Social Sciences
-- Library Journal, 02/01/2010
Anthropology & CustomsShankman, Paul. The Trashing of Margaret Mead: Anatomy of an Anthropological Controversy. Univ. of Wisconsin. (Studies in American Thought and Culture). 2009. c.312p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-29923454-6. $29.95. ANTHRO
In 1983, Australian anthropologist Derek Freeman published a devastating criticism of iconic American anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901–78) in which he completely discredited the conclusions she reached during her 1925–26 field study in American Samoa, the basis of her famous and popular Coming of Age in Samoa. Freeman questioned Mead's research methods and asserted that she had been misled into developing totally erroneous ideas about Samoan culture, values, and sexuality. Mead's reputation suffered hugely. Now Shankman (anthropology, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder), who has also done fieldwork in Samoa, provides an in-depth look at the Mead-Freeman controversy, showing that the crux of the matter may have been the nature vs. nurture concept. Mead saw adolescent behavior in both Samoa and America as more heavily influenced by culture (nurture) than by biological factors (nature), while Freeman had the opposite view. Although Shankman admits to being a Mead sympathizer, he provides a balanced portrait of this complex and often vitriolic anthropological controversy. VERDICT Well researched and thoroughly documented, this should be of interest both to anthropologists and to educated lay readers with interests in Mead and her legacy.—Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westerville, OH
Bray, Gary W. After My Lai: My Year Commanding First Platoon, Charlie Company. Univ. of Oklahoma. Mar. 2010. c.184p. illus. maps. ISBN 978-0-8061-4045-2. pap. $16.95. AUTOBIOG
Bray, a retired businessman and veteran of the Vietnam War, has written a brief but powerful memoir with an interesting hook: he was the commanding officer of the platoon that William Calley led during the infamous My Lai massacre. His memoir is clearly a view from the trenches that condemns the My Lai massacre but tries to help us understand how it could happen. The first half of the book is a somewhat predictable account: youth, decision to enlist, basic training, first few weeks in-country. But in the second half, Bray confronts the horror of the war: his first kill is a female soldier; two of his troops and a Vietnamese boy are blown to bits by a booby trap; Bray is wounded. Most distressing to Bray, his unit kills an old woman struggling to get out of a free fire zone, a killing that haunts Bray though it was within the Rules of Engagement. He concludes by saying, simply, that he will forget Vietnam when he "finally lie[s] under a stone in a cemetery." VERDICT Perhaps not as vivid and well written as offerings by professional writers, such as Tim O'Brien's If I Die in a Combat Zone or O'Brien's fictionalized accounts, but still an important work.—A.O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, IN
Heidler, David S. & Jeanne T. Heidler. Henry Clay: The Essential American. Random. May 2010. c.624p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-1-4000-6726-8. $30. BIOG
David S. Heidler (formerly history, Colorado St. Univ., Pueblo) and Jeanne Heidler (history, United States Air Force Academy), coauthors of several books (e.g., The War of 1812), give Henry Clay his due in the first full-bodied biography of this "essential American" in over 25 years. As they ably show, Clay was a larger-than-life figure—shaping key sectional compromises; forging the "American System" of government-sponsored banking, infrastructure construction, and tariffs; forming and leading the Whig Party; negotiating treaties with the British; and standing as the beau ideal for many Americans, including Abraham Lincoln. Clay also was "a basket of contradictions"—at once arrogant and affable, a gambler and a workhorse, and a powerful politician who never understood how mass political parties and the cult of personality counted more than policy in winning elections. The Heidlers make a signal contribution in deciphering the inner workings of Congress and showing how patronage, personal relations, and public performance affected political interests and identities. VERDICT Anyone wanting to understand political, economic, and social life in the early republic will appreciate the Heidlers' command of sources and balanced treatment of a man too long in the shadow of Andrew Jackson and very much a metaphor for his era. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/10.]—Randall M. Miller, Saint Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Holt, Michael F. Franklin Pierce. Times Bks: Holt. (The American Presidents). Apr. 2010. c.176p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-8050-8719-2. $23. BIOG
Our 14th President at last gets his volume in this popular series for general readers. Drawing heavily from previous studies, such as Larry Gara's The Presidency of Franklin Pierce, as well as primary sources and his own expertise on mid-19th century partisan politics, Holt (American history, Univ. of Virginia; The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party) creates a solid portrait of both man and President. Pierce, a New Englander known for his charm and good looks, traditionally ranks as one of our nation's worst leaders. Holt does not dispel or challenge any previous assessments but rather tries to explain the pre-Civil War President's actions. Holt's thesis is that Pierce's obsession with the Democratic Party and priority of party over country in the tumultuous 1850s in fact damaged his party and pushed the country more quickly toward war. VERDICT Recommended for high school and undergraduate readers and all libraries stocking this series.—Leslie A. Lewis, Duquesnes Univ. Lib., Pittsburgh
Lord, James. My Queer War. Farrar. May 2010. c.384p. illus. ISBN 978-0-374-21748-8. $27. AUTOBIOG
Lord, noted for his memoirs about Giacometti and Picasso, completed this memoir just before his death in 2009. In 1942, reeling from a suicide attempt, Lord dropped out of Wesleyan to enlist in the army. Alas, basic training proved inhospitable to this budding intellectual. Almost by accident, Lord was assigned to the Military Intelligence Service, which exposed him to the delights of Europe and the military's secret gay underground. His unflinching, insolent honesty constantly got him into trouble with his superiors, and he was shuffled from assignment to assignment (he calls himself a "tourist disguised as a soldier"). But his cheekiness also gained him entry into the drawing rooms of Picasso and Gertrude Stein, setting the stage for a charmed life and fruitful writing career. VERDICT Although Lord clearly matures over the course of this memoir, his motivations and actions often remain frustratingly opaque. His style can occasionally be off-puttingly fussy and the dialog improbably arch. Nonetheless, the story is captivating. Particularly effective is Lord's eyewitness testimony of Allied torture during the "good" war. Recommended for fans of expatriate writers like Edmund White and Gore Vidal and for those seeking a corrective to the standard World War II memoir.—David Gibbs, Georgetown Univ. Lib., Washington, DC
Roller, Duane W. Cleopatra: A Biography. Oxford Univ. (Women in Antiquity). Apr. 2010. c.256p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-19-536553-5. $24.95. BIOG
The end of the Roman Republic has inspired a lot of good recent biographies, but did we really need another scholarly life of Cleopatra after Joyce Tyldesley's Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt (2008)? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. While Tyldesley probed deeply into Ptolemy family history and iconography, classicist Roller (Greek & Latin, emeritus, Ohio St. Univ.) focuses on Cleopatra (69–30 B.C.E.) as a ruthless and learned queen in a time when female rulers were practically unknown. The first of the Ptolemys to speak Egyptian (the family was Greek in origin), Cleopatra used her many languages to help her achieve her goals of holding on to her throne and restoring to Egypt territory lost by her ancestors. Her shrewd liaisons and childbearing with Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius supported her on her throne for 20 years as Roman dominance of the Mediterranean world grew. But there were limits to what a proud queen would do to survive. "I will not be led in triumph," she told her conqueror Augustus Caesar. Then she killed herself. VERDICT Cleopatra reclaims her stature as a significant monarch of her era in this unsentimental corrective to the romantic legend. Recommended for all who study her era.—Stewart Desmond, New York
Shapiro, Dani. Devotion. Harper: HarperCollins. Feb. 2010. c.256p. ISBN 978-0-06-162834-4. $24.99. AUTOBIOG
In the last few years, memoirs by women attempting to find answers to the big spiritual questions have become a genre all their own. The best of these books includes Eat, Pray, Love and much of Anne Lamott's nonfiction—and, make no mistake, Shapiro's Devotion ranks with the best. What makes such titles work is the authors' openness to a sampler approach to faith and a seeming lack of ego, which allows them to be simultaneously unflinchingly honest and self-deprecating. Shapiro, who has written both fiction and nonfiction, grew up in a Jewish household but drifted away from the faith after the death of her very devout father. During a crisis when her son almost died in infancy, Shapiro realized that she had internalized the idea of prayer but was unsure whether or not she was a believer. Age and time, paired with the questions of an inquisitive child and her own middle-of-the-night grapplings with anxiety, force the author to take a look at what spirituality means to her. VERDICT This work should appeal to readers who enjoy memoir, self-help, spirituality, and women's books. To reveal more would undermine the reader's pleasure of discovery. Highly recommended.—Pam Kingsbury, Univ. of Alabama, Florence
Brooks, Regina L. Writing Great Books for Young Adults. Sourcebooks. 2009. c.188p. ISBN 978-1-4022-2661-8. pap. $14.99. COMM
Experienced literary agent Brooks offers targeted advice for potential authors of young adult fiction. Though her general suggestions regarding plot, characters, and point of view may be found in many standard fiction-writing guides, Brooks's knowledge of the 12- to 18-year-old market adds meaningful value. As if following her recommendation to maintain a brisk pace in YA books, she moves through her topics quickly; plot and dialog are given the most page space, while the publishing process is given only cursory coverage. VERDICT Brooks offers writers who are serious about attracting teen readers solid guidance through the creation process of writing YA fiction. Writers looking for detailed information about the steps that follow the manuscript's completion will likely want to supplement this title with others, such as Michael Larsen's How To Get a Literary Agent or Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato's Thinking Like Your Editor.—Stacey Rae Brownlie, Lititz P.L., PA
Heath, Chip & Dan Heath. Switch: How To Change Things When Change Is Hard. Broadway. Feb. 2010. c.320p. index. ISBN 978-0-385-52875-7. $26. BUS
Old habits die hard. Whether on the communal or the individual level, maintaining the status quo is always the easiest course. So how do companies or people change? Chip Heath (organizational behavior, Graduate Sch. of Business, Stanford Univ.) and his brother, consultant Dan Heath, coauthors of Made To Stick, have teamed up again to show us that change can be a lot less painful than we fear. In their previous book, they explored how ideas catch on. Here they analyze what must be addressed if societal, organizational, and personal habits and practices are to be instilled with new ideas. They draw upon numerous behavioral studies, business case studies, and hypothetical examples to illustrate their principles. VERDICT This practical and entertaining work could easily be classified as a self-help tool. But since the authors also focus on organizational change and include dozens of vignettes from real companies, it's also a good managerial prescription for transformation. While it won't displace John Kotter's Leading Change as the classic text for "change managers," this catchy book offers fresh ideas and a breezy style that will work equally well for company executives, undergraduates, and average joes.—Carol J. Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin Lib., Whitewater
Jacobs, Deborah L. Estate Planning Smarts: A Practical, User-Friendly, Action-Oriented Guide. Quality. 2009. 352p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-615-29754-5. pap. $19.95. FINANCE
The bad news is that death and taxes are inevitable; the good news is that the new tax code of 2010 is covered here, including some good ideas for minimizing your estate tax bite and protecting your assets. Jacobs (Small Business Legal Smarts), an attorney and journalist, has written extensively about estate planning, and her knowledge is evident throughout. She covers a wide range of trust options in detail, including bypass, dynasty, irrevocable life insurance, and special needs. Jacobs does a good job of exploring the use of the annual gift tax exclusion as well as charitable-giving options. An introduction to the issues of foreign citizenship and assets is also presented. However, more discussion about the impact of divorce on estate planning would probably have been helpful. VERDICT Jacobs's dense writing is not targeted to the DIY crowd, who might be better served by Suze Ormon's Will & Trust Kit. Unless the reader has a net worth of over $3.5 million, owns his or her own business, or has dependents with specials needs, this book may not be the best choice.—Tracy Mohaidheen, M.L.I.S., West Bloomfield, MI
Levis, Kieran. Winners & Losers: Creators and Casualties of the Age of the Internet. Overlook, dist. by Penguin Group (USA). Feb. 2010. c.252p. ISBN 978-1-59020-275-3. $27.95. BUS
British management consultant Levis believes that studying company histories will generate key questions about business performance and will provide illuminating answers, thereby identifying major patterns. His is not a straightforward comparative approach to business history. Instead, Levis discusses economic issues and philosophical approaches, relying heavily upon Joseph A. Schumpeter's theory of creative destruction. This theory, put forward in Schumpeter's Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1943), describes the cycle of entrepreneurial innovation and growth that eventually ends in failure after the emergence of new competitive threats. VERDICT Although Levis provides several intriguing stories, such as the development of Encyclopaedia Britannica, he deals primarily with corporations with large market capitalizations, such as Amazon, eBay, IBM, and Google, whose successes and failures have been covered in many other studies. Nevertheless, the book may be useful to some general readers with a strong interest in business and economics. An optional purchase.—Caroline Geck, MLS, Somerset, NJ
Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Basic Bks: Perseus. Mar. 2010. c.288p. ISBN 978-0-465-01491-0. $26.95. ED
Ravitch (education, New York Univ.; EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon), former assistant secretary of education with over 40 years of experience in educational policy, provides an important and highly readable examination of the educational system, how it fails to prepare students for life after graduation, and how we can put it back on track. Ravitch was once a passionate advocate for the conservative policies of testing and accountability, school choice, privatization, and business-style management, all of which she here powerfully shows leave students trained to take tests but not prepared to participate in the 21st-century economy. Changes she suggests include curricula that emphasize what students need to learn over test scores, having professional educators rather than politicians, business leaders, and philanthropists run the system, and using charter schools to help students most in need instead of allowing them to siphon off the best students from public schools. VERDICT Anyone interested in education should definitely read this accessible, riveting book.—Mark Bay, Univ. of the Cumberlands Lib., Williamsburg, KY
White, Kristin M. The Complete Guide to the Gap Year: The Best Things To Do Between High School and College. Jossey-Bass. 2009. c.224p. index. ISBN 978-0-470-42526-8. pap. $16.95. ED
In this good contribution to a growing field, White, the director of an educational consulting company, helps students who seek a post-high school experience other than college or the military navigate their many choices, beginning with interfacing with college admission staffs and funding the experience. She also includes material about federally administered national service opportunities, techniques for evaluating gap-year programs, and profiles of students' gap-year experiences. About 200 gap-year opportunities are described, organized primarily by experience type (e.g., volunteer, adventure, language study, conservation, and postgraduate year). VERDICT Unlike Susan Griffith's solid Your Gap Year: Everything You Need To Know To Make Your Year Out the Adventure of a Lifetime, White's book lacks content on the risks and challenges of taking a gap year, and libraries with the former need not purchase White's book. Otherwise, this is a good choice for students with the means and broad perspective necessary to consider this experience.—Eric Petersen, Kansas City P.L., MO
Aaronovitch, David. Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History. Riverhead: Penguin Group (USA). Feb. 2010. c.400p. ISBN 978-1-59448-895-5. $26.95. HIST
In this impressive new study of contemporary conspiracy theories, British journalist Aaronovitch (London Times) analyzes a plethora of explanations that have surfaced over the past several decades for such mysteries as who shot the Kennedy brothers, how Marilyn Monroe died, whether our astronauts really landed on the moon or were part of a huge NASA scam, and what was the real 9/11 plot. Beyond providing a systematic analysis of both how conspiracy theorists present their cases and what the actual facts are, as they are known in 12 different historical cases, Aaronovitch delves into the psychology of what makes conspiracy theories attractive in the first place. Humans always seek comfort in knowing exactly what has happened, and the absence of certainty (because of the way history is) makes us susceptible to those who think they know more than we do. There is comfort in thinking that historical events cannot have random causes but must operate instead from some preconceived (and often diabolical) notion. VERDICT This is fascinating stuff and absorbing reading that gives us a better understanding of why conspiracy theories are so popular and what the facts—in fact—indicate. Recommended.—Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames
Andrew, Christopher. Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5. Knopf. 2009. c.704p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-307-26363-6. $40. HIST
While there have been many books on the British Security Service, known as MI5 (Military Intelligence, Department 5), this is the officially authorized history, a broad but detailed study of both the service's evolving administration and its undercover operations defending the UK, initially from pre-World War I German espionage and now from extremists around the world. Andrew (history, Univ. of Cambridge; The Sword and the Shield), a veteran intelligence historian, had access to the service archives and provides new behind-the-scenes information. The costly failures (e.g., the July 2005 subway bombings) are presented along with the successes. What comes through is that dedicated people can produce quality work despite obstructive bureaucracy and misguided politicians. Readers will also note MI5's thriving culture of humor and how well the service performed while understaffed and underfunded, particularly at the beginning of both world wars. An unauthorized book, Thomas Hennessey and Claire Thomas's Spooks: The Unofficial History of MI5, was published in the UK last summer but was not available for comparison. VERDICT A readable and compelling history; recommended for both readers of thrillers associated with MI5 and those interested in intelligence history. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/09.]—Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL
Corbett, Christopher. The Poker Bride: The First Chinese in the Wild West. Atlantic Monthly. Feb. 2010. c.240p. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-8021-7909-4. $25. HIST
In the 19th-century American West, for a white man to marry a Chinese woman was almost unheard of; to have won her in a poker game was also unusual. Yet here Corbett (journalism, Univ. of Maryland, Baltimore) tells how the Chinese concubine Polly became the bride of Charles Bemis, a saloon keeper who took her to his remote Idaho gold-mining community. Around this story, Corbett gracefully weaves the history of the Chinese in the 19th-century American West, from the arrival of the first "celestials," as they were known, through the anti-Chinese agitation at century's end. He pays particular attention to the importation of girls from southern China and tells just how Polly's story ultimately became known to the world. VERDICT Corbett's intriguing book will appeal to readers interested in the narrative history of the American West and tales of the mining camps. Corbett provides a sound bibliography and refers to specific sources within his narrative, though serious students will prefer works with full editorial apparatus, such as Gunther Barth's Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States, 1850–1870. Corbett's accomplished book will engage history buffs and general readers alike. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/09.]—Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
Damrosch, Leo. Tocqueville's Discovery of America. Farrar. Apr. 2010. c.352p. illus. ISBN 978-0-374-27817-5. $27. HIST
Drawing on archives not previously translated into English, Damrosch (Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature, Harvard Univ.; Jean-Jacques Rousseau) presents an insightful update to Alexis de Tocqueville's 1831 tour of young America, known through his subsequent book, Democracy in America. Tocqueville and companion Gustave de Beaumont used a tour of the new country's reformist prisons as an excuse to escape revolutionary France. They did visit prisons, but Tocqueville mostly studied American democracy, deciding that America's religious mores were an essential underpinning for democracy's survival. The Frenchmen saw a nation without royalty ginning up a middle class, noted the collapsing Indian tribes, got lost in wild Wisconsin, and were appalled by the country's Fifth Estate. America's egalitarianism, Tocqueville warned, was in dynamic tension with its materialistic tendencies. Damrosch notes that the young men flirted avidly in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia but were reduced to chastity. VERDICT This book, insightful and sometimes witty, is a useful companion for all who are reading Tocqueville or want to learn more about him.—Robert Moore, Lantheus Medical Imaging, North Billerica, MA
Heather, Peter. Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Modern Europe. Oxford Univ. Mar. 2010. c.752p. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-19-973560-0. $34.95. HIST
British historian Heather (medieval history, Univ. of Oxford; The Fall of the Roman Empire) takes a look at first-millennium migrations in Europe, examining contemporary records, archaeological remains, and modern migration theory. The collapse of Rome in the West and the advance of the Huns from the East set off mass movements of people looking for wealth and security. Examining in chronological order the movements of Germanic peoples, Huns, Slavs, and Vikings, Heather concludes that masses of humanity traipsed across Europe (which some recent historians have doubted) but not exactly in the manner described in old high school history books. The large migrant groups were made up of many temporary loose alliances rather than a single people with a cultural identity. Invaded peoples, even when their conquerors included women and children, were more likely to continue in place in a subservient role than to be massacred. VERDICT Although Heather makes an amiable and learned companion through the centuries of migrations, his exhaustive account is too exhausting and repetitive to be suitable for the general reader. Specialists in the field will want to make the effort.—Stewart Desmond, New York
Hodges, Graham Russell Gao. David Ruggles: A Radical Black Abolitionist and the Underground Railroad in New York City. Univ. of North Carolina. Mar. 2010. c.264p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-8078-3326-1. $30. HIST
A beacon for black freedom in antebellum America, David Ruggles (1810–49) championed self-sacrifice, direct confrontation, and community mobilizing to carve a path of militant, practical abolitionism. So argues Hodges (history; Colgate Univ.; Root and Branch: African Americans in New York and East Jersey, 1613–1863). His five chapters, introduction, and epilog move Ruggles from childhood in Connecticut to the center of radical abolitionism in New York City and through a too early public retirement forced by ill health, which prompted him to study medicine and open a water-cure spa in Massachusetts. Hodges details Ruggles's undaunted struggles to secure black liberty, particularly by protecting fugitives from slave snatchers. He also discusses Ruggles's indefatigable writings, which challenged public anti-Negro prejudices and advanced equal rights for blacks and women. Reviving and expanding historian Dorothy Porter's pioneering African American bibliographic work and Benjamin Quarles's 1969 classic Black Abolitionists, Hodges contributes to a better understanding of antebellum black activism and to shaping a fresh synthesis regarding how abolitionism shook America to its core. VERDICT Essential for readers and scholars interested in antebellum America, the antislavery movement, black activists, or New York City history.—Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe
Johns, Adrian. Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates. Univ. of Chicago. Feb. 2010. c.656p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-226-40118-8. $35. HIST
Johns (history, Univ. of Chicago; The Nature of the Book) meticulously demonstrates how the meaning of intellectual piracy—the appropriation of ideas and inventions without recompense—has changed over time. Related to product counterfeiting and patents, this unacknowledged borrowing has a history beginning with the printed book, with a legal copyright dimension first arising in 18th-century England. Johns suggests that piracy has often furthered progress by spreading ideas more widely, although it also undermines authenticity and has slowed the creation of new works. In America, piracy followed the territorial and industrial pattern of national development, e.g., uncompensated usurpation. Johns subtly points out the special component of illicit cribbing, with cross-border publications from Scotland and Ireland distressing authors in pre-U.K. England much as pirated items from China now perturb American producers. The author is both thorough and digressive to a degree that the general reader might not appreciate or readily comprehend without considerable prior knowledge and a dictionary. VERDICT Uniquely addressing copyright piracy from print to digital formats in a worldwide, historical context (albeit primarily concentrating on Anglo-America), this complex, fully annotated, rarefied study will find favor with serious readers, especially social, cultural, and scientific historians.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress
McCoy, Alfred W. Policing America's Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State. Univ. of Wisconsin. (New Perspectives in Southeast Asian Studies). 2009. 680p. photogs. index. ISBN 978-0-299-23414-0. pap. $29.95. HIST
McCoy (history, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison; The Politics of Heroin) covers the history of policing in the Philippines from 1898 to the present. William Howard Taft, the first American governor of the newly acquired colony, established the Philippine Constabulary to bring order to the territory. Using the latest information technology (telephone, telegraph, punched cards, and fingerprint identification), the constabulary established a network of informants to undermine dissent and to monitor individuals—a pattern persisting for more than a century, showing Philippine history as a continual sorry tale of repressed dissent and widespread corruption. McCoy's contribution is his assertion that certain military officers returning to the United States after working in this system established the same type of surveillance network here to monitor suspected subversive agents during World War I and later against trade union activists and suspected Communists during the Cold War. Recent conflicts between civil liberties and national security, says McCoy, are a continuation of the same pattern. VERDICT Readers with a strong interest in civil liberties and current domestic politics will be drawn to this new view, but the book's length and level of detail will likely limit interest from general readers.—Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., NY
Plokhy, S.M. Yalta: The Price of Peace. Viking. Feb. 2010. c.480p. ISBN 978-0-670-02141-3. $29.95. HIST
Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at Yalta in January 1945 to plot out the finale of World War II and to begin dividing up the great powers' responsibilities. President Roosevelt had not yet returned to America when the arguments began. Had he given up too much? Was he too weakened by overwork and illness? Did Alger Hiss or Guy Burgess betray crucial secrets? Did Yalta cause the Cold War? Newly declassified Soviet archives and the diaries of many secondary players contribute to this major reconsideration of Yalta. Plokhy (history, Harvard; Unmaking Imperial Russia) deals with an enormous cast of characters and an equally enormous mass of detail, marshaling it into an interesting and readable narrative and concluding that Roosevelt didn't do too badly. VERDICT Readers interested in World War II and diplomatic history, who may also want to look at Fraser J. Harbutt's Yalta 1945, are likely to find this detailed and revisionist account worth reading. They will also enjoy Andrew Roberts's Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941–1945.—Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS
Shesol, Jeff. Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court. Norton. Mar. 2010. c.640p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-393-06474-2. $27.95. HIST
Franklin Delano Roosevelt owes his presidential greatness to his handling of the Great Depression and World War II, but he was also capable of blunder. This book considers his first major political mistake in the White House—how he dealt with the Supreme Court, which had begun to declare his New Deal economic reforms unconstitutional. Though this story is well known, Shesol (Mutual Contempt) presents it in a fuller and more balanced manner, pitting a great President against an equally great justice, Charles Evans Hughes. Unlike James MacGregor Burns's recent Packing the Court, on the same topic, Shesol sides with Hughes while recognizing FDR's multiple talents. Both books are necessary to appreciate the tug of war between the elected and nonelected branches of government, with Shesol's the more complete account of FDR's ill-fated court-packing plan. If a dimension is missing here, it's that FDR inherited a "mom and pop" presidency at a time when many abroad and some at home considered democracy outdated, so although Shesol mentions that FDR's judicial reorganization was tied to his executive reorganization effort, he doesn't explain its context or fate. VERDICT An accessibly written page-turner; essential reading for both general readers and specialists. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/09.]—William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport
Wistrich, Robert S. A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad. Random. 2010. c.1200p. index. ISBN 978-1-4000-6097-9. $38. HIST
Wistrich (modern European history, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem; The Jews of Vienna in the Age of Franz-Joseph) pulls no punches here. He opens his introduction with a discussion of the "totalitarian nightmare" of Nazism, Stalinism, and Islamism in the 20th century. His work takes readers back to the first recorded incidence of anti-Semitism and explains how the history of this phenomenon forms the roots of modern-day intolerance toward Jews. Throughout, Wistrich builds a solid argument for his theory—that, without intervention, the current anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian movement that cloaks anti-Semitic violence under a banner of human rights will lead to a nuclear, global Armageddon. Wistrich's no-nonsense tone makes his prose accessible, regardless of one's previous knowledge of Judaism or anti-Semitism, and the vast amount of information provided is well paced so as not to overwhelm the reader. VERDICT At 1200 pages, this massive work is worth every single page, and the meticulous research and breadth of time covered would satisfy both those seeking a thorough introduction to this difficult subject as well as those who already possess an understanding of the topic.—Crystal Goldman, San Jose St. Univ. Lib., CA
Austin, Raymond D. Navajo Courts and Navajo Common Law: A Tradition of Tribal Self-Governance. Univ. of Minnesota. 2009. c.296p. index. ISBN 978-0-8166-6536-5. pap. $19.95. LAW
Traditional non-Native law refuses to acknowledge the existence, much less the importance, of Native customary law and necessarily opposes future expansion of the role of indigenous legal traditions and regimes. Accordingly, this important contribution by a legal scholar and former judge of the Navajo Nation Supreme Court is most welcome if justice as an ideal and a reality is to move forward. As the author makes plain, the common law for non-Natives is generally understood to embrace new developments and to move forward incrementally, and it is thus wrong in principle (and in terms of fundamental fairness) to fail to embrace the many contributions of the Navajo Nation and of the rich indigenous legal traditions in general. VERDICT The lay reader will be interested to read of the sound logic and the deep communal traditions that enrich Navajo justice today and will gain a deep appreciation of the signal values of harmony, peace, solidarity, and kinship in the advancement of fair outcomes in dispute resolution. That said, the book's chief contribution will be at the level of advanced legal studies.—Gilles Renaud, Ontario Court of Justice
Hoffer, Peter Charles. A Nation of Laws: An Introduction to American Legal History. Univ. Pr. of Kansas. Mar. 2010. c.224p. index. ISBN 978-0-7006-1707-4. $24.95. LAW
Hoffer (history, Univ. of Georgia) here takes a philosophical and conceptual approach to the history of American law. Thematic rather than chronological, his six chapters each explore something that has impacted the development of American law from Colonial times to the present. The first three chapters discuss the politics of law and the impact of legal education. Chapter 4 discusses the Salem witch trials of 1692 as a landmark criminal trial because church law and civil law were in conflict, with other trials highlighted including the 1872 trial of Susan B. Anthony for illegal voting because it shows the historic conflict between natural rights and civil law. Chapters 5 and 6 explore critical turning points in American law, episodes that eventually led to lasting change. In Chapter 6, Hoffer also explores events that provoked debate about the nature of the law, particularly the 1994 murder trial of O.J. Simpson, which renewed a fierce debate over the role of race and money in the judicial system. VERDICT Best for those interested in legal philosophy and who already have a working knowledge of the American legal system or are students of the subject.—Becky Kennedy, Atlanta-Fulton P.L.
Daly, Lew. God's Economy: Faith-Based Institutions and the Caring State. Univ. of Chicago. 2009. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-226-13483-3. $37.50. POL SCI
Analyzing the "quiet revolution" of U.S. faith-based social service initiatives, Daly (senior fellow, Demos; Unjust Deserts) examines the theological roots and potential future of this government program. Daly argues that although the overall initiative was introduced early in President George W. Bush's term, the true effect has yet to be realized and may transform American social services into something closer to the Christian democracies of Europe. This in-depth policy review delves into the impact of the Catholic concept of subsidiarity and the Dutch Calvinist idea of sphere sovereignty on the U.S. government's faith-based initiative. He concludes that the U.S. initiative, which has been continued by President Obama, may still usher in a new era of social justice for those impacted by poverty. The author's left-leaning political perspective is very evident. VERDICT Diehard political and social theorists may appreciate this volume, but the voluminous detail and the author's use of the first person detract from the flow and readability. With extensive endnotes.—Ray Arnett, Fremont Area Dist. Lib., MI
Hassig, Ralph & Dongdan Oh. The Hidden People of North Korea: Everyday Life in the Hermit Kingdom. Rowman & Littlefield. 2009. c.296p. index. ISBN 978-0-7425-6718-4. $49.95. INT AFFAIRS
In this sequel to North Korea Through the Looking Glass, which focused on Kim Jong-Il's political apparatus, Hassig (psychology, adjunct, Univ. of Maryland) and Oh (Inst. for Defense Analyses) discuss the lives of North Korea's citizens. Revealing the haunting details of daily life in an authoritarian state, the authors boldly declare that the current regime is unraveling despite its feverish attempts to hold on to power; even sprouts of capitalism are appearing in North Korean society. Unlike other authors, e.g., Jasper Becker in Rogue Regime, who portray Kim Jong-Il as fanatically eccentric, Hassig and Oh view Kim as a shrewd politician who understands the deficiencies of socialism but chooses to hold on to the status quo. The authors, who gained an intimate knowledge of North Korean society through their interviews with refugees in China, describe a defeated populace that for the most part disregards the constant barrage of state propaganda. VERDICT Western readers will gain a rare view of the hidden world of North Korean citizens. Recommended for those interested in international affairs or inquisitive about this last remnant of the Communist world.—Allan Cho, Univ. of British Columbia Lib., Vancouver
Kornblut, Anne. Notes from the Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman To Win. Crown. 2009. c.288p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-307-46425-5. $25. POL SCI
Kornblut (White House reporter, Washington Post) offers her reflections on the 2008 presidential campaign and the apparent difficulty women have in overcoming both sexist attacks and the demands of family while seeking to achieve politically powerful positions. Kornblut observes that in some quarters—state legislatures, governorships—the number of women has declined in recent years and that the 2008 campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin "unleashed virulent strains of sexism." She is even more dismayed to discover that younger women preferred Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton, experiencing no guilt about forsaking the woman candidate. However, Kornblut is incorrect in seeming to believe that feminists once supported all women candidates, apparently agreeing with the president of a women's college who averred, as quoted by Kornblut, that Palin "was everything feminism was supposed to represent." Kornblut oddly equates Palin's credentials with Hillary Clinton's and argues that both lost in part because of sexism in politics and in the media, but this neutrality fails to reflect reality. Kornblut concludes that women must project both strength and motherliness to succeed in politics. VERDICT Political junkies, whether they are lay readers or specialists, and especially women, may wish to consider.—Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC
Nance, Malcolm. An End to al-Qaeda: Destroying bin Laden's Jihad and Restoring America's Honor. St. Martin's. Feb. 2010. c.320p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-312-59249-3. $25.99. INT AFFAIRS
Nance (executive director, International Anti-Terrorism Ctr. for Excellence), a combat and intelligence veteran, purports to offer a working blueprint not only for fighting the al Qaeda terrorist movement effectively but for destroying it in fewer than two years. He is respectful of Muslims and views al Qaeda's terrorist words and deeds as an affront to Islam and the Muslim world. Using open-source material and relying on his experience working in the Middle East, he describes how the extremist ideas of al Qaeda are anathema to mainstream Muslims. Nance's main thesis is that the most effective way to defeat al Qaeda is to break the organization's link to Islam. His strategy, which he calls "circuit breaker," relies on the principle of inciting an ideological backlash against al Qaeda in the Muslim world by devising effective strategic communication operations. Much of what he suggests relies on devising effective two-way communication between the West and the Muslim world. VERDICT Nance's narrative is easy to follow for general readers as he avoids using abstract concepts and unnecessary jargon. Recommended.—Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile
Pope, Hugh. Dining with Al-Qaeda: Three Decades Exploring the Many Worlds of the Middle East. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Mar. 2010. c.368p. ISBN 978-0-312-38313-8. $26.99. POL SCI
Pope (former staff correspondent, Wall Street Journal; Turkey Unveiled) is an Oxford-educated scholar who has worked and lived in the Middle East. Using a storytelling style and avoiding theoretical clichés and confusing jargon, he presents everyday life in the Middle East to general readers, introducing the nuances of Middle East culture, politics, and society in the first few chapters of the book. He then delves into a detailed description of his own travels and explorations in key parts of the Middle East. He also discusses the process of state formation and the rise and persistence of authoritarian dictatorships in parts of the region as well as the broader issues of effective governance there. The final five chapters cover Iraq, both during Saddam Hussein's regime and after the U.S. invasion and occupation. Ultimately, the choice of title is perplexing: with the exception of a brief talk Pope had with an al Qaeda operative in Afghanistan, this book has nothing explicitly to do with al Qaeda. VERDICT This is a highly readable and informative book, recommended for interested general readers so long as they understand that it has a misleading title.—Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile
Stanley, Timothy. Kennedy vs. Carter: The 1980 Battle for the Democratic Party's Soul. Univ. Pr. of Kansas. Mar. 2010. c.320p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-7006-1702-9. $34.95. POL SCI
The 1980 presidential election was not a repudiation of liberalism but a referendum on the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter, says Stanley (Leverhulme Resesarch Fellow, Univ. of London; coauthor, The End of Politics: Triangulation, Realignment and the Battle for Centre Ground) in this cogent, well-researched account of the embattled Democratic Party at a political crossroads. Many Democratic leaders, along with unions, civil rights activists, feminists, and gays, were fed up with Carter and coalesced behind Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who offered a platform of jobs, passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, and national health care. Stanley relies on polling data to show that Kennedy was more popular than his competitors—Carter, Ford, and Reagan—and concludes that Kennedy would likely have been nominated over Carter, except for the memories of Chappaquiddick, as well as the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which moved a patriotic public to support Carter. VERDICT This excellent investigation of the Democratic Party at the brink of the Reagan era convincingly shows that despite the fighting between Carter and Kennedy, liberalism was not killed at that time but remained a vibrant and viable force throughout the 1980s. It will strongly appeal to presidential election scholars, campaign activists, and serious readers of politics.—Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Wawro, Geoffrey. Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2010. c.560p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-1-59420-241-4. $37.95. INT AFFAIRS
Wawro (Univ. of North Texas; The Franco-Prussian War) has crafted a coherent and highly readable analysis of American involvement in the Middle East over the past century, covering everything from the Balfour Declaration of 1917 to the 2008 presidential election. Whereas many books have been written about one Middle East nation or one aspect of this topic, Wawro successfully provides the big picture, helpfully drawing together themes and patterns that have emerged across various U.S. presidential administrations. Although at times Wawro is quite critical of Israel, the Israel lobby, and the George W. Bush administration (all justifiably, many would argue), his overall approach is evenhanded and objective, largely avoiding partisan bias. VERDICT This is a very good survey of recent U.S. involvement in the Middle East. The book's emphasis on 1948 to the present makes it a useful companion to Michael Oren's Power, Faith, and Fantasy, which primarily focuses on 1776–1948. Recommended for readers seeking a deeper understanding of current events in the Middle East. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/09.]—Brian T. Sullivan, Alfred Univ., NY
Gottlieb, Lori. Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough. Dutton. Feb. 2010. c.304p. ISBN 978-0-525-95151-3. $25.95. PSYCH
After writing an article for the Atlantic Monthlyurging single women seeking husbands to settle for Mr. Good Enough rather than wait for Prince Charming, fortysomething single mother and journalist Gottlieb takes the next step. Offering herself as a guinea pig, she consults behavioral and social researchers, counselors, clergy, and other advisers on marriage, matchmaking, and divorce. As she searches for a husband, Gottlieb reexamines her strategies for selecting dates on online dating sites, reevaluates her criteria for an ideal husband, and grudgingly realizes that, as a woman over 30, she is competing with younger women for men her own age. Furthermore, she learns that, as a woman ages, the pool of eligible men decreases. Gottlieb is repeatedly challenged to discount initial impressions and examine assumptions, including the role of sexual attraction in a successful marriage. Throughout, she interviews friends and former dates, people who found mates through arranged marriages, and others who settled for Mr. Good Enough as Mr. Right. VERDICT A funny, if somewhat repetitive, cautionary tale of one woman's midlife journey through the modern landscape of dating and matchmaking. The best advice: look for men who are looking for women like you. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/09.]—Lucille M. Boone, San Jose P.L., CA
O'Connor, Richard. Undoing Depression: What Therapy Doesn't Teach You and Medication Can't Give You. Little, Brown. 2010. c.400p. ISBN 978-0-316-04341-0. pap. $15.99. PSYCH
O'Connor (Happy at Last), formerly executive director of the Northwest Center for Family Service and Mental Health in Lakewood, CT, and now in private practice, here revises and updates his successful 1997 title on depression. Continuing his sensible analysis of how everyday habitual behaviors can fuel depression and the most effective skills for combating it, he adds two new chapters, one on the importance of meditation and positive thinking and the other on stress-related diseases and afflictions that have an impact on depression. In addition, he provides current information on newly released medications for depression, cognitive concerns regarding depression, the benefits of exercise in overcoming depression, the link between post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and new insights on the connection between depression and attention deficit disorder and emphasizes how his self-help exercises can assist psychotherapy in diminishing the need for psychoactive medications. VERDICT Though readers suffering from depression should consult a professional for the most appropriate mode of treatment, O'Connor's extensive experience and no-nonsense approach result in a refreshing new addition to the vast literature on depression that will be of value to helping professionals and erudite readers.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX
Douglas, Susan J. Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism's Work Is Done. Times Bks: Holt. Mar. 2010. c.368p. photogs. index. ISBN 978-0-8050-8326-2. $26. SOC SCI
Douglas (communication studies, Univ. of Michigan; Where the Girls Are) offers an incisive and humorous analysis of mass media representations of women from 1990 to the present. Barely one major television program, film, or celebrity is left unexamined. Transgressive women from Lorena Bobbitt to Janet Reno, warrior women like Xena, and girly women à la Ally McBeal are all dissected. Douglas also examines Riot Grrrl, reality TV, cosmetic surgery, and women in politics, including Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, defining enlightened sexism as the deployment of sexist stereotypes of girls and women that emerged in the 1990s as a response to feminist activism. Enlightened sexism, she writes, assumes that women have gained full equality and should now invest their time, money, and energy on their appearance and the pursuit of men. Douglas's thorough analysis of women complements last year's You've Come a Long Way, Baby: Women, Politics, and Popular Culture, edited by Lilly J. Goren. VERDICT This interesting work will appeal not only to scholars and students of gender studies and popular culture but also to all readers interested in media and social change.—Karen Okamoto, John Jay Col. Lib., NY
Groce, Nancy. Lox, Stocks, and Backstage Broadway: Iconic Trades of New York City. pub. by Smithsonian Inst. Scholarly Pr. in assoc. with Rowman & Littlefield. 2010. c.192p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-7591-1319-0. $39.95. SOC SCI
New York City provides a veritable mother lode of stories from individuals employed in such disparate trades as water-tower builder, bialy baker, and even graffiti artist. Groce (American Folklore Ctr., Library of Congress) bases her book on Smithsonian Institution-sponsored interviews with workers engaged in these and other classic New York City occupations. Broadway theatrical workers pull back the curtain to reveal the brutality of the work required to create an evanescent art form, while Wall Street, often regarded as the hometown industry of New York, comes across as an agglomeration of financial subcommunities. The many traders interviewed here boast freely of their enormously successful and lucrative exploits; nobody mentions trading failures. All of the interviews were recorded between 1999 and 2001 and so, unfortunately, don't address the enormous impact of 9/11 or the recession. VERDICT Using an oral history approach much like that of Studs Terkel's Working, this book will have great appeal for all New York City buffs, as well as students of oral history or urban folklore. Anyone in search of a different career might find solace in knowing that New York continues to employ people in both traditional and not-so-traditional fields, always welcoming newcomers.—Richard Drezen, Brooklyn, NY
Otowa, Rebecca. At Home in Japan: A Foreign Woman's Journey of Discovery. Tuttle. Jun. 2010. 176p. illus. ISBN 978-4-8053-1078-6. $21.95. SOC SCI
This wonderful emic work offers readers a rare look into the life of a foreigner—or gaijin in Japanese—living in a rural village outside of the storied and ancient city of Kyoto, Japan. The book is a meditation on the author's experiences, beginning in 1981, addressing the many themes and tensions of living in a foreign country, including the different language and traditions, as well as more universal struggles such as those between the capricious and the elderly, men and women, and society and the individual. These issues are set against the backdrop of a magnificent Japanese farmhouse that the author and her husband inherited and that has been in the husband's family since the 1600s. The book is divided into short, themed chapters focusing on seasonal events, village happenings, and personal triumphs and failures—the house itself even has a chapter written from its own historical perspective. This book can easily rest alongside Margaret Mead's The Chrysanthemum and the Rose as an examination of Japanese culture. VERDICT Anyone interested in knowing what it is like to become fully immersed in another culture—yet always as an outsider—will enjoy this thoughtful account immensely.—Poppy Johnson-Renvall, Mesalands Community Coll. Lib., Tucumeari, NM
Simi, Pete & Robert Futrell. American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate. Rowman & Littlefield. Mar. 2010. c.170p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-1-4422-0208-5. $34.95. SOC SCI
As liberal activists have pointed out, the Obama presidency has not signaled a new era of racial harmony or quelled racial animosity in America. Simi (criminology & criminal justice, Univ. of Nebraska, Omaha) and Futrell (sociology, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas) here demonstrate that white supremacy, racial hatred, and white solidarity are still alive and well. Through their revealing and disturbing ethnographic accounts of the activities of white supremacist groups, referred to as the Aryans, the authors argue that white supremacist ideas, identity, and pride are cultivated and disseminated through Aryan "free spaces." Aryan homes, parties, white power music, and the Internet create places in which they can reaffirm white power ideology and instill white racial pride in themselves and their families, including their children. Unlike Dave Hall and Tim Burkey's Into the Devil's Den: How an FBI Informant Got Inside the Aryan Nations and a Special Agent Got Him Out Alive, the authors here bring their academic knowledge of the white power movement to bear on their ethnographic study. VERDICT Of interest to students and researchers of hate groups and white supremacist activities in America.—Karen Okamoto, John Jay Coll. of Criminal Justice
Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places To Eat Around the Globe. National Geographic, dist. by Random. 2009. 320p. illus. maps. index. ISBN 978-1-4262-0507-1. $40. TRAV
Chilis in Santa Fe, NM, seafood in Sydney, Australia, and street food in Vietnam are just some of the delicious topics covered in this beautifully designed volume in a series of National Geographic coffee-table travel books (e.g., Journeys of a Lifetime and Sacred Places of a Lifetime). Foodies and travelers will enjoy thumbing through the pages and identifying the food they have tasted and/or would love to experience in these locales. The book is arranged thematically, by ingredients and by kinds of food markets, street foods, and great food towns. Page-length entries feature fabulous color photographs, a descriptive summary, brief planning information, and useful web sites. VERDICT A large book that's more appropriate for browsing than in-depth travel planning or carrying along on your trip this lovely volume will help travelers and, in particular, traveling foodies decide where to go next. Highly recommended.—Louise Feldmann, Colorado State Univ. Lib., Fort Collins
