Social Sciences Reviews, May 1, 2011
May 1, 2011BIOGRAPHY
Hanioglu, M. Sükrü. Atatürk: An Intellectual Biography. Princeton Univ. May 2011. c.280p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780691151090. $27.95. BIOG
Hanioglu (Near Eastern studies, Princeton Univ.; A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire) takes on the task of “demythologizing” Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. Cutting through years of writings filled with admiration for this charismatic leader and a popular sentiment close to hero worship, Hanioglu performs a skillfull analysis, focusing on the ideas and intellectual movements that shaped the statesman, rather than recounting Atatürk’s personal life. An early education in secular and military schools, distrust of dogma, and adherence to scientism, labeling “religion as the major obstacle to human progress,” created a president determined to make Turkey a modern, secular, Western-leaning nation (an effort still seen today in Turkey’s bid to join the European Union). Hanioglu does a stellar job highlighting the scientific trends Atatürk used to validate his Turkish national ideal. Racial anthropology, historic linguistics, and other ideas of sometimes dubious merit were all tools to proclaim the superiority of the Turkish and bolster a country crushed by Western Europe in World War I. VERDICT This is an insightful intellectual biography of one of the 20th century’s most fascinating statesmen. Highly recommended for scholars of Atatürk, Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East.—Veronica Arellano, California, MD
Scriven, Marcus. Splendour and Squalor: The Disgrace and Disintegration of Three Aristocratic Dynasties. Atlantic Bks. UK, dist. by IPG. May 2011. c.414p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781843541257. pap. $16.95. BIOG
In this detailed account of the fall from grace of four 20th-century members of the British aristocracy, UK journalist Scriven shows that privileged birth does not always lead to success and happiness. The “gentlemen” behaving badly here are Edward FitzGerald, seventh Duke of Leinster; Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester; and Victor Hervey and his son John, the sixth and seventh Marquess of Bristol, respectively. Variously, they indulged in adultery, gambling, wild spending, drug and alcohol abuse, robbery, and fighting and other forms of unsavory behavior—indiscriminate use of fire arms seemed to have been a favorite. Scriven’s tone is matter-of-fact and witty, neither sympathetic nor judgmental. The supporting cast of endless dukes, earls, and marquesses can be confusing, and some factual errors slip through. VERDICT Although rendered in engaging prose, the stories of the waste of staggering amounts of money and potential are sad. Perhaps the only bright side is that some of the ancestral homes these aristocrats sold are now hotels or National Trust sites open to those of us once scorned as commoners.—Megan Hahn Fraser, Univ. of California Lib., Los Angeles
Simonetta, Marcello & Niga Arikha. Napoleon and the Rebel: A Story of Brotherhood, Passion, and Power. Palgrave Macmillan. Jun. 2011. c.304p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780230111561. $28. BIOG
While Lucien Bonaparte played a critical role in Napoléon’s coup d’etat of 18 Brumaire, he later fell from his elder brother’s favor over his choice of Alexandrine de Bleschamp for marriage. Owing to his uncompromising independence from his increasingly authoritarian brother, Lucien lived the life of an exile in Italy and England. Using accounts from Lucien’s own Mémoires and recently uncovered documents, Simonetta (Italian & medieval studies, Wesleyan Univ.; The Montefeltro Conspiracy: A Renaissance Mystery Decoded) and Arikha (fellow, Italian Acad. for Advanced Studies, Columbia Univ.; Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours) have let the younger Bonaparte tell his side of the remarkable story. Central moments of this narrative have Lucien valiantly standing up to Napoléon’s demands that he divorce his wife and accept his role within the imperial dynasty. Ultimately, however, the historical accuracy of an account based solely on the less-than-reputable Lucien’s own version of the conflict has to be recognized as a slanted history. VERDICT An overall insightful and engaging peek behind the stately curtain; readers with an interest in the personal lives of the Bonaparte clan will enjoy this sibling rivalry on an imperial scale.—Brian Odom, Pelham P.L., AL
ECONOMICS
Dodd, Laura. Dig This Gig: Find Your Dream Job—or Invent It. Citadel: Kensington. 2011. 272p. illus. ISBN 9780806532455. pap. $14.95. BUS
In a tough economy, it can be difficult for recent college graduates and others searching for their first job to discover the right career. To make this process a little easier, Dodd, a student at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, created this compilation of profiles that help demystify job titles and provide candid insights into the jobs that young people do. These very resilient workers share their stories of how they found their career paths, often after stumbling through jobs that were all wrong for them, and discuss some of the lessons they learned. The profiles are divided into eight industries, from health care to outdoor gigs; each section includes the stories of four workers in their twenties as well as the insights of a mentor in the field, including Jeffrey Sachs and Dan Rather, who share their experiences and reflect on what they’ve learned in their careers. VERDICT Dodd targets her words directly to her generational peers, but this is also an excellent choice for high school and college students exploring their career options as well twentysomethings who are still trying to decide what they want to be when they grow up.—Elizabeth Nelson, UOP Lib., Des Plaines, IL
EDUCATION
Dyrness, Andrea. Mothers United: An Immigrant Struggle for Socially Just Education. Univ. of Minnesota. May 2011. c.264p. index. ISBN 9780816674671. pap. $22.95. ED
It’s probably no surprise to the majority of people in this country that American school systems with large numbers of low-income, minority, and/or recent immigrant children are usually overcrowded and underfunded and staffed by lower-performing teachers. So how does one go about changing these inequalities? Through participatory research, Dyrness (educational studies, Trinity Coll., Hartford) is able to share the experiences of a group of Latina mothers who decided to improve the inferior education system in Oakland. The Madres Unidas (Mothers United) came together to fight for better schools after continually experiencing overcrowding and underperformance at the school their children attended. They worked to create a smaller, more effective school in their neighborhood—for not only their children but their community. They encountered numerous obstacles, including teachers and administrators, as they strove to be heard. VERDICT The audience for this book will be limited primarily to parents and educators who have experienced similar situations. The educational terminology and frequent use of acronyms may be too distracting and confusing for casual readers.—Terry A. Christner, Hutchinson P.L., KS
HISTORY
Arnold, James R. The Moro War: How America Battled a Muslim Insurgency in the Philippine Jungle 1902–1913. Bloomsbury Pr., dist. by Macmillan. Aug. 2011. c.320p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781608190249. $27. HIST
For 11 years, starting soon after the turn of the 20th century, the U.S. Army fought to defeat a determined, highly religious, technologically inferior insurgency on the island of Mindanao in the Philippine archipelago, a war largely unnoted by journalists or Americans at the time. It involved an ancient Muslim culture, seen by Americans as primitive, violent, and greatly in need of Westernization. Arnold (Jungle of Snakes: A Century of Counterinsurgency Warfare from the Philippines to Iraq) shows how the U.S. Army, new to the role of colonial overseer of the Philippines, had to figure out how to defeat the Moros (the island’s Muslim inhabitants) militarily and at the same time alter the economic and social factors (e.g., slavery and factionalism) that defined the Moro insurgency. General John J. Pershing; Leonard Wood, governor of Moro Province; and many others eventually defeated the Moro rebellion, but echoes of the uprising endure with today’s Muslim resistance to central government. VERDICT Using many primary sources, this concise and readable history will be accessible to nonspecialists. An excellent summary of a forgotten war that offers many parallels to the present.—Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS
Ferling, John. Independence: The Struggle To Set America Free. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. Jun. 2011. c.448p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781608190089. $30. HIST
Prolific author Ferling (history, emeritus, State Univ. of West Georgia; The Ascent of George Washington) recounts the pivotal three years from the 1773 Boston Tea Party to the 1776 congressional vote for American independence, with a conventional focus on the major American and British players and the political and commercial issues that cleaved the slowly unifying colonies from their mother country. He clearly explains how the march toward independence was made in gradual and seemingly inevitable steps, with the British Parliament and monarchy missing repeated opportunities to make amends and avoid a breakaway. He relies on a bevy of primary and secondary sources, quoting liberally from correspondence and official documents, including the Declaration of Independence, which is transcribed in full for easy reference. British and congressional leaders’ personalities, mannerisms, and personal backgrounds are examined along with their political contributions, lending human interest to what could have been a dry tale. VERDICT Unfortunately, Ferling provides nothing new to American revolutionary period scholarship in this minor but entertaining work. His readable narrative should appeal to general readers or students new to the topic of how and why the British colonies declared themselves American states.—Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Libs., Columbia
Freeman, Charles. Holy Bones, Holy Dust: How Relics Shaped the History of Medieval Europe. Yale Univ. May 2011. c.384p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780300125719. $35. HIST
Freeman is best known for his controversial The Closing of the Western Mind, in which he contrasted the rationalist Greek world with the nonrationalist Christian world of the Middle Ages, when irrationalism triumphed in response to pressure from the church and its supporters to shut down debate. Now he takes up the case for the other side of the story in a history of relics in the Middle Ages. The bookends for the story are 386 C.E., when Bishop Ambrose of Milan waged battle for control of his church with the boy emperor Valentinian II, using his see’s possession of the relics of martyrs as propaganda; and 1563, when the Council of Trent, in the throes of the Counter Reformation, defended the efficacy of relics against Protestant blasphemers. Between these dates, relics played many social roles and were, in a religion that showed people no path to salvation through their own efforts, a necessary remedy for a populace desperate to avoid damnation. VERDICT Despite their prominence in the Middle Ages and even up to today, there is no other comprehensive history of relics available. As always, Freeman writes well and will stir up controversy. Recommended to scholars who will appreciate this comprehensive history, as well as to buffs of medieval history.—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Lukacs, John. The Future of History. Yale Univ. 2011. c.192p. index. ISBN 9780300169560. $24. HIST
Of the 36 books Lukacs (The Legacy of the Second World War) has written, this is his sixth on the conduct of his chosen profession. In his late eighties, he is not sanguine about current trends. He opposes current faculty hiring practices (the “perpetuation of mediocrity”); is skeptical of fads like psychohistory and “quanto-history”; multiculturalism, though worthy in the abstract, can lead “not to a deepening but a shallowing of [the historian’s] craft.” What, he asks, is the future of research with computers? Will young people continue to read, much less read critically? What is the longtime effect of diluting the teaching of high school history? Lukacs has long been a self-proclaimed “reactionary” in a field increasingly driven, in his view, by methodological fads and liberalism. Resolutely old-fashioned, he views history as art, not science, and champions the consideration of ideas over strictly material causes. Some of his fears are real, some seem less so, but Lukacs’s views deserve hearing as the reflections of a lifelong professional in the elusive discipline of history. VERDICT Practicing historians and some history buffs will want to read this book.—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
McWhirter, Cameron. Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Holt. Jul. 2011. c.368p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780805089066. $30. HIST
McWhirter (Wall Street Journal) details spontaneous antiblack violence during what James Weldon Johnson called “the Red Summer,” a lengthy season colored crimson by blood, which characterized the U.S. aftermath of World War I, filled with change and tensions. In addition to well-documented incidents in Chicago and Washington, DC, McWhirter explores the violent actions in cities such as Charleston, Knoxville, and Omaha and smaller communities like Carswell Grove, GA, where his story begins and ends. African Americans, awakened by the newly formed NAACP and their participation in a war presumably waged to safeguard democracy, were confronted by a backlash of hate. McWhirter contends that for the first time they fought off their white attackers in an organized fashion and sought redress for their grievances. Nascent incremental legal and political dismantling of institutionalized racism followed this worst outburst of lynching in U.S. history. A slow pivot away from prejudice, along with black cultural and literary movements, encouraged the nation to reexamine its social relations as a whole. VERDICT McWhirter’s narrative style will engage general readers unfamiliar with events during America’s early 20th-century civil rights struggle. Professional historians will appreciate the extensive, well-sourced newspaper and archival research.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress
Waterfield, Robin. Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great’s Empire. Oxford Univ. May 2011. c.304p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780195395235. $27.95. HIST
Biographies of Alexander the Great (e.g., those by Philip Freeman) abound, but what happened after the death of the world conqueror in 323 B.C.E.? Classicist Waterfield (Why Socrates Died) narrates 40 years of war over who would rule next among the Macedonian’s companions. Meanwhile, across the far-flung empire from Egypt to Afghanistan, the vying warlords were spreading a new Hellenistic culture, which Waterfield sees as a Romantic successor to ancient Greek classicism. From the people they conquered, the new rulers absorbed an absolute, Eastern model of kingship that remained the standard for centuries. Nearly limitless treasuries funded the decades of war among Alexander’s “successors”—most prominently Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucus in Babylonia, Antipater in Macedonia, and Antigonus (everywhere). In the end, a few large monarchies remained where there had briefly been one empire. Then the Romans absorbed the whole region, which became the Greek east, the legacy of Alexander. VERDICT Waterfield efficiently traces the endlessly shifting military and marital alliances among the great successor families. His spare account manages to serve both as a military and as a cultural history of a great age of transition. Recommended for anybody interested in the classical era.—Stewart Desmond, New York
Zahra, Tara. The Lost Children: Reconstructing Europe’s Families After World War II. Harvard Univ. May 2011. c.320p. index. ISBN 9780674048249. $35. HIST
In the aftermath of World War II, the physical reconstruction of Europe was accompanied by a “psychological reconstruction,” writes Zahra (history, Univ. of Chicago), focusing on children, who were considered the “quintessential” victims of war. In this impressive multinational study, Zahra charts the history of humanitarian relief from the 1915 Armenian genocide to the postwar era, in the process demonstrating how the institutions of the family became politicized, whereby governments across Europe after 1945 began concerning themselves with promoting the family unit. Zahra demonstrates the impact of pre-1939 humanitarian campaigns on wartime thought. For example, the effort to repatriate Armenian children from Turkish families, which promoted the nationalizing of children, and the Spanish Civil War, where exiled children were encouraged to think of their future in terms of prorepublican activism, both shaped responses to World War II. By 1945, the basic assumption of most humanitarian workers was that children were the biological future of a nation and as such humanitarian programs had to renationalize (i.e., restore to their original geographic place) refugee children. VERDICT Recommended for undergraduates and specialists interested in a transnational approach to postwar European studies.—Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll., OH
POLTICAL SCIENCE
Dallaire, Roméo with Jessica Dee Humphreys. They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest To Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers. Walker. Jun. 2011. c.320p. index. ISBN 9780802779564. $26. INT AFFAIRS
Dallaire (Special Adviser to the Canadian Government on War Affected Children and the Prohibition of Small Arms Distribution; Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda) writes poignantly about the horrific practice of using children as soldiers, presenting a stirring rallying call to eradicate the scourge wherever it is found. Dallaire’s experiences as the commander of the UN mission to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide alerted him to the problem of child soldiers and created his personal passion—almost bursting from the pages—for fighting it. His authority and articulate prose are the clear strengths of his book. Unfortunately, rather than offer case studies or accounts in the voices of real child soldiers, he employs a lengthy fictional narrative, a choice that is disconcerting and ineffective as a literary device or as a tool of persuasion. VERDICT A powerful but flawed work. Despite its drawbacks, readers interested in this tragic component of many armed conflicts around the world will appreciate Dallaire’s coverage of a tremendously difficult issue. His message is important enough and his voice strong enough to overcome the book’s limitations.—Rachel Bridgewater, Reed Coll. Lib., Portland, OR
Kashmeri, Sarwar A. NATO 2.0: Reboot or Delete? Potomac. 2011. c.280p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781597976640. $29.95. INT AFFAIRS
The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union left NATO needing to redefine its purpose. Kashmeri (senior fellow, International Security Program, Atlantic Council; America and Europe After 9/11) discusses the challenges that NATO-member states have faced since then, including cyber-attacks, threats to GPS satellites, and military actions against nonmember states. The eastward expansion of NATO membership, incorporating former Soviet satellite states, has created differing interests, with newer members concerned about a possible land invasion by Russia. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU), to which most NATO members belong, has a separate defense policy under which it has sent troops in support of UN peacekeeping missions and in aid of nonmilitary crises. Kashmeri depicts the EU operations as more smoothly run and more successful than similar NATO operations, e.g., in the former Yugoslavia, and believes that NATO can justify its continued existence only if it finds a way to work more closely with the EU. VERDICT Lengthy descriptions of NATO’s bureaucracy and its guiding documents are more than general readers will likely care to know about and leave Kashmeri’s arguments incomplete and his policy recommendations inadequate for the quandary he describes. An optional purchase for specialists.—Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York
Mosley, Walter. Twelve Steps Toward Political Revelation. Nation: Perseus. 2011. c.112p. ISBN 9781568586427. pap. $12. POL SCI
Mosley (The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey) is best known for his mystery novels, but he is also an accomplished political essayist with keen insights into the state of our nation. In this short book, using his own experiences as a former abuser of alcohol, he offers his own 12-step program of redemption that he hopes will produce a new paradigm in which true democracy flourishes. Mosley scoffs at the idea that true democracy already exists in America but holds to the belief that one day soon the Internet will free us by allowing political organizing outside the traditional two-party system. Some readers may be turned off by Mosley’s emphasis on class struggle. (For example, he calls for a limit of a ten-percent profit on goods sold.) But there can be no doubt that this author writes well. VERDICT Regardless of one’s political point of view, it is refreshing to read a book on social issues written with the flair of a novelist. Those interested in keeping up with the state of our country will enjoy, along with fans of Mosley’s fiction.—Robert Bruce Slater, Stroudsburg, PA
O’Connell, Jack with Vernon Loeb. King’s Counsel: A Memoir of War, Espionage and Diplomacy in the Middle East. Norton. May 2011. c.288p. photogs. index. ISBN 9780393063349. $26.95. INT AFFAIRS
The late King Hussein of Jordan was the most loyal U.S. ally and a trusted CIA asset in the Arab world. Few Americans were as close to King Hussein as O’Connell, who served as CIA station chief in Jordan from 1963 to 1971 and was the Jordanian monarch’s confidant, attorney, and diplomatic counselor in Washington, DC, for over three decades. In this highly readable book, O’Connell reminisces about his association with the king and recounts some of the most important political events that have affected Jordan, Arab-Israeli affairs, and U.S. relations with the Arab world. Throughout, O’Connell describes how King Hussein felt betrayed by his closest allies, providing interesting vignettes about the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars; the drafting of UN Security Council Resolution 242, which remains the most important international framework for Arab-Israeli peace negotiations; and the Camp David Accords. The central theme of this memoir is that King Hussein was the Middle East’s only genuine peacemaker, but he was repeatedly betrayed by the U.S. government, the Israelis, and even President Sadat of Egypt. VERDICT Both general readers and seasoned observers of the Middle East will find this book informative, good reading.— Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile
PSYCHOLOGY
Drexler, Peggy. Our Fathers, Our Selves: Daughters, Dads, and the Changing American Family. Rodale. May 2011. c.272p. ISBN 9781605293608. $24.99. PSYCH
A past guest on morning talk shows, Drexler (psychology, Weill Medical Coll., Cornell Univ.; Raising Boys Without Men) here examines the relationship between fathers and daughters. To collect the information for the volume, she interviewed 75 women from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. Working from a list of questions, she encouraged them to speak from their hearts about their individual relationships with their fathers. Drexler opens the book with a discussion of how women today admire their fathers as role models, looking to them for guidance in educational and career choices. In Part 2, she shares in-depth stories of six women and their relationships with their dads. Part 3 begins with a questionnaire to get readers thinking about how well they know their own fathers. Drexler lastly offers new ways for daughters to think about their fathers and methods to improve their relationships. VERDICT For students doing research, there is useful information and insight into this often complex relationship of fathers and daughters. A valuable guide for all fathers and daughters who want to improve their relationship.—Phyllis Goodman, West Chester Lib., OH
Markel, Howard. An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine. Pantheon. Jul. 2011. c.352p. ISBN 9780375423307. $27.95. PSYCH
It is well known that Freud, before becoming the founder of psychoanalysis, wrote about the medical uses of cocaine and did a good deal of experimentation with the drug himself. At about the same time, as Markel (George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine, Univ. of Michigan) relates, Halsted, a pioneering young American surgeon, also began experimenting with cocaine, self-injecting it to learn how to standardize the dosage. He became seriously addicted and eventually was placed in a mental hospital after all other attempts to control his drug use failed. Despite a prestigious medical career, he continued to use cocaine and morphine throughout his life. Freud, on the other hand, seems to have stopped his cocaine use on his own. There is an interesting story here about the history and sociology of medicine and drug use, but Markel doesn’t pursue it; instead, he shoehorns the facts (and gossip) about the two men into a modern, 12-step view of addiction. VERDICT If you already know something about the history of medicine or drug use or have read biographies of either scientist, you may enjoy disagreeing with this book. But there are plenty of better places to start on all of these topics.—Mary Ann Hughes, Shelton, WA
Saad, Gad. The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature. Prometheus. Jun. 2011. c.340p. illus. ISBN 9781616144296. $25. PSYCH
Saad (marketing, Concordia Univ.; The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption) provides a fascinating analysis of human behavior based on a creative combination of the newly developing field of evolutionary psychology with the more established sciences of anthropology, cognitive science, and the neurosciences. At the core of evolutionary psychology is the belief that all humans have innate areas in their brains, which have specific knowledge that helps them adapt to local environments. Saad applies these principles to illuminate how human biological heritage influences daily consumption habits, which he maps to four key Darwinian drives: survival (we prefer foods high in calories), reproduction (we use products as sexual signals), kin selection (the exchange of gifts with family members), and reciprocal altruism (we offer gifts to close friends). VERDICT Saad’s work will appeal to readers interested in the biological basis of human behavior, the age-old debate of nature versus nurture, and especially what makes consumers tick. The work is clearly essential for marketing professionals, advertisers, and psychologists, but his scholarly style may intimidate lay readers unfamiliar with psychology research and this relatively new field of study.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX
SELF-HELP
Winkler, Henry. I’ve Never Met an Idiot on the River: Reflections on Family, Photography, and Fly-Fishing. Insight Editions, dist. by PGW. May 2011. ISBN 9781608870202. $21.95. SELF-HELP
Actor, director, and children’s author Winkler offers an amalgam of memoir, self-help, fishing, and photography in this slim, illustrated volume. Born to German immigrant parents in Manhattan, Winkler had undiagnosed dyslexia that wreaked havoc on his early education and self-esteem (his parents calling him “dumb dog” didn’t help either), yet he managed to graduate college, earn a drama master’s from Yale, get film work, and land a career-defining role on a popular sitcom. An invite from a friend introduced Winkler to fly-fishing; he was instantly smitten. Fly-fishing became his overwhelming passion, and his angling jaunts to the trout heaven of Montana’s rivers became an annual ritual. The majestic scenery surrounding the water led to an interest in nature photography (the book sports numerous pix). VERDICT Winkler’s message is positive and upbeat, making the book as much a motivational title as a fishing memoir. The important lesson he learned from his achievements is that with patience, persistence, and practice you can accomplish anything. Although that might seem simplistic, it’s a core lesson that, alas, is often forgotten in our current narcissistic age. Well done, Henry. This breezy, charming volume is for fans of celebrity memoirs and self-help.—Mike Rogers, Library Journal
SOCIAL SCIENCES
Haag, Pamela. Marriage Confidential: The Post-Romantic Age of Workhorse Wives, Royal Children, Undersexed Spouses, and Rebel Couples. Harper: HarperCollins. Jun. 2011. c.352p. ISBN 9780061719288. $25.99. SOC SCI
This keen study of contemporary marriage balances the juicy exposé for a popular audience implied by its title and the serious, footnoted analysis suggested by the author’s credentials as a Ph.D. historian and former director of research for the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation. Accessible to lay readers with an understanding of such key terms as “melancholy” and “queering,” Haag’s book considers how some spouses are now changing the rules of standard secular marriages, including the division of labor in careers and parenting, family relationships, living arrangements, and, centrally, sex. While options for what Haag calls the low-conflict, semi-happy marriage are generally limited to unsatisfying lifelong monogamy, unsanctioned extramarital intimacy, or divorce, she proposes a fourth marital path—that of ethical nonmonogamy, which incorporates intimate relationships outside the marriage under conditions mutually agreed upon and consented to by the spouses. She argues that the societal outrage this sort of arrangement might provoke can be likened to past outrage over interracial marriage. VERDICT A solid choice for women’s studies and marriage studies scholars and professionals, this could also be a provocative, intriguing option for book discussion groups.—Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus
I Feel Great About My Hands: And Other Unexpected Joys of Aging. Douglas & McIntyre, dist. by PGW. Jun. 2011. c.264p. ed. by Shari Graydon. illus. ISBN 9781553657866. pap. $17.95. SOC SCI
Compassion and comedy are combined in this collection of 40 new essays and poems celebrating the challenges and benefits of female maturity. Graydon (past president, Media Action Média; In Your Face: The Culture of Beauty and You) invited dozens of women to write about their experiences as they turned 50 or older, her title a wry reference to Nora Ephron’s popular I Feel Bad About My Neck. The result is a wise and humorous multi-voiced collection of 42 pieces, for the most part by Canadian women, that affirms the internal benefits of aging in spite of the outward struggles with wrinkles, weight, and white hair. Topics include the benefits of a good bra or the significance of not wearing one, the companionship among golfers, visits to plastic surgeons, and gratitude for working body parts, even if they are a bit saggy. VERDICT A complement to Ephron’s book, this may appeal to the same readers as well as women generally who enjoy discussions of growing older happily. [Royalties will benefit Media Action Média.—Ed.]—Joyce Sparrow, Kenneth City, FL
TRAVEL & GEOGRAPHY
Baxter, John. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris. HarperPerennial: HarperCollins. Jun. 2011. c.336p. illus. ISBN 9780061998546. pap. $14.99. TRAV
Australian writer Baxter continues his entertaining series on Paris (Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas; We’ll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light) with a book that is part history, part memoir, and part tour guide. Indeed, Baxter, who is also a film critic, has a second career conducting walking tours, and amusing anecdotes from his tours are interspersed among darker tales of Paris—the dank tunnels of the bone-filled catacombs, the serial murderer Henri Landru, and the street gangs, or Apaches, of the early 1900s. Sprinkled with stories of his many fellow expatriates, including Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the occasional mouthwatering description of food, Baxter’s elegant prose evokes a moody Paris, alive with jazz, still and gray in a snowstorm, revolutionary and subversive. The book concludes with a chapter on useful tips for the traveler. VERDICT Baxter has written a pleasant addition to the vast array of Parisian memoirs, suitable for large travel collections and die-hard Francophiles, especially those who enjoyed his earlier books on Paris.—Linda M. Kaufmann, Massachusetts Coll. of Liberal Arts Lib., North Adams
Caro, Ina. Paris to the Past: Traveling Through French History by Train. Norton. Jun. 2011. c.416p. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780393078947. $27.95. TRAV
While researching her previous book, The Road from the Past: Traveling Through History in France, Caro discovered that a great deal of French history could be visited by train from Paris in 90 minutes or fewer. Her newest book is both a travelog and a history written in a conversational style, which makes for an excellent jumping-off point for any traveler interested in French history. Caro summarizes 700 years of French history and combines it with excellent descriptions of examples of architecture from each period, from well-known sites like Versailles to such gems as the cathedral at Chartres. She also recommends her favorite restaurants and lets readers know which sites are best left alone. Descriptions of train stations, metro lines, and regional transit trains are enough to get one going, but many may find an additional guidebook helpful in locating accommodations and particular stations. VERDICT While lacking hard travel details, the book combines historical information and delight in travel in a way that renders it an excellent guide for those traveling to France, whether by plane or armchair.—Sara Miller, Atlanta-Fulton P.L. Syst., Roswell, GA
