efforts of the apologist are directed mostly to seekers who are consid­ering a commitment to Christ or largely to Christians who are struggling with intel­lectual challenges to their faith, the goal ought to be to cultivate Christian commitment (belief, trust, and obedience). The word cultivate is important for the purposes in Introducing Apologetics. Gardening is an art, but it is a coopera­tive art – an art involving the cooperation of the gardener with nature. In the same way, apologetics and evangelism are co-operative arts. The evangelist preaches the gospel, and the apologist defends it, but it is God who enables it to take root in a human soul and to yield the fruit of confident Christian commitment.

The first part of Introducing Apologetics discusses apologetics – a component of the means to the end of Christian commitment – and Christian commitment itself, the end to which apologetics contributes. In discuss­ing apologetics, part 1 says more about what it is, what it is for, and what it cannot do (chapter 1); why, though useful, it is not always needed (chapter 2); why it is possible and not harmful (chapter 3); and why it is relevant to human needs and concerns (chapter 4). Chapter 5 discusses the role of the heart in Christian commit­ment, and chapter 6 focuses on how differ­ent conditions of the heart can affect the way in which people ask questions about Christianity. Chapter 1 also provides an overview of the strategies used in the rest of Introducing Apologetics as it considers questions about Christianity one by one. In general, these strategies involve both watering and weed­ing. In other words, they focus on both (1) providing arguments and evidences for Christian truth claims (watering) to help the seed of the gospel grow in the human soul into full commitment and (2) constructing a rational case against objections to the Christian faith (weeding) to prevent these criticisms from undermin­ing full commitment. The last three parts of Introducing Apologetics encourage this sort of watering and weeding with respect to commitment to God (part 2), commitment to God in Christ (part 3), and contemporary chal­lenges to Christian commitment (part 4). This last part provides opportunities for apologetic weeding relative to two general areas of contemporary concern: challenges to Christian commitment based on science and challenges to Christian commitment based on postmodernism. Each chapter of the text contains an outline, summary, list of basic terms, reflection and discussion questions, and guide to further reading.

This book is a thoughtful introduction to Christian apologetics that is focused on the needs and interests of students but embodies a deep understanding of the underlying philosophical issues. It is a wise and helpful book. – C. Stephen Evans, professor of philosophy and humanities, Baylor University

Apologetics books are notorious for their struggle to find ways to be comprehensive, cutting edge, accessible, and relevant. Those that succeed at some tasks typically fail at others. Introducing Apologetics offers a refreshingly rare balance of these coveted traits. Readers can expect to be treated to the full range of traditional apologetic topics as well as to many that have only recently emerged as important. In addition, Taylor offers the reader sober, practical advice on the extent and limits of apologetics in the life of the Christian and in the Christian's attempt to reason together with non-Christians. Finally, though each chapter is deeply informed by the most recent scholarship, it is thoroughly accessible, even to those with no prior exposure to the topics it treats. Here is a resource that belongs in every thinking Christian's library. – Michael J. Murray, professor and chair of philosophy, Franklin and Marshall College

A stalwart defense of the Christian faith, aimed to assist student readers, Introducing Apologetics offers balanced and comprehensive treatment of the core apologetic issues facing believers in the twenty-first century. What distinguishes this work is its tone, which is neither strident nor polemical. Instead, Taylor's arguments are sensitive, winsome, humble, and fair-minded, especially with respect to his treatment of philosophical and religious systems that challenge Christianity.

Religion & Spirituality / Christianity

Saint John's at 150: A Portrait of This Place Called Collegeville, 1856-2006 edited by Hilary Thimmesh (Liturgical Press) 

Launched to coincide with the celebration of Saint John’s Sesquicentennial, Saint John's at 150 includes a glimpse of life in Minnesota and the nation as background for the Saint John’s story. In words and images, this is the story of a Benedictine academic and spiritual community.

Saint John's at 150 has a foreword by Abbot John Klassen, an afterword by President Dietrich Reinhart, and an introduction by Minnesota historian Annette Atkins, who provides a quick survey of what was going on in the rest of the state and the nation. Then twelve chapters, by various authors – some in the monastery, some on the university faculty, some from friends around the world – present personal essays on topics in Saint John's first 150 years, everything from the missionary lifestyle of the first monks to cameo images of some current college professors in the classroom.

More than 30 authors contribute sidebars and special features on a variety of subjects: Katherine Powers remembers her father, J. F. Powers; Bill Kling reminisces on the founding of Minnesota Public Radio; author Jon Hassler recalls his college days and his professor, Steve Humphrey; Thomas Merton reflects on the beauty of a summer afternoon and the chapel across the lake. This volume, edited by Hilary Thimmesh, O.S.B., professor of English and president emeritus at Saint John’s University, includes numerous photographs of campus life in the monastery and the university, as well as images taken by Peter Engel, O.S.B., before he became abbot in 1895.

Through these essays and images, we learn that the first contingent of Benedictine priests who arrived in Minnesota in May of 1856 were sent to found a new monastery, but their primary task was to offer pastoral and educational ministry to the rapidly growing German Catholic immigrants. And we come to appreciate the monastery’s timeless role as a strong anchor and its influence on pioneer missions, international foundations, and the liturgical movement. Though not a comprehensive history, Saint John's at 150 references the surprising number of people, places, and events that comprise this exceptional place called Collegeville.

Only a couple of chapters have end notes ­in small print, yet the contents are historical.

As Saint John’s celebrates its 150th anniversary, the story of this spiritual community is told in captivating words and telling images in Saint John's at 150. The 160-page book features compelling essays and striking black-and-white and color photos. Those who know Saint John’s and Collegeville will find that the words and images ring true in this lively book about a remarkable place. The full-page photos by photographers such as Greg Becker, Lee Hanley, David Manahan, O.S.B., and Placid Stuckenschneider, O.S.B., make the book a visual feast.

Religion & Spirituality / Christianity / Sex

The Redemption of Love: Rescuing Marriage and Sexuality from the Economics of a Fallen World by Carrie A. Miles (Brazos Press) 

Sex, according to Carrie A. Miles, organizational psychologist and consultant in Fairfax, Virginia, associate director of the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture and associate director of the Consortium for the Economic Study of Religion, is a difficult word.

But the problems of the meaning of sex today are not linguistic but social and spiritual. These problems of meaning now expand to include definitions of family, marriage, and morality as well. The past one hundred years have brought massive change in the hard-to-define but vital human institutions of love, sex, marriage, and family, particularly in the developed Western world. Some of these changes have been positive, but many others are proving destructive of marriage, the well-being of children, and the happiness of individu­als. Although early Christianity effectively reformed ancient marriage and household patterns, the contemporary church has not yet found a way to stave off the decadence of today.

Our culture is full of problem solvers who jump too soon to solutions to dilemmas that fall under the general category of love: sex, relationships, marriage, gender norms, and family, including women's employment outside the home and questions of how to balance parenting with career. On the liberal side, these solutions almost always prescribe more freedom for some categories of people, often at the expense of the freedom of other kinds of people. On the conservative side the solutions include attempts to shore up the old sexual morality and gender norms. Such solutions have done little to slow the tide of change, and some have made the problems worse while damaging the credibility and authority of those proposing them. As normative institutions, churches face the greatest loss of credibility and authority – and frustratingly so, since social change puts them in a classic double bind: liberal churches lose au­thority because they accommodate social change, and conservative churches lose credibility because they resist it.

The Redemption of Love takes a novel approach: looking to the Bible not just for solutions to today's problems but, first, for a clear understanding of their causes. Looking for these causes, Miles applies to scripture the relatively new tools of socioeconomics or economic sociology – an interdisciplinary approach that has been hailed as ‘the new paradigm’ for the social-scientific study of religion. The insights and tools of the academic field of economics – defined as the study of how we "allocate scarce resources among competing ends" – can be applied to broader material constraints and incentives, recognizing that these forces influence behavior not just in the marketplace but also in the home, church, and society. Extending an economic-type analysis to aspects of life usually considered the province of psychology or sociology enables us to understand the tradeoffs people make in spending not just their money, but also their time, effort, and energy; why they behave as they do and how often; why they believe and value the things they do; how they interact with other people around these values; and how these choices shape iden­tity. Only when we understand these material forces influencing our behaviors, beliefs, and identities can we rid ourselves, our families, and our churches of those that are worldly and destructive.

A socioeconomic analysis of what the Bible says about marriage, gender, and family works because its central story of creation, fall, and redemption asks whether we as individuals and as a society will live only by bread (materially) or by the Word of God (spiritually). Human love and relationships are inextricably woven throughout that story. Significantly the Bible tells us that God originally intended that decisions about how to "allocate scare resources among competing ends" should have nothing to say about human love and our interac­tions with each other. Bountifully provided for, man and woman in creation know nothing about scarcity. One flesh, man and woman had no competing agendas. God intended that his human creation should always share this abundance in unity and joy.

In eventually choosing to turn away from God, however, man and woman suffered the physical consequences of living outside of God's abundant provision. After the fall, these tough decisions became the driving force of human life, a force that corrupted sexuality and de­stroyed the oneness for which man and woman were created. Socially, the fall resulted in patriarchy – the subordination of women, children and most men to the service of the powerful few. Although contem­porary critics charge religion with being the source and supporter of patriarchy – the Bible teaches exactly the opposite: patriarchy and its abuses, including the alienation of woman and man from each other; resulted from the material demands of life outside of the Creator's abundance, a state God never intended human beings to experience in the first place.

According to The Redemption of Love, God's intent to redeem us and return us to abundance is seen in the teachings of Jesus and Paul, both of whom challenged the economic and patriarchal order of the fall. As the Christian movement transformed the economically based family, it eventually reined in the practices of polygamy, slavery, and sexual decadence and elevated the status of women. Although the ‘traditional’ family that resulted – defined as a married couple with an employed, dominant father, a homemaking mother, and their obedient children – was strongly decried by activists in the 1960s and 1970s as patriarchal, it was a far cry from either traditional or patriarchal when contrasted with the pre-Christian family.

By the late twentieth century, however, marriage and family faced a different set of challenges. Miles agrees that the institutions of marriage and family have been badly damaged in the last century. But here is where the commonly accepted definition of the problem – that ‘revolutions,’ corrupt values, grand ideas, or different ways of thinking have undermined the family – fails. The error is slight and subtle: this explanation simply has cause and effect reversed. The sexual revolution, risings rates of divorce, promiscuity, and out-of-wedlock births are the results, not the cause, of the breakdown of the family. Family institutions as we once knew them were based on the economic need of farmers for labor, a need most efficiently met by having many children. In preindustrial societies, families were the original ‘social safety net’ – indeed, there was little other available – providing all of the goods and services needed to live, from food and clothing to health care to support in old age. Often the larger the family the better, as even very young children provided important labor; and the services of older children were indispensable. Over the last two hundred years, however, technological advances eliminated the economic imperative for family. Consequently, while the average American woman in 1800 bore over seven children, by the year 2000 she would bear fewer than two. In many European coun­tries, the number of children born is getting close to one per woman. As the material incentives and constraints that necessitated bearing children have evaporated, the institutions of family, marriage, and traditional sexual morality have all collapsed. The ‘problem’ – the confusion, dissent, unhappiness and bad outcomes for both children and adults – that we witness today encompasses attempts to rebuild a new base to support the love, human connectedness, and concern for each other that we still crave.

This redefined statement of the problem with family today tells us that the moral institutions that we have lost were only loosely based on Christian principles in the first place. People before the divorce and sexual revolutions were not really more virtuous than we are today. Rather, they married, stayed married, and refrained from hav­ing sex or children outside of marriage partly because this is what the church taught, but even more so because these virtues were the material requirements of survival under the economic conditions that prevailed then. Understanding how these material requirements shaped the family before the twentieth century and how they have changed to produce a completely different set of sexual patterns in the twentieth and twenty-first is critical to rediscovering, and recovering, the Christian basis for marriage and family.

This understanding makes it apparent that the solution attempted by some conservative groups – reaffirming the gender-role traditionalism of preindustrial family relations – becomes at best non sequitur in a world in which people have sex and children without a relationship at all. Defining today's worldwide problems with family, marriage, and sexuality as wives' failure to submit or fathers irresponsibility misses the terrifyingly large scope of these problems, and for some people only makes matters worse. A more accurate problem definition equips Christians to undertake the tough task of sorting the chaff of economic material imperatives from the wheat of the true underlying spiritual principles for marriage and family, and to determine which parts of Christian belief are nonbiblical and culturally relative and which are eternal truths, applicable to every person in every culture at every point in time.

The observations and analysis of modern issues of family, marriage, and sexuality (found in chapters 5, 7, and 8 of The Redemption of Love) are relevant mostly in wealthy nations like the United States and those of Western Europe. In these modern economies, the radical decline in the economic usefulness of children has spawned massive social change. One bit of evidence that the new way of thinking about the problems of sexuality is more accurate than the old one, however, is that it applies equally well to the different problems of poor and developing economics. Marriage counselor Dr. James Koch, who ministered extensively in eastern Europe after the dissolution of communist control there, has observed that the traumas of poverty and repression leave men and women at odds with and unable to comfort each other. The conservative message that family and marital problems stem from a breakdown in ‘traditional’ family structure or gender norms is not useful (or perhaps even sensible) under such conditions. In fact, insisting on the correctness of male authority over women (as do many religious leaders, Christian and Muslim) in countries where the status of women is already appallingly low only reinforces a situ­ation that is miserable enough as it is. Many believe that in Africa, the low status of women contributes to the high rates of HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, economies such as these fit the model of patriarchy described in chapter 2 only too well.

Fortunately, the biblical solutions to the dilemmas of male/female relations apply both in poverty and in wealth. Many pastors and counselors who help couples prepare to survive difficult times in their relationships might wonder whether someone can get a whole book out of what the Bible has to say about marriage and family. Gathered together, statements on these topics account for just a few of the Bible's thousands of pages. Further, the contents of these few pages do not seem at all applicable to today. Some bibli­cal injunctions, such as the admonition that wives submit to their husbands, make many women (and men) cringe. Others, like the Old Testament practice of polygamy, appear little short of barbaric.

Approaching the Bible with a new way of looking at the problem, however, reveals that it has much more to say about marriage than is commonly realized – and that what it has to offer is surprisingly affirming, comprehensible, joyful, and attainable. According to Jesus, as told in The Redemption of Love. God created marriage to be a blessing for humankind. He meant for us to want romance, committed love, and even sex. The biblically ideal marriage includes harmony and compatibility, passion and compassion, self-fulfillment as well as self-sacrifice, and equality as a necessary stepping-stone to unity. Moreover, the Bible provides a model for regaining that ideal even outside of Eden.

Within this framework of creation ideal, fall, and redemption, even the apostle Paul must be read in a different light. The fear-driven need for control in the fallen world leads to the tendency to see all human interactions in terms of power. Prejudiced biblical interpretation results. Read in search of hints about such a hierarchy, even a won­derful statement such as "Woman is the glory of man" somehow ends up interpreted as proof of female inferiority. Biased translations have rendered Paul's liberating message nearly inacces­sible, and today he is assumed to be antimarriage, antisex, antiwoman, and proslavery, the ultimate Male Chauvinist Pig. Approaching Paul's statements with Jesus's teachings about the appropriate use of power in mind, however, it becomes clear that Paul's views on submission and ‘headship’ have nothing to do with hierarchy or family structure. In Pauline writings, the head does not rule the body but facilitates unity with it. For Paul (and in the Song of Songs) marriage is a beautiful paradox in which each partner is both the fullness of and the thing that fills the other. What redeemed lovers want is not authority over each other but to be of one heart and mind.

The Redemption of Love, then, attempts a biblical theology of marriage. In look­ing at what the Bible says about marriage, Miles finds a consistency of purpose and attitude that is astonishing for a document that was written by dozens of people over thousands of years. The consistencies between what the Bible says about marriage in Genesis and then marriage as it is portrayed in the Song of Songs – two pieces written hundreds of years apart – are themselves staggering. Then, after a few hundred more years have passed, Jesus used the same themes and allusions in the Sermon on the Mount. The texts that explain woman's alienation from man also explain the problem of evil, and the same forces that redeem individuals from evil take us a long way toward restoring the wholeness between man and woman. God's promise for marriage begins in Genesis and ties up neatly in Paul's eschatological vision for the entire human race.

I regard this winsomely written, meticulously researched, hopeful, and wise book as a must read. Dr. Miles has brilliantly connected an astute analysis of the relation of the pre-industrial economics of scarcity to traditional sexual divisions of labor and gender norm, in the fallen world of thorns with her insightful and persuasive readings of Genesis, the Song of Songs, and Ephesians. Many readers will find truly eye opening her detailed investigation of the intimate relation between human survival and the locus of marriage changing from production to consumption. And her emphasis on the here-and-now consequences of redemption in Christ for marriage and sexual relationships is both theologically sound and wonderfully practical. This book can change your life and your marriage for the better. – S. Scott Bartchy, UCLA

This elegant, sensible, and faithful book peels away centuries of misunderstanding about Christianity and marital love. – Rodney Stark, author of For the Glory of God

Dr. Miles successfully navigates the turbulent waters of modern sexual life and traditional Christian morality. The delightful chapter on the Song of Songs is worth the price of the book. – Jennifer Roback Morse, author of Smart Sex: Finding Lifelong Love in a Hook-up World

Combining keen observations with sociological evidence, this book offers an understanding of the factors that have shaken the institutions of marriage and the family in modern societies and what can be done about it. – Jack Balswick, Fuller Theological Seminary

So many books on marriage are saying the same old thing; this book by Carrie Miles is a fresh per­spective. I learned from her focus on economics about the many ways our materialistic, capitalist culture puts a strain on families and draws us away from the wisdom of scripture. – Alan G. Padgett, Luther Seminary

The Redemption of Love holds the hope to Christians that the understanding it conveys will deepen readers’ rela­tionships with Christ as well as improve their marriages. Not for nothing does the traditional wedding ceremony end with the blessing "[May God] fill you with all spiritual benediction and grace; that you may faithfully live together in this life, and in the age to come have life everlasting."

Religion & Spirituality / New Age & Occult

Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary edited by James Wasserman, with a foreword by J. Daniel Gunther (Weiser Books) 

Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary includes Aleister Crowley’s two most important instructional writings on the design and purpose of the magical diary, John St. John and A Master of the Temple. These were the only two works regarding the magical diary published in Crowley’s lifetime, and both were first published in Crowley’s immense collection of magical instruction, The Equinox. John St. John chronicles Crowley’s moment-by-moment progress during a 13-day magical working. Crowley referred to it as "a perfect model of what a magical record should be."

A Master of the Temple is taken from the magical diary of Frater Achad at a time when he was Crowley’s most valued and successful student. It provides an example of a student’s record, plus direct commentary and instruction added by Crowley. Achad's A Master of the Temple first appeared in 1919 and details the remarkable experiences of this one-time heir apparent to Crowley's magical legacy.

This revised edition of Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary includes a new introduction by James Wasserman, a foreword by noted occult scholar, J. Daniel Gunther, revisions throughout the text, a revised reading list for further study, plus Crowley’s instructions on banishing from Liber O. In this publication, scholar and Thelemic magician Wasserman offers an instructional guide for journaling the inward journey that comes from magical workings. For his source material, Wasserman has chosen texts first published by Crowley as instruction in the proper technique of keeping a Magical Diary and are drawn respectively from the diaries of two of the most accomplished and influential magicians of the twentieth century, Aleister Crowley, and Charles Stansfeld Jones (Frater Achad).

No weapon in the magician's arsenal is more important than the Magical Diary. Without this objective record of his or her spiritual practices it is impossible to gauge success or failure, illumination or delusion, enlightenment or madness. – Lon Milo Duquette

This collection is greatly enhanced with the Introduction by James Wasserman. His deeply personal and genuine account of his own experience not only bears witness to the important of the magical diary, it is a testament to the relevance and continuance of a living tradition. – J Daniel Gunther, from the Foreword

With commentary and introductory material by editor Wasserman, Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary is the most important and accessible instruction available to students of the occult regarding the practice of keeping a magical diary. Intended for use by both student and adept, this introduction blends accessible instruction with examples and clear commentary drawn from Wasserman's 35 years of experience and scholarship. This seminal source work can become the key for readers to unlocking their own ‘inner temple.’

Religion & Spirituality / Science & Religion

Darwin's Nemesis: Phillip Johnson and the Intelligent Design Movement edited by William A. Dembski, with a foreword by Senator Rick Santorum (IVP Academic, InterVarsity Press) 

With the publication of Darwin on Trial in 1991, UC Berkeley legal scholar Phillip E. Johnson became the leading figure in the intelligent design (ID) movement. Exposing the philosophical foundations of Darwinism, Johnson led the charge against its largely unquestioned assumptions of a materialistic reductionism and its purported basis in scientific research. Professionally and publicly, Johnson stepped into the controversy over intelligent design at just the right time as the fledgling movement's field marshal. Eschewing authoritarianism and any desire to become a cult figure, Johnson made room for a new generation of ID scholars, stepping back so that the movement could flourish, not through a top-down chain of command but through its own inner vitality.

Darwin's Nemesis reviews the life and thought of Phillip Johnson and the movement for which he has served as chief architect. Editor William A. Dembski, Carl F. H. Henry Professor of Theology and Science at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and a fellow at the Discovery Institute, presents eighteen essays by research scientists and philosophers who have known and worked with Johnson for more than a decade. They provide personal and in-depth insight not only into the current issues but also into the man, his convic­tions and his leadership of the intellectual movement that called into question the hegemony of Darwinian theory.

Contributors include: Wesley D. Allen, Francis J. Beckwith, Michael J. Behe, David Berlinski, Walter L. Bradley, J. Budziszewski, Phillip E. Johnson, David Keller, Stephen C. Meyer, Scott A. Minnich, Paul Nelson, Nancy Pearcey, John Mark Reynolds, Jay Wesley Richards, Marcus Ross, Michael Ruse, Henry F. Schaefer III, Timothy G. Standish, Jonathan Wells, and Thomas Woodward.

This Festschrift from friends – and a couple of friendly critics – honors Phillip Johnson, the Berkeley law professor whose 1991 publication Darwin on Trial and later books helped intelligent design emerge as a highly visible, and highly controversial, alternative to Darwinism. While it may be premature to hail Johnson as "Darwin's Nemesis," these essays reveal him as an influential strategist and mentor within the ID movement. … contributors address cultural and political questions beyond evolution itself, such as Francis Beckwith's timely review of legal controversies over ID in the classroom, J. Budziszewski's discussion of naturalism and the Natural Law tradition and editor William Dembski's commentary on the professional – and often personal – ‘backlash’ against ID advocates. Readers who are familiar with the basics of ID and curious about the movement's development and inner workings will find much of interest, although for an account of the most recent and current controversies over ID, they will need to consult other sources. – Publishers Weekly

What Phil did for me – take a floundering critic and turn him into an effective spokesperson – he did for many others, and it is through his strong leadership that the intelligent design movement has gained a forceful public voice. – Michael Behe, author of Darwin's Black Box

Darwin's Nemesis is not an exposition on intelligent design but a celebration of the life and work of Johnson as well as his work as the chief architect and articulator of intelligent design. 

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