New Book List
April 2005
MAPS
Battles of the Civil War / A Nation Transformed by Civil War - National Geographic Society
Shows "major land campaigns," Union versus Confederate states, locations of battles that had "decisive," "major," or "limited" impact on the outcome of the war, battle sites where naval forces were used, and troop movements.
The Earth at Night / The World - National Geographic Society
One side is a beautiful satellite composite photograph showing the continents with lights designating population areas, fires, night fishing, and natural gas burnoffs. The other side is a map of the world showing country boundaries. Small ancillary maps include the North polar region ,South polar region, Population density, and Language families.
European Theatre of War, 1939-1945 - Hammond
Shows maritime supply routes, areas occupied by either Allied or Axis powers, neutral states, and Allied advances.
Far Eastern Theatre of War, 1941-1945 - Hammond
Shows individual battle sites, areas controlled by either the Allies or Japanese, Allied maritime supply routes, neutral states, and Allied advances.
FICTION
State of Fear - Crichton, Michael
If Crichton is right–if the scientific evidence for global warming is thin; if the environmental movement, ignoring science, has gone off track; if we live in what he in his Author's Message calls a "State of Fear," a "near-hysterical preoccupation with safety that's at best a waste of resources and a crimp on the human spirit, and at worst an invitation to totalitarianism"–then his extraordinary new thriller may in time be viewed as a landmark publication, both cautionary and prophetic. If he is wrong, then the novel will be remembered simply as another smart and robust, albeit preachy, addition to an astonishing writing career. Crichton dramatizes his message by way of a frantic chase to prevent environmental terrorists from wreaking widespread destruction aimed at galvanizing the world against global warming. A team lead by MIT scientist/federal agent John Kenner crosses the globe to prevent the terrorists from calving a giant Antarctic iceberg; inducing terrible storms and flash floods in the US; and, using giant cavitators, causing a Pacific tidal wave. There's a lot of message here, but fortunately Crichton knows how to write a thriller of cyclonic speed and intensity. Certainly one of the more unusual novels of the year for its high-level mix of education and entertainment, with a decidedly daring contrarian take, this take-no-prisoners consideration of environmentalism wrapped in extravagantly enjoyable pages is one of the most memorable novels of the year and is bound to be a #1 bestseller. - Publisher's Weekly
Dean Koontz' Frankenstein : Prodigal Son - Koontz, Dean and Kevin J. Anderson
Booklist starred review. Some 200 years after creating his monster, Victor Frankenstein, alias Helios, is settled in New Orleans. Continuing research and experimentation have allowed him to obviate robbing graveyards to fashion his creatures, and to enhance himself so that he indefinitely remains a vigorous fortysomething. He is seeding the city with his perfect (i.e., perfectly obedient to him) New Race, intending to eventually replace and exterminate "imperfect" humanity. Helios has been identified, however, and photos have been sent to Deucalion, in retreat at a Tibetan monastery, who hastens to see whether he can unmake his maker this time. Deucalion is Frankenstein's original monster, granted virtually indestructible longevity, he thinks, by the lightning that brought him to life. If Frankenstein has become monstrous, the monster has become human in the best sense, also cannier and more powerful. Unfortunately, with New Racers in mufti all over New Orleans, many more need to be gotten. Fortunately (as it happens), one New Racer is rebelling, murderously, and his killings overlap with those of a serial killer. And, known only to the reader, one of Frankenstein's new experiments is going awry, not to mention AWOL. - Booklist
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar - Alexander, Robert
The final days of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family are still a fascinating mystery. There is no one left to bear witness to what happened at the execution. Or is there? Alexander takes a very real, but forgotten and overlooked, potential witness, a young kitchen boy, and creates an amazing fictional account of what may have transpired. Leonka was working as a kitchen boy to the Romanov family when the Bolsheviks captured them, exiled them to Siberia, and imprisoned them in their house. Because of his lowly position in the household, Leonka was able to see and hear secret things. And he does keep them secret until decades later, knowing he is ready to die, he reveals all he knows about the imperial family and their horrific death. Alexander includes as much historically accurate information into his fiction as possible, and he includes actual letters and notes attributed to the Romanovs, which add a touch of authenticity. He also renders the plot beautifully with one final jaw-dropping and satisfying twist. - Booklist
A Thread of Grace - Russell, Mary Doria
Publisher's Weekly starred review. Busy, noisy and heartfelt, this sprawling novel by Russell chronicles the Italian resistance to the Germans during the last two years of WWII. Three cultures mingle uneasily in Porto Sant'Andrea on the Ligurian coast of northwest Italy—the Italian Jews of the village, headed by the chief rabbi Iacopo Soncini; the Italian Catholics, like Sant'Andrea's priest Don Osvaldo Tomitz, who befriend and shelter the Jews; and the occupying Germans invited by Mussolini's crumbling regime. In the last camp is the drunken, tubercular Nazi deserter, Doktor Schramm, a broken man who confesses to Don Osvaldo that while working in state hospitals and Auschwitz, he was responsible for murdering 91,867 people. Meanwhile, Jewish refugees in southern France, including Albert Blum and his teenage daughter, Claudette, are fleeing across the Alps to Italy, hoping to find sanctuary there. Russell pursues numerous narrative threads as the action moves swiftly, with impressive authority, jostling dialogue, vibrant personalities and meticulous, unexpected historical detail. The intensity and intimacy of Russell's storytelling, her sharp character writing and fierce sense of humor bring fresh immediacy to this riveting WWII saga. - Publisher's Weekly
The Blind Assassin - Atwood, Margaret
Winner of the Booker Prize. In The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood presents her readers with a novel-within-a-novel—or, more accurately, a story told within a novel within a novel. This complex interweaving of multiple narratives draws the reader forward through a dramatic and turbulent tale of love, betrayal, and death, while simultaneously using its structural puzzles to reconsider the act of storytelling itself. The effect is mesmerizing. Atwood's novel begins as its central character, Iris Chase Griffen, recalls with a shocking calmness the afternoon of the suicide of her sister, Laura, just after the end of World War II. As quickly as we become immersed in Iris's narration, however, we are taken back out again, presented first with a newspaper account of Laura's inquest, and then with the prologue to Laura Chase's posthumously published novel, The Blind Assassin. This blend of documentary materials with Iris's first-person narration continues throughout Atwood's novel, with each level of the text calling the veracity of the others into question. In this lyrical, complex, and enthralling novel, through her nuanced characters and her evocative prose, Atwood once again creates a world as compelling as that of The Handmaid's Tale. The Blind Assassin is both entertaining and intelligent, both a page-turner and a work of literature, absorbing the reader with its vividly rendered plot and characters while slyly posing difficult questions about the nature of narrative itself. - Barnes & Noble
Oryx and Crake - Atwood, Margaret
Surely Atwood deserved a respite after The Blind Assassin (2000) won the Booker Prize, but the muse had more to say, hence this hijack-intense speculative novel, sister to one of Atwood's most indelible works, The Handmaid's Tale (1985). Jimmy is struggling to stay alive on a wreckage-littered Earth besieged by a brutal sun and overrun with smart and vicious test-tube-bred predators. Now calling himself Snowman (as in Abominable), he's preparing for an arduous scavenger expedition back to the formerly high-tech compound in which he lived and worked until the bioengineering industry ran amok and a catastrophic event put an end to civilization. Snowman is desperately lonely, but he isn't actually alone since he serves as guru for a strangely passive tribe unaware of the lost world of computers, bullet trains, Web porn, gene-splicing, and the plagues that Snowman so vividly and regretfully recalls. As Snowman remembers his friend, Crake, an emotionally remote genius, as well as the love of Snowman's life, an enigmatic survivor of childhood sexual abuse called Oryx, Atwood conjures a grim, all-too-plausible future in order to consider the possibly devastating consequences of our present ill-advised biotech pursuits. Rigorous in its chilling insights and riveting in its fast-paced "what if" dramatization, Atwood's superb novel is as brilliantly provocative as it is profoundly engaging. - Booklist
The Little Book of Judas: Abridgement of The Book of Judas - Kennelly, Brendan
Booklist Starred Review. One of the most ambitious literary enterprises of the last century, The Book of Judas (1992) is Kennelly's prolonged meditation on the theme of betrayal. Engaging in every form of trickery from adultery to politics to poetry, Kennelly's Judas reveals himself as the ultimate coyote mage, the complementary trickster every savior needs and demands. The original Judas , a best-seller in Kennelly's native Ireland, is a huge book of some 400 pages and more than 500 poems. This smaller version, just over half that length, includes several dozen Judas poems written since the first book's publication. It plumbs as deeply into its sorry subject. Characters enter and exit, some named--the devious charming Flanagan, a beer-splattered Brendan Behan, stone-mad Ozzie, to say nothing of Peter and the Twelve Apostlettes--and others appearing just as voices in the dark night of the soul. Kennelly's controversial masterpiece should not be missed, in small or grand form, for there is nothing little about it. - Booklist
James Tiptree Award Anthology 1 - Fowler, Karen Joy
The late James Tiptree Jr. was well known for producing some of the most imaginative, gender-bending sf of the 1970s and 1980s. Tiptree also had a reputation for J. D. Salinger-like reclusiveness and astounded everyone when a presumed masculine identity dissolved to reveal the author's given name, Alice Sheldon. The award bearing her pseudonym honors stories and novels that "explore and expand gender roles in speculative fiction." This first collection of Tiptree Award-related material samples the winning stories since the first awards in 1991 and includes informative essays and snippets from a few of the winning novels. Geoff Ryman opens the volume with an inventive tale about the first homosexual male to give birth, and Kelly Link closes it with a modern variation on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen." In between, such stellar figures as Ursula K. LeGuin and Joanna Russ weigh in with discourses on femininity, and Tiptree herself gives an account of her "identity crisis." A superior array of creative and thoughtful writing for both genders. - Booklist
Contents: Introduction / Pat Murphy and Karen Joy Fowler -- Birth days / Geoff Ryman -- Everything but the signature is me / James Tiptree, Jr. -- The ghost girls of Rumney Mill / Sandra McDonald -- Boys / Carol Emshwiller -- Genre : a word only the French could love / Ursula K. Le Guin -- Excerpts from Set this house in order / Matt Ruff -- Judging the Tiptree / Suzy McKee Charnas -- The Catgirl manifesto : an introduction / Richard Calder -- Looking through lace / Ruth Nestvold -- "Tiptree" and history / Joanna Russ -- What I didn't see / Karen Joy Fowler -- The snow queen / Hans Christian Andersen -- The lady of the ice garden / Kara Dalkey -- Travels with the snow queen / Kelly Link.
Miss Julia Meets Her Match - Ross, Ann B.
What do you do if you're a genteel, well-to-do widow on the far side of 70 who discovers her late husband had a mistress and a young son? If you're Miss Julia, you swallow your pride and take Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd into your home. That was four books ago. Now, in her latest outing, Miss Julia hears a rumor that another one of her husband's paramours is in town. She'd like to keep this quiet, and fortunately the people of Abbotsville have plenty else to gossip about. There's the transformation of Tony Allen into Tonya, and church secretary Norma's relationship with Mayor Beebe, and the construction of the dubious Walk Where Jesus Walked theme park outside of town. To Miss Julia's chagrin, there's also talk about her friendship with Sam, who keeps pressing her to marry him. A fun read for Miss Julia fans. - Booklist
My Sister's Keeper - Picoult, Jodi
Booklist starred review. Expect to be kept up all night by Picoult's latest novel, but it's much more than a page-turner; it's a fascinating character study framed by a complex, gripping story. Thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald walks into the office of lawyer Campbell Alexander and announces she wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Anna was conceived after her older sister, Kate, developed a rare form of leukemia at the age of two, and has donated bone marrow and blood to her sister. Now she has been asked to donate a kidney, and she intends to refuse. Campbell is a jaded young man who nevertheless decides to take her case pro bono. Anna's parents are shocked when they learn of her lawsuit, and her mother, a former civil defense attorney, decides to represent them. Anna refuses to budge on her position despite the fact that she clearly loves her sister and longs for her family's happiness. As the gripping court case builds, the story takes a shocking turn. Told in alternating perspectives by the engaging, fascinating cast of characters, Picoult's novel grabs the reader from the first page and never lets go. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, controversial, and honest book. - Booklist
Wolfskin - Marillier, Juliet
The clash of cultures and the limits of loyalty form the thematic framework of Marillier's compelling new stand-alone fantasy. Readers familiar with the author's Sevenwaters trilogy (Daughter of the Forest, etc.) will feel comfortable with the Dark Ages setting. Young Viking Eyvind dreams of serving the god Thor and the nobleman Ulf as an elite Wolfskin warrior. While training, he's charged with teaching Ulf's prickly younger brother Somerled, and the two become blood brothers, swearing lifelong loyalty. But the oath isn't enough to quiet suspicions about Somerled's ambitions to become a king and the means he might take to accomplish them. A multilayered plot, intriguing characters and lyrical prose distinguish a novel that, long as it is, never feels padded. - Booklist
Tathea - Perry, Anne
"Nothing short of amazing" is how one genre magazine characterized Tathea, Anne Perry's first entry into fantasy fiction. The Scotland-based author of Victorian mysteries has crafted an enthralling novel about a dethroned empress who empowers herself by finding her spiritual bearings. - Barnes & Noble
Priestess of Avalon - Bradley, Marian and Diana L. Paxson
In this stunning prequel to The Mists of Avalon (1982), 10-year-old Eilan, whose greatest wish is to serve as priestess for her goddess, is brought to Avalon for training. From a prophetic vision, she knows she is destined to love one man and to bear his son. When the man of her vision, a young Roman soldier, comes to Avalon, Eilan is compelled to follow her heart, which means defying her high priestess, the Lady of Avalon. For that, she becomes an outcast from her spiritual family and embarks on a lifelong path of love, treachery, heartbreak, and fame in the outside world. Completed by Paxson after Bradley's death in 1999, this rich and moving novel merits its place beside Bradley's fantasy classic . - Booklist
NONFICTION
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - Gladwell, Malcolm
Gladwell writes about subtle yet crucial behavioral phenomena with lucidity and contagious enthusiasm. His first book, The Tipping Point (2000), became a surprise best-seller. Here he brilliantly illuminates an aspect of our mental lives that we utterly rely on yet rarely analyze, namely our ability to make snap decisions or quick judgments. Adept at bridging the gap between everyday experience and cutting-edge science, Gladwell maps the "adaptive unconscious," the facet of mind that enables us to determine things in the blink of an eye. He then cites many intriguing examples, such as art experts spontaneously recognizing forgeries; sports prodigies; and psychologist John Gottman's uncanny ability to divine the future of marriages by watching videos of couples in conversation. Such feats are based on a form of rapid cognition called "thin-slicing," during which our unconscious "draws conclusions based on very narrow 'slices' of experience." But there is a "dark side of blink," which Gladwell illuminates by analyzing the many ways in which our instincts can be thwarted, and by presenting fascinating, sometimes harrowing, accounts of skewed market research, surprising war-game results, and emergency-room diagnoses and police work gone tragically wrong. Unconscious knowledge is not the proverbial light bulb, he observes, but rather a flickering candle. Gladwell's groundbreaking explication of a key aspect of human nature is enlightening, provocative, and great fun to read. - Booklist
Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II - Yellin, Emily
Yellin, motivated by the discovery of a journal her mother kept while serving in the Red Cross in Saipan during World War II, began researching the experiences of a wide cross section of women during the war years. Women from a variety of social, financial, religious, and cultural backgrounds answered the call to serve their families and their country in heretofore unthinkable ways. Proving themselves to be equal partners in the fellowship of the "greatest generation," these wives, daughters, mothers, sisters, and friends forged new identities for themselves while breaking down significant gender barriers for subsequent generations of women. Drawn from letters, diaries, and interviews, these first-person accounts and reminiscences are woven together and placed into historical context by Yellin's unobtrusive narrative. Allowing her subjects' eloquent voices to speak for themselves, she provides a fascinating slice of social history. - Booklist
Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment - Schechter, Harold
Why the good old days were actually often quite nasty. Schechter argues that not only is today's popular entertainment far from harmful in the way it dishes out the violence to a nation of couch potatoes, but that it is actually far more timid than the media of just about any previous period. What is surprising is how smart and enlivening his argument is. Think the 1950s was the Golden Age of inoffensive, quality television? Schechter's deconstruction of the shocking violence and racism displayed in Davy Crockett will cure you of that notion-and that's before he even gets started on trigger-happy westerns. Even more provocative is Schechter's plunge into the glorious world of pulp fiction, ranging from the 1800s through the 1950s. His prodigious research enlightens the unwary reader about everything from Victorian penny dreadfuls (which reveled in true tales of cannibalism and murder) to the dead bodies and vileness that choked 19th-century American dime novels (which kids read by the fistful). By contrast, today's primetime TV lineup of forensic shows and dirty-minded sitcoms hardly poses a threat to American youth, in Schechter's view. Although his slim volume doesn't completely demolish the idea that media can affect children in harmful ways, the author does effectively refute the notion that we are living in uniquely dark and violent times, when in fact it's much the same as it ever was. A bloody fine riposte to those who would censor with clouded hindsight and muddy reasoning. - Kirkus
Distilling Knowledge : Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution - Moran, Bruce T.
Reacting to the perception that the break, early on in the scientific revolution, between alchemy and chemistry was clean and abrupt, Moran literately and engagingly recaps what was actually a slow process. Far from being the superstitious amalgam it is now considered, alchemy was genuine science before and during the scientific revolution. The distinctive alchemical procedure--distillation--became the fundamental method of analytical chemistry, and the alchemical goal of transmuting "base metals" into gold and silver led to the understanding of compounds and elements. What alchemy very gradually but finally lost in giving way to chemistry was its spiritual or religious aspect, the linkages it discerned between purely physical and psychological properties. - Booklist
The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain
For what scandalous reason was the original publication of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn delayed? What were the names of Samuel Clemens pets? How are his attitudes towards politics and religion revealed in his work? Find the answers to these questions and many more in The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain , which encapsulates the most important scholarship on Twain's life, his works, and his times. Organized in an A-Z format, the volume contains entries on all of his works, people and places related to his biography, and analyses of Twain's takes on a variety of topics, from confidence games to slavery. It also features five essays by major Mark Twain scholars on important aspects of his life and work, and interspersed throughout are essays on selected Twain classics by such literary luminaries as Arthur Miller, Frederick Pohl, and Nat Hentoff. Featuring an extensive bibliography, a comprehensive index, a chronology of Twain's works, and over forty illustrations, The Companion is the most authoritative and complete reference work available and is perfect for student and fan alike. - from the publisher
The Future of the Past - Stille, Alexander
The Great Sphinx of Giza, "part lion, part pharaoh, part god," is slowly dying. Large chunks of limestone crack off each day, the soft middle portion of its body is vulnerable and, eventually, the head will become unstable. Though Egyptologists try to restore and preserve the great monument, much of their work does more harm than good. In the disturbing words of one archeologist: "You study it, you kill it." That comment best captures the paradox at the heart of Stille's splendid book: scholars work feverishly to study and preserve precious monuments, rare species and ancient manuscripts, relying on ever more advanced forms of technology in their efforts, while the accelerating rate of technological change industrialization, population growth and pollution threatens to destroy these treasures. Hence, a cycle of preservation and destruction perpetuates itself. Stille, a lovely storyteller, brings to life the passionate and forceful personalities of preservationists, dedicated scholars, bald opportunists, looters and other key players in the world of conservation and preservation. He examines the dying traditions of canoe making and oral poetry on an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea; the tombaroli (tomb robbers) of Sicily who have helped to make illicit antiquities the third most valued item in the world's black markets; devastating levels of pollution in the beloved and holy Ganges river; and one man's ultimately scandalous attempt to modernize the 550-year-old Vatican library. A frequent contributor to the New Yorker (where parts of this book were previously published), Stille consistently offers a powerful narrative, rich with anecdote, detailed description and lively dialogue. This is a must read for anyone interested in the preservation of our world's decaying treasures. - Publisher's Weekly
Contents: Introduction -- Sphinx--virtual and real -- Culture of the copy and the disappearance of China's past -- Looting history -- Ganges' next life -- Saving species in Madagascar -- Man who remembers -- War of words : oral poetry, writing, and tape cassettes in Somalia -- Living with a dead language -- Return of the vanished library -- Vatican library mystery -- Are we losing our memory? or the museum of obsolete technology -- Conclusion : Writing and the creation of the past.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Latino History and Culture
Aimed at beginners, this book looks at the history, folklore, and traditions of Hispanics in the United States and Latin America from the 16th century to the present day. - Powells.com
Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century - Sullivan, Edward J.
The belated onset of modernism might be the leitmotif of this compendium of brief histories of painting and sculpture in 20th-century Latin America, edited by the chair of New York University's fine arts department. While students of varied "isms" of our century will not be surprised by the imagery and attitudes of Latin American artists, they will be struck by the originality and regional shadings that reverberate throughout this volume. The work embraces every Hispanic tradition from that of North American Chicanos to work from the Argentine tip of South America, and each national tradition is independently surveyed, from usually desiccated academic beginnings to the postmodern present. As the quality of the national traditions varies, so do the individual considerations. Several of the essays are little more than recitations of basic art historical data, while others attempt a more subtle exploration of style, content, and context. Although it is lavishly illustrated, many of the cited artists' works are not reproduced. Nevertheless, the trove of some 300 fine color reproductions and compilation of otherwise hard-to-find information make this essential for collections concerned with the culture of Latin America. - Library Journal
Merlin - Goodrich, Norma Lorre
Goodrich identifies Merlin with the St. Dubricius who controlled vast lands in 6th-century Wales and founded a monastic university. She has freshly translated from the Latin Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Merlin's Prophecy'' and interpreted its veiled phrases as a history of King Arthur's wars. The maps, chronologies, and bibliographical annotations are illuminating. - Library Journal
America's Wilderness: The Photographs of Ansel Adams with the Writings of John Muir
Adams' breathtaking images are accompanied by excerpts from the writings of Sierra Club founder John Muir, the renowned conservationist who devoted his life to celebrating and preserving the American wilderness. - from the publisher
Ansel Adams: National Park Service Photographs - Adams, Ansel E.
In 1941 Ansel Adams was hired by the United States Department of the Interior to photograph America's national parks for a series of murals that would celebrate the country's natural heritage. Because of the escalation of World War II, the project was suspended after less than a year, but not before Adams had produced this group of breathtaking images, which illustrate both his early innovations and the shape of his later, legendary career as America's foremost landscape photographer. In these glorious, seminal images we see the inspired reverence for the wilderness that has made Ansel Adams' work a most enduring influence on the intertwining spirits of art and environmentalism, both so necessary for the preservation of our natural world. - from the publisher
Auschwitz: A New History - Rees, Laurence
Auschwitz is the site of the largest mass murder in human history. Yet its story is not fully known. In Auschwitz Laurence Rees provides a devastating and shocking portrait of the most infamous death camp the world has ever seen. He reveals new insights from more than 100 original interviews with Auschwitz survivors and Nazi perpetrators who speak on the record for the first time. Their testimonies expose the inner workings of the camp in unrivalled detail - from the techniques of mass murder, to the bizarre microcosms that emerged within the camp, such as the brothel and dining hall, where the lines between guards and prisoners became surprisingly blurred." Auschwitz is a history we cannot afford to ignore, first because history that is ignored is liable to be repeated, and second because we should never allow ourselves to be persuaded that mankind is somehow today incapable of such unspeakably cruel acts. Auschwitz is not only the story of one singular camp where more than one million people were murdered, but also a timely reminder about the indelible human potential for committing evil. - from the publisher
The Best Year of Their Lives: Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon in 1948: Learning the Secrets of Power - Morrow, Lance
In 1948, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon were all ambitious young congressmen at pivotal points in their lives. LBJ was in a desperate Senate race, running against a more popular candidate. Campaigning frantically by helicopter across Texas, LBJ won only with the help of corrupt political bosses, whose illegal ballot-stuffing put "Landslide Lyndon" into the Senate by 87 votes. At the same time, Nixon was having his first meetings with Whittaker Chambers, the witness in the Alger Hiss trial that would make Nixon a national figure and lead to his selection as Eisenhower's running mate four years later. And Kennedy was still recovering from the near-fatal attack of Addison's disease he had suffered the previous year. From that point on, he would conceal the truth about his health, just as he concealed his reckless personal life. In all three politicians, Morrow finds a streak of amorality and ruthlessness-each believed that the rules didn't apply to him. Lies of one kind or another-lies they told or exposed-would propel each of them to power; lies would also undo LBJ and Nixon's presidencies and, ultimately, tarnish JFK's reputation. - from the publisher
DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics - Chiarello, Mark
From the pros and cons of lettering by hand or by computer, creating word balloons, and utilizing fonts, to logo designs, working with color, and creating special effects, acclaimed comic book illustrator Mark Chiarello and award-winning letterer Todd Klein demonstrate dozens of surefire strategies, practical step-by-step techniques, and professional secrets for dynamic comic book coloring and lettering. Honored as a "Book for the Teen Age 2005" by the New York Public Library. - Gemstone Publishing
Contents: Lettering -- The lettering profession -- Hand lettering -- Tools and materials -- Getting started with lettering -- Lettering text and balloons -- Display lettering and sound effects -- Elements on the page -- Advanced techniques -- Logo design -- Computer lettering -- Hardware and software -- Fonts and type -- Using Illustrator -- Working with Art and Scans -- Working with color -- The final product.
The Demon in the Freezer - Preston, Richard
Never mind Ebola, the hemorrhagic disease that was the main subject of Preston's 1994 #1 bestseller, The Hot Zone . What we really should be worrying about, explains Preston in this terrifying, cautionary new title, is smallpox, or variola. But wasn't that eradicated? many might ask. Officially, yes, nods Preston, who devotes the first half of the book to the valorous attempt by an army of volunteers to wipe out the virus via strategic vaccination; in 1977 the last case of naturally occurring smallpox was documented in Somalia, and today the variola virus exists officially in only two storage depots, in Russia and at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta (in the freezer of the title). To believe that variola is not held elsewhere, however, is nonsense, argues Preston, who delves into the possibility that several nations, including Iraq and Russia, have recently worked or are currently working with smallpox as a biological weapon. The author devotes much space to the anthrax attacks of last fall, mostly to demonstrate how easily a devastating assault with smallpox could occur here. Preston humanizes his science reportage by focusing on individuals--scientists, patients, physicians, government figures. That, and a flair for teasing out without overstatement the drama in his inherently compelling topics, plus a prose style that's simple and forceful, make this book as exciting as the best thrillers, yet scarier by far, for Preston's pages deal with clear, present and very real dangers. - Pubisher's Weekly
Earth: An Intimate History - Fortey, Richard
As a popular geology writer, British paleontologist Fortey (Trilobite!) is in the same league as John McPhee, with an ability to make Earth history both poetic and wonderfully interesting. In order to explore the titanic forces of plate tectonics on a human scale, Fortey visited global locations that have been historically important in unscrambling the puzzle of our dynamic planet (e.g., Vesuvius, Hawaii, the Alps, the Deccan Traps in India, the Grand Canyon) so that "the reader will have this particular guide's reactions to the sights, sounds, smells and ambiance of the critical localities." A brilliant tour guide, Fortey offers a lively mix of science, human history, and personal experience that makes imperceptibly slow geologic change equally as compelling as volcanic catastrophe. Highly recommended for most science collections. - Library Journal
Food, Inc.: Mendel to Monsanto-- The Promises and Perils of the Biotech Harvest - Pringle, Peter
Imagine a world where yellow beans are patented, aromatic basmati rice has lost its fragrance because of genetic tinkering and Canadian farmers are sued by multinational behemoths because pollen from GM (genetically modified) crops somehow got into their fields and fertilized their plants. You don't have to imagine it: this, says Pringle, is the world we live in today. A widely published journalist, Pringle paints a troubling picture of the world's food supply. Multinational corporations are able to patent genes from crops that have been cultivated by farmers for centuries; governments of starving African nations refuse GM food they fear is poisonous; scientists hastily publish research that is blown out of proportion by the news media; and "green" activists vandalize greenhouses and fields where scientists are conducting GM research. Pringle roundly castigates all sides. Scientists, he says, have been remarkably inventive in their endeavors to improve the food we eat, using a gene from daffodils, for example, in growing golden rice with high levels of vitamin A that can help prevent blindness in the undernourished. But large corporations, he asserts, have squandered the public's good will toward GM products as they rushed so-called "Frankenfoods" into stores without adequate testing or disclosure of what makes it different. Pringle gives some glimmer of hope for the future through time-honored methods of cross-pollination, but his main story is of an industry with great potential for feeding starving millions and reducing our reliance on chemical pesticides, but that has instead created a global mess. - Publisher's Weekly
Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Jenkins, Roy
To distill the life of Roosevelt into a book of less than 200 pages is a major challenge; to succeed in doing so without shortchanging readers is a true accomplishment. As president, FDR faced America's worst financial crisis and the world's most destructive war. He also influenced the larger trends of the 20th century, from the progressive movement of his younger days to the Cold War and the welfare state that followed him. Jenkins admirably describes his subject's background and development and outlines how Roosevelt dealt with the Great Depression and the Second World War. But Jenkins is not only an accomplished biographer, he was also one of the leading British politicians of the second half of the 20th century. His nationality gives him a perspective on FDR that would be difficult to obtain as an American. Likewise, his study of other great political leaders allows him to gain a broader view of Roosevelt as president. This is one of the best short biographies of Roosevelt imaginable. - School Library Journal
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History - Barry, John M.
In 1918, a plague swept across the world virtually without warning, killing healthy young adults as well as vulnerable infants and the elderly. Hospitals and morgues were quickly overwhelmed; in Philadelphia, 4,597 people died in one week alone and bodies piled up on the streets to be carted off to mass graves. But this was not the dreaded Black Death-it was "only influenza." In this sweeping history, Barry (Rising Tide) explores how the deadly confluence of biology (a swiftly mutating flu virus that can pass between animals and humans) and politics (President Wilson's all-out war effort in WWI) created conditions in which the virus thrived, killing more than 50 million worldwide and perhaps as many as 100 million in just a year. Barry captures the sense of panic and despair that overwhelmed stricken communities and hits hard at those who failed to use their power to protect the public good. He also describes the work of the dedicated researchers who rushed to find the cause of the disease and create vaccines. Flu shots are widely available today because of their heroic efforts, yet we remain vulnerable to a virus that can mutate to a deadly strain without warning. Society's ability to survive another devastating flu pandemic, Barry argues, is as much a political question as a medical one. - Publisher's Weekly
The House I Live In: Race in the American Century - Norrell, Robert J.
This scholarly yet vital book will add value to any library's holdings in the area of race relations in the U.S. Professor Norrell sets as his task a wide but trenchant--and certainly fresh--accounting of whites' interaction with blacks, and vice versa. His study of the basic ideologies that have given form and substance to American race relations rests on the premise that security and status are what Americans most strive for in life and, further, that "whites' pursuit of superior status over blacks provides the most basic explanation for the relentless discrimination and exploitation of African Americans in the United States." As a comprehensive history and analysis of the civil rights movement should do, Norrell's broadens the usual time dimensions, extending itself back to the Civil War and reaching to the end of the twentieth century. The greatest strength of this very solid book is the author's new appraisals of such important figures in race relations as Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King. - Booklist
How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines - Foster, Thomas C.
What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey?. Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface — a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character — and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths, and to discover a world where a road leads to a quest; a shared meal may signify a communion; and rain, whether cleansing or destructive, is never just rain. Ranging from major themes to literary models, narrative devices, and form, How to Read Literature Like a Professor is the perfect companion for making your reading experience more enriching, satisfying, and fun. - from the publisher
The Insider's Guide to the U.N. - Fasulo, Linda
With fine journalistic clarity, the author leads readers through the complex organizational structure of the United Nations, shedding light on its mission, evolution, and controversies. The "insider" of the title is not just Fasulo, an experienced UN correspondent, but also a number of frequently quoted former UN diplomats and staffers. Primary documents include the Preamble, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("which remains as fresh and radical now as when it was adopted in 1948"), and key articles of the UN Charter. Fasulo shows that though it began as an organization to represent governments of countries, the UN is increasingly concerned with the welfare of individuals, whatever their nationality. She discusses influential leaders and topics such as globalization, drug trafficking, terrorism, and the biosphere. Sidebars, charts, and well-placed, black-and-white photographs break up the text, inviting browsing and providing detailed information on topics such as the UN response to the September 11 attacks. The chapter "Making a Career at the UN" is an interesting narrative from a career staffer about his early days, and "A Tour of UN Headquarters" would be useful to prospective visitors. This concise, highly readable volume is an invaluable and essential source of information for general readers, report writers, and Model UN delegates. – School Library Journal
The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics - Joseph, Gilbert M.
This massive compilation of articles, essays, poetry, and photographs provides a wonderful introduction to the history and culture of Mexico. Joseph and Henderson are both historians with extensive backgrounds in Latin American and Mexican history. They have selected an eclectic mix of writers, many of them Mexican, including Carlos Fuentes and Octavio Paz. Topics range from the origins and growth of the Aztec Empire to the causes of the Mexican Revolution to the problems facing modern Mexico. There are well-thought-out political tracts here, as well as screeds against political corruption and economic exploitation that drip with outrage. What emerges is a portrait of the "many Mexicos" in which the wealthy, the growing middle class, and the impoverished indigenous peoples are all struggling to find their place in an exciting and rapidly changing land. This work is ideal for general readers, and one hopes it will encourage many to read and learn more about this important and diverse nation. - Booklist
The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle - Lax, Eric
Booklist starred review. Quick question: Who is responsible for the discovery of penicillin? Two points for answering "Alexander Fleming," 2 for "Howard Florey," and 10 if the names of Ernest Chain and Norman Heatley also came to mind. Truth be told, according to Lax, credit goes to all of the above. As he says, quoting professor of medicine Henry Harris, "Without Fleming, no Chain or Florey; without Chain, no Florey; without Florey, no Heatley; without Heatley, no penicillin." In this fluent, entertaining report on the history of the arguably most significant medical discovery of the twentieth century, Lax delves into the lives of the colorful scientists who played significant roles in developing the antibiotic. - Booklist
Slave Nation: How Slavery United The Colonies And Sparked The American Revolution - Blumrosen, Alfred
Booklist starred review. In a startling and necessary book, one of the most important publications on the topic of black history to appear this season, the authors, both law professors with backgrounds in civil rights, chart a bold course through the history of the revolutionary period in American history and arrive at nontraditional but effectively expressed and well-defended conclusions. Their basic premise is that slavery cast its shadow over the founding of the republic, not simply the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention. The Blumrosens peer further back than that convocation in Philadelphia, convened to revise the union of former colonies, and discover within the early provenance of the movement toward revolution--the movement toward one united nation free and independent, that is--the southern colonies' fear that Britain would outlaw slavery and the northern colonies' acceptance of the continuation of slavery where it previously existed. Although this work is not for the casual reader, the serious student of history will come away informed and challenged. - Booklist
Contents: Somerset's journey sparks the American Revolution -- The tinderbox -- Virginia responds to the Somerset Decision -- The Virginia Resolution unites the Colonies and leads to the First Continental Congress in 1774 -- John Adams supports the South on slavery -- Colonies claim independence from Parliament -- The immortal ambiguity "all men are created equal" -- The Articles of Confederation reject Somerset and protect slavery -- The lure of the West : slavery protected in the Territories -- Deadlock over slavery in the Constitutional Convention -- A slave-free Northwest Territory -- Cementing the bargain : ratification by Virginia and the First Congress -- How then should we view the Founding Fathers?
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Roach, Mary
Okay, you're thinking, this must be some kind of a joke. A humorous book about cadavers? Yup, and it works. Mary Roach takes the age-old question, "What happens to us after we die?" quite literally. And in Stiff, she explores the "lives" of human cadavers from the time of the ancient Egyptians all the way up to current campaigns for human composting. Along the way, she recounts with morbidly infectious glee how dead bodies are used for research ranging from car safety and plastic surgery (you'll cancel your next collagen injection after reading this!), to the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. Impossible (and irreverent) as it may sound, Roach has written a book about corpses that's both lively and fresh. She traveled around the globe to conduct her forensic investigations, and her findings are wryly intelligent. While the myriad uses for cadavers recounted are often graphic, Roach imbues her subject with a sense of dignity, choosing to emphasize the oddly noble purposes corpses serve, from organ donation to lifesaving medical research. Readers will come away convinced of the enormous debt that we, the living, owe to the study of the remains of the dead. - Barnes & Noble
Contents: A head is a terrible thing to waste: practicing surgery on the dead -- Crimes of anatomy: body-snatching and other sordid tales from the dawn of human dissection -- Life after death: on human decay and what can be done about it -- Dead man driving: human crash test dummies and the ghastly, necessary science of impact tolerance -- Beyond the black box: when the bodies of the passengers must tell the story of a crash -- The cadaver who joined the army: the sticky ethics of bullets and bombs -- Holy cadaver: the crucifixion experiments -- How to know if you're dead: beating-heart cadavers, live burial, and the scientific search for the soul -- Just a head: decapitation, reanimation, and the human head transplant -- Eat me: medicinal cannibalism and the case of the human dumplings -- Out of the fire, into the compost bin: and other new ways to end up -- Remains of the author: will she or won't she?
What Makes a Man : 22 Writers Imagine the Future - Walker, Rebecca
A timely and profound anthology. One wonders what changes could occur in our society if such texts were read and openly and sensitively discussed among boys and girls who are on the verge of entering the limiting spaces we call "manhood" and "womanhood." Walker's introductory essay offers poignant and insightful observations about our reactions as parents, children, and peers to the process of becoming a "man." Other striking pieces include a mother's questions about her three-year-old son's insistence that he's a girl; a man's reflections on his childhood and the experiences, role models, and expectations that shaped him; a privileged young black man's life of trying to fit in while remaining true to his belief in peace over violence; and a transsexual's search for self beyond stereotype. Walker has done society at large a great service by bringing forth these voices, these views. Now if only society will listen. - Booklist
What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany: An Oral History - Johnson, Eric A.
Booklist starred review. The authors interviewed nearly 200 people--Holocaust survivors and perpetrators--in researching the book, and more than 3,000 people--Jews and non-Jews--were surveyed in writing about their experiences during the Hitler years. Johnson and Reuband began their research in 1993; 40 interviews were selected for this book (20 were Jews and 20 were non-Jews). The authors posit that "far from living in a state of constant fear and discontent, most Germans led happy and even normal lives in Nazi Germany." They believe that the Holocaust could not have been possible without the complicity of the majority of the German population. Johnson and Reuband conclude that many Germans were quick to concern themselves only with their private lives and tended not to think about what was happening to the Jews. Despite the regime's efforts to keep the mass murder of Jews a secret, news of the atrocities reached a large portion of the German public by the end of the war. The authors insist that about one-third of the population became aware of the murder of Jews while it was taking place, and it is evident that many Germans did not want to know about what was being done. This scholarly work is a major contribution to the understanding of life in Nazi Germany and a compelling narrative that is certain to be the standard work on the subject. - Booklist
Women on War: An International Anthology of Writings from Antiquity to the Present - Gioseffi, Daniella
Booklist starred review. As long as our species has made war, individuals have spoken out against it, and women are prominent among those who argue cogently and eloquently for peace. Gioseffi, a prizewinning poet, activist, and educator, sets the scene for this invaluable anthology in a bracing introduction that traces the enormous shadow militarism casts across our planet and our lives, from the immediate tragedies of war to the environmental damage caused by military industries and the poverty exacerbated by huge military expenditures. The poems, essays, eyewitness accounts, and probing inquiries that follow are dramatic and knowledgeable, forthright and reasonable, full of compassion and accepting of responsibility, a diverse and inspiring gathering of writers of conscience including Jane Addams, Martha Gellhorn, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Arundhati Roy, Grace Paley, Claribel Alegria, Toni Morrison, Helen Caldicott, and dozens more who courageously question the necessity and protest the insanity of global violence. - Booklist
A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance - Portrait of an Age - Manchester, William
An absorbing and readable history, beginning with the collapse of Rome and ending with the redawning of intellectual pursuits in the Renaissance. Manchester's vivid descriptions of the misery and ignorance of the Middle Ages are the background for the second and main section of his book, which he calls the "shattering,"--the collapse of essentially unified thought and the rebirth of the pursuit of knowledge. His last section focuses on Magellan and his historic voyage, described as a primary event in contributing to Western man's changing view of the world. The story of his efforts to obtain backing for his venture is engrossing; the difficulties of the voyage are made real enough to feel. - School Library Journal
The World: Life and Travel 1950-2000 - Morris, Jan
A preeminent reporter who specializes in terrific travel pieces reviews a half-century of literary snapshots in her considerable album and shows us the way we were—and the way we have changed around the world. Morris presents an agreeably eclectic and untidy omnibus of articles. Starting with her scoop on the conquest of Everest and an early salute to Manhattan (comparable to E.B. White's classic), the early reportage recalls the excellent WPA Travel Guides on a later, wider scale. Dispatches come from an aircraft carrier, a racetrack in Darjeeling, London of the performing arts, down under in Sydney, Ottawa in a Ruritanian mode, and a Welsh community in Patagonia. From city to savannah, Caribbean to Katmandu, Swiss chalet to West Point, the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem to the Gary Powers show trial in Moscow, she examines the values of the governments, the character of the people, the very intentions of the places themselves. Morris has a canny eye for the diverting and telling detail that's emblematic of places we may or may not know. When the early essays were written, Jan Morris, now a cosmopolitan lady of certain age, was James Morris. She challenges readers to find a difference in prose style after "what is vulgarly known as a sex change," citing a page that marks the metamorphosis. As the decades pass, pieces tend to more length, with a vague, understandable sense of foreboding. Still, Morris maintains her ironist's accreditations. An acute, idiosyncratic collection, full of what the author, at home at last, always liked best: fizz. - Kirkus
Contents: The 1950s -- Mount Everest, 1953 -- A benign republic: USA -- Kingdom of troubles: the Middle East -- South African White and Black -- Confusions in paradise: the Caribbean -- Europe: after the war was over -- Orientalisms: The Far East -- The 1960s -- The Eichmann Trial -- The Cold War -- South American frissons -- Oxford, 1965 -- Australia -- A New Africa -- Manhattan, 1969 -- The 1970s -- Pleasure places -- Ex-Britannica -- Casablanca: a change of sex -- London, 1975 -- Post-glory: the USA -- South African Black on White -- The 1980s -- On wistful whims: virtual places -- Sydney, 1983 -- O Canada! -- There stood China -- Vienna, 1983 -- Y Wladfa: another Wales -- Berlin, 1989 -- The 1990s -- The flux of Europe -- Light and shade in the USA -- Sydney, 1995 -- Hong Kong.
Fatal Treasure: Greed and Death, Emeralds and Gold, and the Obsessive Search for the Legendary Ghost Galleon Atocha - Smith, Jedwin
In 1622, the Spanish galleon Atocha sank in a hurricane off the coast of Florida with 260 passengers and crew. The ship contained an estimated 40 tons of stolen gold and silver ingots, gold coins, emeralds, and jewelry. Smith, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal - Constitution , informs us that in 1969 Mel Fisher set out to search for Atocha and its sister ship, Santa Margarita, which also sunk in the hurricane; 143 of its passengers and crew drowned. Fisher found Margarita and its $20 million in gold in 1971, but found only bits and pieces of Atocha 's treasure. Smith describes the decades-long quest to find Atocha 's riches: encounters with sharks and other dangers (one young diver was killed after being sucked into a boat's massive propellers) and legal battles with the government. In the 1980s, half of the ship was found, along with gold chains and coins, silver bars, and emeralds (2,189 gems valued at $70 million). With 30 black-and-white photographs, this is an engaging account of a remarkable treasure hunt. - Booklist
A Brief History of Israel - Reich, Bernard
Israel is a modern country with a short history set into the lengthy story of Jewish history. A Brief History of Israel explores that history with an emphasis on the period since Israel's independence in 1948. It is a complex story of a people and their modern state, established thousands of years after the destruction of the old one. The story of the independent state Israel is narrated against a backdrop of exile, anti-Semitism, Zionism, and the Holocaust - all of which have helped shape the nature of the current state. The chronological narration begins with the time of Abraham and the period of the Israelite kingdoms and continues to World War II and the United Nations Partition Plan. A Brief History of Israel then explores the independent country of Israel, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, domestic politics, the economy, and international relations. - from the publisher
Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity - Gwartney, James D.
With minimum use of jargon, the authors aim to provide concise and organized insight into economics. Targeting both beginners and experienced executives, they teach basic principles and also provide perspective on the influence of political rules and policies on people and nations. Employing the popular convention of "lists," the authors offer "Ten Key Elements of Economic Theory" (including there is no such thing as a free lunch; hence, we must choose among alternatives since productive resources are limited while human desire for goods and services is virtually unlimited); "Seven Major Sources of Economic Progress" (including the legal system); "Ten Elements of Clear Thinking about Economic Progress and the Role of Government" (competition, a disciplinary force, is as important in government as it is in markets); and "Twelve Key Elements of Practical Personal Finance" (including don't finance anything for longer than its useful life, avoid credit-card debt, and purchase used items.) This is an excellent, readable primer in economics. - Booklist
Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor - Greene, Joshua
For nearly two years, William Denson led the prosecution team at Dachau, Germany, that by August 1948 had found 177 Nazis guards and officers guilty of war crimes at Dachau, Mauthausen, Flossenburg, and Buchenwald concentration camps. Ninety-seven were sentenced to death, 54 to life imprisonment, and the rest to terms of hard labor. After Denson's death in 1998 at the age of 86, his wife sorted out boxes of documents in their basement: 30,000 pages of trial transcripts, miles of microfilm, stacks of photographs and newspaper clippings, death's head insignias, and letters from both SS officers and victims of Nazi horror. Greene, coauthor of Witness: Voices from the Holocaust , posits that with the rise of the cold war, American priorities shifted from punishing Germans to winning Germany's support in the fight against the Soviet Union, and points to the fact that one by one, the sentences of Nazis found guilty at Dachau were either commuted or completely reversed. - Booklist
This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age - Burrows, William E.
Named one of the Best Sci-Tech Books of the Year by Library Journal . An encyclopedic history of space exploration by an insider and veteran reporter who has lost nothing in his enthusiasm and respect for what humankind has wrought. But he tells it like it is, which means constant rivalry that pitted the air force against the CIA for control of spy satellites and saw the Department Of Defense turn apoplectic with the anointing of a new civilian space agency, NASA, born in 1958. Stir into this brew the science-driven egos at Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech and the rocket boys at Huntsville who were led by the indomitable Wernher von Braun. Now add the critical ingredient: the Cold War and nuclear threat and the loss of face that came with Sputnik and Gagarin. To counter that threat and restore a nation's pride, Kennedy's promise to put a man on the moon before the end of the '60s and explore ``this new ocean'' was well-nigh inevitable. It also meant that science for science's sake would take a backseat to realpolitik and the media. This is likely to be the bible for those tracking a unique period in Earth history - the "first'' space age, as Burrows terms it. - Kirkus
Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia - Rashid, Ahmed
This is the single best book available on the Taliban, the fundamentalist Islamic regime in Afghanistan responsible for harboring the terrorist Osama bin Laden. Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist who has spent most of his career reporting on the region--he has personally met and interviewed many of the Taliban's shadowy leaders. Taliban was written and published before the massacres of September 11, 2001, yet it is essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the aftermath of that black day. It includes details on how and why the Taliban came to power, the government's oppression of ordinary citizens (especially women), the heroin trade, oil intrigue, and--in a vitally relevant chapter--bin Laden's sinister rise to power. These pages contain stories of mass slaughter, beheadings, and the Taliban's crushing war against freedom: under Mullah Omar, it has banned everything from kite flying to singing and dancing at weddings. Rashid is for the most part an objective reporter, though his rage sometimes (and understandably) comes to the surface: "The Taliban were right, their interpretation of Islam was right, and everything else was wrong and an expression of human weakness and a lack of piety," he notes with sarcasm. He has produced a compelling portrait of modern evil. - Amazon.com
Water Wars: Drought, Flood, Folly, and the Politics of Thirst - Ward, Diane Raines
Every day, we hear alarming news about droughts, pollution, population growth, and climate change-which threaten to make water, even more than oil, the cause of war within our lifetime. Diane Raines Ward reaches beyond the headlines to illuminate our most vexing problems and tells the stories of those working to solve them: hydrologists, politicians, engineers, and everyday people. Based on ten years of research spanning five continents, Water Wars offers fresh insight into a subject to which our fate is inextricably bound. - from the publisher
What Remains to Be Discovered : Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race - Maddox, John
Maddox, editor of Nature from 1966 to 1973 and 1980 to 1996, suggests that a book of the same title could have been written in 1700, 1800 and 1900, each looking back on the scientific achievements of the previous century and seeing how many questions remained unanswered. And now? "Despite assertions to the contrary, the lode of discovery is far from worked out." Indeed, he says, "there is no field of science that is free from glaring ignorance, even contradiction." Cautioning that what remains to be discovered is not necessarily the same as what will be discovered, because progress in science is so often like "unscrewing successive doll-cases," he focuses on several subjects that seem ripe for major discoveries: the structure of space, a full description of the human genome, the origin of life on Earth, the detailed course of human evolution and an understanding of how the brain works. And no matter how many questions are answered, people a century from now "will be occupied with questions we do not yet have the wit to ask." - Scientific American
Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People - Vogel Steven
The flight of Icarus admonishes not only human hubris but also our inclination to imitate natural technology, in this case flapping wings. Had Icarus only known why curved wings produce better loft than do feathers and wax! Or better, had he only read Vogel's book and its unexpected surprises that overturn the adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Vogel argues that few biological technologies are duplicable in human technology; he says there are about 12, such as eardrums being imitated by telephones. Vogel, a biologist, approaches the organism's problems of survival as if it were an engineering problem. Although a mechanical engineer would make calculations and then choices among designs for structure, stiffness or flexibility, power, and locomotion, the engineering of evolution favors only what enhances survival. Vogel expounds on examples as overlooked as tree leaves, asking how they remain attached in high winds. Composed of curiosity and counterintuition, this amply illustrated work should attract anyone interested in biology. - Booklist
Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud - Park, Robert
We are bombarded daily in the media by "voodoo science," from fatuous pseudoscience to willful misrepresentation. Unfortunately, the general level of science literacy in this country is pitifully low and many of us lack the understanding of basic scientific principles necessary to evaluate such junk science critically. Fortunately, Park—a physics professor (Univ. of Maryland) and science feature writer ( New York Times and Washington Post )— has written a book that will go a long way toward filling in the gaps. Voodoo Science is a highly readable expose of headline-catching claims ranging from cancer-causing properties of power lines to homeopathic remedies to cold fusion. This is a must-read for anyone considering a career in popular science writing (and a should-read for all present and future voters—there are several lucid sections on Congress's actions on ineffective products and on pseudoscience lawsuits). Voodoo Science could easily be read cover to cover (or sampled, using tantalizing entries from the index, from "astrology," "bee pollen," and "butterflies," to "Jonestown," "Jurassic Park," and "smart rocks.") Thank goodness Park has joined the ranks of debunkers (whose notables include Benjamin Franklin, Carl Sagan, and Stephen Hawking) in reminding us that while we may long for magic, there is nothing to indicate that things are anything other that what they are. - Kliatt
Contents: It's not news, it's entertainment : in which the media covers voodoo science -- The belief gene : in which science offers a strategy for sorting out the truth -- Placebos have side effects : in which people turn to "natural" medicine -- The virtual astronaut : in which people dream of artificial worlds -- There ought to be a law : in which Congress seeks to repeal the laws of thermodynamics -- Perpetuum mobile : in which people dream of infinite free energy -- Currents of fear : in which power lines are suspected of causing cancer -- Judgment day : in which the courts confront "junk science" -- Only mushrooms grow in the dark : in which voodoo science is protected by official secrecy -- How strange is the universe? : in which ancient superstitions reappear as pseudoscience.
VIDEO
Master Your Future: A Program on Financial Responsibility
23-minute video to stimulate in-class discussion about financial responsibility; A 24-page teacher's guide to help you incorporate the basics of money management and financial responsibility into your teaching plan; Eight student worksheets to test knowledge and reinforce key lessons; A classroom poster to spark student interest and review essential terms and concepts.
REFERENCE
Astronomy Encyclopedia: An A-Z Guide to the Universe - Moore, Patrick
The more than 3000 alphabetical entries and numerous color photographs cover celestial objects of all kinds; concepts, theories, and methodology of astronomy; observatories; space exploration; and biographical entries on astronomers, astronauts, and cosmonauts. Articles average 5 to 10 per page, but are thorough in their explication of the essentials. Sidebars add information on constellations, and numerous tables provide data on astronomical formations, planets, the Moon, and stars. The layout is fresh and colorful. Spectacular, informative photos appear throughout and outstanding diagrams help explain concepts and equipment. Also included are star maps and keys to symbols, measurements, conversion factors, and the Greek alphabet. - School Library Journal
Atlas of the Medieval World - McKitterick, Rosamond
Draws from new archival and archaeological evidence to reveal a period of astonishing cultural vibrancy and political diversity. Alongside stunning maps covering nearly a millennium of one of the most formative phases in history, hundreds of exquisite pictures of art and architecture accompany expertly written text edited by Rosamond McKitterick, Professor of Early Medieval History at Cambridge University, to bring an extraordinary period to life as no reference has before. The Arab invasions of Europe, the empire of Charlemagne, the African kingdoms of Songhai and Mali, the Crusades, the Viking and Mongol invasions, the Delhi sultanate and the T'ang and Ming empires are just a few of the subjects explained in the Atlas of the Medieval World . What's more, cultural and economic trends such as the spread of literacy and the growth of towns receive equal attention alongside the emergence of kingdoms and the march of armies to form a comprehensive history of all major societies outside of the Americas during the Middle Ages. -from the publisher
Renaissance Art and Architecture - Campbell, Gordon
An informative overview essay of this fascinating period and 1400 comprehensive, alphabetically arranged entries on individual artists, architects and theorists, Schools, styles, techniques, and terms. Intriguing captions explain all featured pictures, giving the history and myth behind paintings, buildings, sculptures, and more. Spanning the years 1415 to 1618, the A-Z text covers drawing, design, painting, sculpture, garden design, and architecture across the whole of Europe. - from the publisher
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - Clute, John
More than 4,300 entries for authors (mainstream, horror, and fantasy), 212 topical entries (including "Robots", "Time Travel", and "Cyberpunk"), scientific or sf jargon terms definitions, separate articles about science fiction in 27 different countries, as well as articles on fandom, sf art, editors, publishing houses, critics. Bibliographies and abundant cross-referencing. When the first edition was published, Frank Herbert described it as 'the most valuable science fiction source book ever written' and Isaac Asimov said 'It will become the Bible for all science fiction fans.'
Fodor's Ireland 2005 - Fodor's
Raise a glass to James Joyce at his favorite haunt, tap your feet to the fiddles at a traditional music session, exchange a kiss for the gift of blarney, indulge in authentic beef-and-Guinness stew, swing with the best at a golfer's retreat, or take a shine to Waterford crystal — Fodor's Ireland 2005 offers all these experiences and more! From Belfast to Killarney, our local writers have traveled throughout this beautiful country to find the best hotels, restaurants, attractions and activities to prepare you for a journey of stunning variety. - from the publisher