NEW BOOKS
March 2008
REFERENCE
The Encyclopedia of Mental Health , 2 nd edition - Kahn, Ada P.
With the National Institute of Mental Health estimating that 50 million Americans are currently suffering from some type of mental disorder, references on the subject are in demand. Those affected, directly or indirectly, will find solid information in this overview. Written in an easy-to-use A-Z format, it presents more than 1000 succinct entries, which range in length from short sentences to multiple pages. Covered are common mental-health terms and theories (including many new ones related to recent findings in mental health, e.g., "performance anxiety"), mental illness diagnoses, symptoms of mental disorders, treatment options, pharmacological management (including new-generation antipsychotic medications), new uses of herbal remedies, and contemporary issues such as the environmental impact on mental health, domestic violence, and lifestyle choices. Readers will also find an outstanding collection of organizations and resources for further information, as well as an extensive bibliography and a suitable index. Library Journal
Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders - Cassell , Dana K.
Written by a professional writer and a clinical psychologist with experience in treating eating disorders, the third edition of The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders is presented at a level accessible to high-school students and undergraduates as well as to the general reader. New to the third edition are about 150 topics related to the economic, sociological, legal, psychological, and medical aspects of obesity and eating disorders. The book begins with an introductory essay on the history of obesity and eating disorders. The 450 alphabetically arranged entries range in length from a few sentences to several pages. Examples of specific topics include American Indians/Alaskan natives and eating disorders, Anorexia nervosa, Artificial sweeteners, College students and eating disorders, Ephedra , Exercise, Jaw wiring, Menopause and weight gain, Television and obesity, Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) , and Zinc deficiency. References to further reading are provided at the end of many entries; in addition, a bibliography of journal articles and books is included at the end of the book. Appendixes offer a chronology of the history of eating disorders; tables related to anorexia, bulimia, and body-mass index; sources of information; obesity and eating-disorder treatment centers; a glossary of fat replacers; and lists of Web sites and audiovisual materials. A well-constructed 16-page index supplies subject access to the contents. - Booklist
The Gilded Age and Progressive Era Reference Library , 3 volumes and an index
Helping students relate to the significant social and culture changes that occurred in the years 1878-1913, Gilded Age and Progressive Era Reference Library has details and vital connections. The collection is divided into three unique volumes. Clear prose, numerous illustrations and interesting sidebars make it easy to understand the political climate, people and events that shaped the time. In addition to providing further reading suggestions and research and activity ideas, each of the three volumes contains a chronology framing events in the wider context, words to know section for additional clarification, and a subject index making it easy to locate target information.
• The Almanac focuses on key topics, such as the labor movement, immigration, industrialism, corruption, development of the middle class, muckraking, the assembly line, the Titanic and child labor.
• Biographies profiles figures significant to the era, with coverage of Mark Twain, Upton Sinclair, John D. Rockefeller, Ida B. Wells and many others.
• Primary Sources is a selection of the most relevant documents of the time, including excerpts from "The Jungle," by Upton Sinclair, "The 1906 Antiquities Act," illustrations of the Gibson Girl and the "Atlanta Compromise Speech of 1895," by Booker T. Washington.
NONFICTION
Asheville : A Photographic Portrait
Designated as Asheville 's official book, and enthusiastically endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce, Asheville: A Photographic Portrait includes more than 300 of the best color photos taken by photographers whose images appear in National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times and other prominent publications. As Asheville 's official coffee-table book, this stunning hardbound publication will serve as an economic development resource and promote our exceptional quality of life. - drtimgillespie.com
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir - Bauby , Jean-Dominique
On December 8, 1995, at the very beginning of a weekend with his 10-year-old son, Bauby , editor-in-chief of the world's most famous fashion magazine, Elle , suffered a massive stroke. When he emerged from coma more than a month later, his mind was perfectly clear, but he could move only his left eyelid. So he remained until his death on March 9, 1997. In the interim, however, with the help of an alphabet arranged in the order of the letters' frequency in French ( e occurs most frequently and so appears first) and recited until Bauby signaled the desired letter with a blink, Bauby dictated, letter by letter, the 28 tiny personal essays of this book. They demonstrate indisputably Bauby's irrepressible love of life. Although trapped as if in a diving bell by his situation, "my mind takes flight like a butterfly," he says, and he ranges through memories, dreams, and reflections, keeping his wits sharp. Never maudlin or religiose , his observations become inspirational, in the manner of much literature about enduring physical adversity, only after they have impressed us--just like good "regular" literature--with their author's strength, affability, curiosity, and gusto. Publishers Weekly
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creative Writing , 2 nd edition - Rozakis , Laurie
With the National Institute of Mental Health estimating that 50 million Americans are currently suffering from some type of mental disorder, references on the subject are in demand. Those affected, directly or indirectly, will find solid information in this overview. Written in an easy-to-use A-Z format, it presents more than 1000 succinct entries, which range in length from short sentences to multiple pages. Covered are common mental-health terms and theories (including many new ones related to recent findings in mental health, e.g., "performance anxiety"), mental illness diagnoses, symptoms of mental disorders, treatment options, pharmacological management (including new-generation antipsychotic medications), new uses of herbal remedies, and contemporary issues such as the environmental impact on mental health, domestic violence, and lifestyle choices. Readers will also find an outstanding collection of organizations and resources for further information, as well as an extensive bibliography and a suitable index. Library Journal
Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope - Nakazawa , Donna Jackson
Type 1 diabetes , Crohn's disease, lupus, rheumatoid arthritisall these increasingly common illnesses are autoimmune diseases in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues or nervous system. Equally alarming, as journalist Nakazawa tells us, is researchers' growing suspicion that autism may be an autoimmune disease, brought on in part by genetic predisposition, exposure of young bodies to man-made chemicals and perhaps viral triggers. Nakazawa (Does Anybody Else Look like Me?), who herself has been diagnosed with the autoimmune Guillain-Barré syndrome, tells of a lower-income Buffalo, N.Y., neighborhood where the growing number of relatively young residents with lupus led one persistent woman to discover that a lot where children played had been a dumping ground for industrial chemicals. She also chronicles the work of researchers at Johns Hopkins and other medical centers who have been able to regrow nerves using embryonic stem cells and destroy errant T cells of the immune system that have run amok. Included are suggestions for foods that may promote healthy immune response and consumer body care products to avoid. Publishers Weekly
Contents: The red flag disease -- The invisible invaders: the driving force behind this epidemic -- Dirty little secrets: cluster epidemics from Buffalo to Texas -- A potent package: viruses, vaccines, and heavy metals -- The autoimmune disease detectives: era of the mavericks -- Shielding your immune system: rethinking food, stress, and everyday chemicals.
Bambi Vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose , and Practice of the Movie Business - Mamet, David
Playwright and screenwriter Mamet gives us a subversive inside look at Hollywood from the perspective of a filmmaker who has always played the game his own way. Who really reads the scripts at the film studios? How is a screenplay like a personals ad? Whose opinion matters when revising a screenplay? Why are there so many producers listed in movie credits? And what do those producers do, anyway? Refreshingly unafraid to offend, Mamet provides hilarious, surprising, and bracingly forthright answers to these and other questions about virtually every aspect of filmmaking, from concept to script to screen. He covers topics ranging from "How Scripts Got So Bad" to the oxymoron of "Manners in Hollywood ." He takes us step-by-step through some of his favorite movie stunts and directorial tricks, and demonstrates that it is craft and crew, not stars and producers, that make great films. from the publisher
Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh - Damrosch, David
Publishers Weekly Starred Review: In the tradition of Edmund Wilson, Columbia literature professor Damrosch unearths the first great masterpiece of world literature: the ancient epic of the legendary Sumerian king Gilgamesh. Several copies of a largely complete version of the 4,000-year-old poem, which follows Gilgamesh on a heroic quest for immortality as he seeks out a survivor of a major deluge, were part of the great library assembled at the palace of Nineveh by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who ruled from 669 B.C. and sought ancient texts to guide him in ruling after his brother's disastrous rebellion. After Nineveh was sacked in 612 B.C., the Gilgamesh epic was forgotten for more than 2,000 years until archeologists Austen Henry Layard and Hormuzd Rassam uncovered the library and shipped 100,000 clay tablets and fragments to the British Museum in the 1840s and '50s. There, in 1872, assistant curator George Smith decoded the cuneiform writing and Akkadian language and discovered that the epic offered a controversial earlier version of the biblical flood account. Damrosch's fascinating literary sleuthing will appeal to scholars and lay readers alike as they ponder the intricacies of cuneiform, the abuses heaped on the Iraqi Rassam and the working-class Smith by the Victorian class system, and recent Gilgamesh-inspired novels. Publishers Weekly
Contents: The broken tablets -- Early fame and sudden death -- The lost library -- The fortress and the museum -- After Ashurbanipal, the deluge -- At the limits of culture -- The vanishing point.
Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments - Boese , Alex
A look at scientific oddities, focusing on unlikely but actual experiments. Included are notorious examples such as the Stanford Prison Experiment and Stanley Milgram's infamous shock treatment obedience experiment, but it's the lesser-known studies that will generate the most interest. Disembodied heads, animal resurrection ("Zombie Kitten," "Franken-Monkey") and the direct stimulation of a subject's emotions (via electric brain prod) are some of the more grim activities Boese describes. Lighter subjects include attempts to prove the myth that the bar patrons become more attractive at closing time and the effects of staying awake for 11 days straight. These and other tales will obviously appeal to armchair scientists, but the short, witty, ceaselessly amusing entries should delight anyone with a healthy sense of morbid curiosity. Publishers Weekly
Contents: Frankenstein's lab -- Sensorama -- Total recall -- Bedtime stories -- Animal tales -- Mating behavior -- Oh, baby! -- Bathroom reading -- Making Mr. Hyde -- The end.
Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta , Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and other Quinceanera Stories - Lopez, Adriana
In terms that vary from frank and irreverent to tender and even a little sapppy , 15 writers tell personal stories about a quinceanera , the traditional celebration that marks a Latina's fifteenth birthday. Some teens grab the chance to be a grown-up princess. In contrast, a Cuban immigrant remembers hating her party as a refugee "straitjacket"; but now she is appalled that her own daughter wants it all with lace, ruffles, and pearls. Of course, it is a coming-of-age landmark, and many remember the universals of trying to navigate the signals and subtleties, to look cute and sexy, but not like a zorra (whore). Party guests write, too, including male family members, escorts, lovers. The diversity is a big part of the fun across ethnicity, class, generation, and sexual orientation. Some want a quiet religious ceremony; some want to rent Disney World. But as Lopez points out in her great introduction, the "quinces" are having a comeback in the U.S. , and however diverse, all do include the expectations, the nerves, and eventually the messy mush of memories. Booklist
Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion Year History of the Human Body - Shubin , Neil
Fish paleontologist Shubin illuminates the subject of evolution with humor and clarity in this compelling look at how the human body evolved into its present state. Parsing the millennia-old genetic history of the human form is a natural project for Shubin , who chairs the department of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago and was co-discoverer of Tiktaalik , a 375-million-year-old fossil fish whose flat skull and limbs, and finger, toe, ankle and wrist bones, provide a link between fish and the earliest land-dwelling creatures. Shubin moves smoothly through the anatomical spectrum, finding ancient precursors to human teeth in a 200-million-year-old fossil of the mouse-size part animal, part reptile tritheledont ; he also notes cellular similarities between humans and sponges. Other fossils reveal the origins of our senses, from the eye to that wonderful Rube Goldberg contraption the ear. Shubin excels at explaining the science, making each discovery an adventure, whether it's a Pennsylvania roadcut or a stony outcrop beset by polar bears and howling Arctic winds. I can imagine few things more beautiful or intellectually profound than finding the basis for our humanity... nestled inside some of the most humble creatures that ever lived, he writes, and curious readers are likely to agree. Publishers Weekly
Contents: Finding an inner fish -- Arms and legs, heads and teeth -- Getting a grip -- Handy genes -- Teeth everywhere -- Getting ahead -- Bodies -- The best laid (body) plans -- Adventures in bodybuilding -- Senses -- Making scents -- Vision quest -- Our inner ear -- The meaning of it all -- The zoo in you -- Why history makes us sick.
How Doctors Think - Groopman , Jerome
By far the largest number of examples New Yorker staff writer and Harvard physician Groopman adduces to show how doctors think shows them thinking well for the good of their patients. In the initial example, one doctor seen by a woman with a long-standing weight-loss condition concedes being stumped and sends her to a specialist who finds the cause of her woes and, most probably, saves her from an early death. Both physicians are praiseworthy, the second more than the first only because he believed a patient whom others had come to pooh-pooh as a complainer and then thought of examining for something that the others had missed. The lesson? A doctor has to think with the patient, not despite or against her or from an assumption of superior knowledge. Subsequent chapters show doctors thinking in resistance to economic pressure by hospitals and insurers, in thorough solidarity with parents about their children's care, against a host of professional assumptions and in resistance to pestering by drug companies--all to help patients achieve their own goals as far as possible. An epilogue suggests a few questions patients should ask to help their doctors think clearly and, as the last chapter's title puts it, "In Service of the Soul." A book to restore faith in an often-resented profession, well enough written to warrant its quarter-million-copy first printing. Booklist
Contents: Flesh-and-blood decision making -- Lessons from the heart -- Spinning plates -- Gatekeepers -- A new mother's challenge -- The uncertainty of the expert -- Surgery and satisfaction -- The eye of the beholder -- Marketing, money, and medical decisions -- In service of the soul -- Epilogue : a patient's questions.
Las Soldaderas : Women of the Mexican Revolution - Poniatowska , Elena
Poniatowska , a dazzlingly poetic Mexican writer of conscience, based Here's to You, Jesusa ! (1969), one of her most revered novels, on the life of a soldadera , one of the many forgotten woman warriors of the Mexican Revolution. Now, in a bright weave of history, lore, and reflection, Poniatowska celebrates the soldaderas ' courage and fortitude. She writes, "Without the soldaderas , there is no Mexican Revolution--they kept it alive and fertile, like the earth." Vulnerable to abduction and rape at home, Mexican women chose to go to war to fight, care for the wounded, and keep the fires burning. Valued by Emiliano Zapata but reviled by Pancho Villa, who massacred 90 soldaderos one dark day in December 1916, Mexico 's revolutionary women soldiers have been all but excised from history. Poniatowska resurrects their astonishing stories, while striking photographs culled from the vast archive created by Agustin Casasola , whose complete oeuvre is showcased in Mexico: The Revolution and Beyond (2003), preserve the soldaderas ' dignity, strength, and beauty, creating a unique and welcoming volume that reclaims women of valor with grace and precision. Booklist
The Mayflower Papers: Selected Writings of Colonial New England - Bradford, William
In their introduction, the Philbricks write that William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation probably is the greatest book written in colonial America . Bradford tells the story of how a group of Puritan Separatists founded the first permanent settlement in New England and how they proved to be surprisingly flexible and pragmatic diplomats in the dealings with the Indians. A large part of this book is an excerpt from that volume. Also included is a selection from Mourt's Relation , a book that Bradford coauthored with Edward Winslow, and one from Winslow's Good News from New England . There's a selection from Thomas Morton's iconoclastic New English Canaan , Mary Rowlandson's The Sovereignty and Goodness of God , and Benjamin and Thomas Church's Entertain ing Passages Relating to Philip's War. This original paperback offers provocative details of that time and place. Booklist
Contents: Introduction / Nathaniel Philbrick Further reading Note on the texts Of Plymouth Plantation / William Bradford -- Mourt's Relation / William Bradford and Edward Winslow -- Good News from New England / Edward Winslow -- New English Canaan / Thomas Morton -- The Sovereignty and Goodness of God / Mary Rowlandson -- Entertaining Passages Relating to Philip's War / Benjamin Church and Thomas Church Notes.
Oil on the Brain: Adventures from the Pump to the Pipeline - Margonelli , Lisa
Margonelli has written about the culture and economy of energy for publications such as Wired , Discover , Salon , and the San Francisco Chronicle . In the summer of 2003, she started hanging out at independent gas stations, where owners might clear pennies per gallon of gas, surviving on impulse sales of junk food and soda. Her journey takes us up the delivery chain, spending a typical day with a tanker truck driver, hanging out with suppliers, touring refineries, and seeing what life is like at an oil rig. Whether visiting "wildcatters" in Texas , the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the Gulf of Mexico , or the oil pit at the New York Mercantile Exchange, Margonelli charms her way into the good graces of insiders to report on the vast petroleum network. Her voyage takes us to Venezuela , Chad , Nigeria , and ultimately the Persian Gulf, where she spends time at the Salmon oil fields in Iran . Filled with rich history, industry anecdotes, and politics, Margonelli's book brings a deeper appreciation of the complicated and often tenuous process that we take for granted. Booklist
Contents: Gas station -- Distribution -- Refinery Drilling Rig -- Strategic petroleum reserve NYMEX oil market -- Venezuela -- Chad -- Iran -- Nigeria China Epilogue Acknowledgements Notes and references -- Index.
Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in Middle East : 1776 to the Present - Oren, Michael B.
This engrossing, informative, and frequently surprising survey of U.S. involvement in the Middle East over the past 230 years is particularly timely. Oren, a frequent contributor to the New York Times , Wall Street Journal , and New Republic , illustrates that American interests have frequently combined elements of romanticism, religious fervency, and hardheaded power politics. In the early nineteenth century, President Jefferson, perhaps acting against his own instincts to remain aloof from the affairs of the Old World, sent the infant American navy to confront the Barbary pirates off the coast of North Africa . Like many of our future endeavors in the region, the results were a mixture of success, failure, and farce. Other episodes covered here that are particularly interesting include previously obscure American efforts to locate the source of the Nile and the efforts by American missionaries to convert vast numbers of Ottoman subjects. But Oren is at his best when describing American involvement in the twentieth century as the U.S. replaced Britain as the dominant "imperial" power in the area. Appealing to both scholars and general readers. Booklist
Contents: Chronology -- Prologue: A passage to glory -- Introduction: Recovering a pivotal past -- Pt. 1: Early America encounters the Middle East . A mortal and mortifying threat ; The hostile and ethereal Orient ; A crucible of American identity ; Illuminating and emancipating the world -- Pt. 2: The Middle East and antebellum America . Confluence and conflict ; Manifest Middle Eastern destiny ; Under American eyes -- Pt. 3: The Civil War and Reconstruction. Fission ; Rebs and Yanks on the Nile ; The trumpet that never calls retreat ; American onslaught ; Resurgence -- Pt. 4: The age of imperialism. Empires at dawn ; Imperial piety ; Imperial myths ; A region renamed and reordered -- Pt. 5: America , the Middle East , and the Great War. Spectators of catastrophe ; Action or nonaction ? ; An American movement is born ; Arise, o Arabs, and awake! ; The first Middle East peace process ; Fantasies revived -- Pt. 6: Oil, war, and ascendancy. From Bibles to drill bits ; An insoluble conflict evolves ; A torch for the Middle East ; The Middle East and the man from Missouri -- Pt. 7: In search of Pax Americana. Harmony and hegemony ; The thirty years' war -- Epilogue: A profound and visceral gratitude.
Columbia Guide to American Environmental History - Merchant, Carolyn
Has 10 chapters on historical topics and themes; a 60-page dictionary of environmental agencies, concepts, laws, and people important in American environmental history; an environmental history time line; and a lengthy "Resource Guide." The 10 overview essays are good introductions to general topics. For example, chapter 7, "Conservation and Preservation, 1785-1950," discusses changing land policies and laws, social and scientific movements, and park creation--wide-ranging topics succinctly described and interrelated. "Urban Environments, 1850-1960" (chapter 6) is a reminder that the human environment is often far removed from the natural environment, though its impact is considerable. The chapters have bibliographies of the main sources consulted, useful to those whose interest has been piqued. The table of contents lists both chapter titles and the subheadings for the topics mentioned in each. The "Resource Guide" offers lists of visual (films and videos) and electronic resources arranged by topic as well as a bibliographic essay and a bibliography of articles and books in 21 categories. Booklist
Introduction -- PART I. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW: TOPICS AND THEMES -- The American Environment and Native-European Encounters, 1000-1875 -- The Physical Environment and Natural Resources -- Native Americans and the Land -- Pueblo Indians and the Southwest -- The Pueblo Indians and Spanish Settlement of the Southwest -- Micmac Indians and French Settlement in the Northeast -- Plains Indians and the Westward Movement -- The European Transformation of the Plains -- The Ecological Indian -- Conclusion -- The New England Wilderness Transformed, 1600-1850 -- The New England Forest and Indian Land Use -- The Settlement of New England -- Colonial Land Use -- Marketing the Forest -- The Forest Economy -- Mind, Labor, and Nature -- The Idea of Wilderness -- Conclusion -- The Tobacco and Cotton South, 1600-1900 -- The Chesapeake Environment and Indian-European Relations -- Tobacco Cultivation -- Slavery and Southern Agriculture -- Soil Exhaustion in the Tobacco South -- The Cotton South -- 49 Environment and Society in the Cotton South -- Cotton Production -- Post-Civil War Sharecropping -- The Impact of the Boll Weevil -- Conclusion -- Nature and the Market Economy, 1750-1850 -- The Inland Economy and the Environment -- Land Use in the Inland Economy -- The Inland Economy and the Worldview of Its People -- Market Farming -- The Transportation and Market Revolutions -- Nature and Ambivalence about the Market Economy -- The Hudson River School of Painters -- Artists and the Vanishing Indian -- Conclusion --77 Western Frontiers: The Settlement of California and the Great Plains, 1820-1930 -- Westward Expansion and the Settlement of California -- California Native Peoples and the Advent of Europeans -- The Multicultural Character of the Gold Rush -- Types of Gold Mining -- Environmental Effects of Hydraulic Mining -- Environmental Change in the Sierras -- European Settlement of the Great Plains -- The Rancher's Frontier -- The Farmer's Frontier -- Narratives of Blacks and Women -- The Dust Bowl of the 1930s -- Conclusion -- Urban Environments, 1850-1960 -- Urbanization, Industry, and Energy -- Industrial Cities and Labor -- The City as Wilderness -- Air Pollution -- Garbage -- Noise Pollution -- Water Pollution -- The Sanitary City -- From City to Suburb -- Minorities and Pollution -- Conclusion -- Conservation and Preservation, 1785-1950 -- Colonial Land Policy -- Federal Land Policy -- Land Law in the Arid West -- Lands for Railroads and Education -- The Conservation Movement -- Reclamation and Water Law -- The Preservation Movement -- Creation of the National Parks -- Conclusion -- Indian Land Policy, 1800-1990 -- Indian Land Treaties -- Indian Removal -- The Dawes Act -- Indians and the Creation of the National Parks -- The Winters Decision -- 151 The Indian New Deal and Civil Rights -- Indian Lands and Environmental Regulation -- Conclusion -- The Rise of Ecology, 1890-1990-- Ernst Haeckel and the Origins of Ecology -- Human Ecology -- The Organismic Approach to Ecology -- The Economic Approach to Ecology -- The Influence of Chaos Theory -- Conclusion -- The Era of Environmentalism, 1940-2000 -- From Conservation to Environmentalism -- New Deal Conservation -- Population and the Environment -- Environmental Regulation -- Reactions to Environmental Regulation -- Environmental Organizations -- The Antitoxics Movement -- The Transformation of Consciousness -- Conclusion -- PART II. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY A TO Z: AGENCIES, CONCEPTS, LAWS, AND PEOPLE -- PART III. CHRONOLOGY: AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY --Timeline -- PART IV. RESOURCE GUIDE -- Visual Resources -- ELECTRONIC RESOURCES -- General Environmental History Resources -- Environmental History Societies and Related Associations -- Archival Materials -- Bibliographies -- Biographical Resources -- Environmental Organizations and Information Centers -- Environmental Philosophy and Ethics -- Government Agencies -- Natural History -- Natural Resources -- Regional Resources -- Environmental justice Resources -- Teaching Resources -- Course Syllabi in American Environmental History -- General Environmental Education -- Historical Overview Web Sites -- BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- What Is Environmental History? -- Anthologies and Bibliographies -- Biographies and Autobiographical Writings -- African Americans and the Environment -- American Indian Land Use -- American Indian Religion -- Asian Americans and the Environment -- Environmental Philosophy and Landscape Perception -- The Environmental Movement -- The History of Ecology -- The History of Environmental Science -- Conservation History and Legislation -- Agricultural History -- Forest History -- Mining History -- Pollution -- Range History -- Water and Irrigation History -- Wilderness Preservation -- Wildlife -- The Urban Environment -- Index.
Thumbs, Toes, and Tears: And Other Traits That Make Us Human - Walter, Chip
Humans are the only creatures that cry for both grief and happiness, although many animals shed tears that help protect their eyes. As science journalist and former CNN bureau chief Walter tells readers in this fascinating and superbly written book, there are a handful of characteristics (like crying) that distinguish us from the rest of the animal kingdom and can be explained in evolutionary terms as having been advantageous for our distant ancestors. Laughter is one: dogs may bark happily when they get to go for a ride or play with their canine neighbors, but only humans break into chortles and guffaws. Walter (who coauthored I'm Working on That with William Shatner ) says that laughter helps us bond with our friends and co-workers. He points out that we give our big toe little thought until we stub it, but its evolution allowed Homo erectus to stand upright millions of years ago and led to other helpful evolutionary features, like the pharynxwhich in turn made speech possible. Readers also learn why we tousle our children's hair, why kissing is so much fun and what may lie ahead as we near the end of our current evolutionary reel. Publishers Weekly
Contents: Prologue TOES -- The curious tale of the hallux magnus -- Standing up: sex and the single hominid THUMBS -- Mothers of invention -- Homo hallucinator the dream animal PHARYNX -- Making thoughts out of thin air I am me: the rise of consciousness -- Words, grooming, and the opposite sex LAUGHTER -- Howls, hoots, and calls TEARS -- The creature that weeps -- The language of lips -- Epilogue cyber sapiens: the human race, version 2.0 Acknowledgments Bibliography Notes Index.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die - Heath, Chip
Urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus public-health scares circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas--business people, teachers, politicians, journalists, and others--struggle to make their ideas "stick." Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? Educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the "human scale principle," using the "Velcro Theory of Memory," and creating "curiosity gaps." In this fast-paced tour of success stories (and failures), we discover that sticky messages of all kinds--from the infamous "kidney theft ring" hoax to a coach's lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony--draw their power from the same six traits. This book that will transform the way you communicate ideas. From the publisher
Top 500 Poems - Harmon, William
A chronological compilation that tells "the story of poetry in English." Harmon enhances each entry with pertinent information about the work and the poet; his insight adds much to the enjoyment of the collection. The selections are taken from the ninth edition of The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry , chosen because 400 contemporary editors, critics, and poets included them most often in their own anthologies. "The Poems in Order of Popularity" concludes the book. Easy-to-read print with a look of fine calligraphy on high-quality paper add to the appeal. School Library Journal
Why Science? - Trefil , James S.
With conviction and clarity, prize-winning scientist and bestselling author James Trefil explains why everyone needs to be scientifically literate. As Trefil sees it, citizens simply cannot participate fully in the democratic process if they don't understand fundamental scientific concepts. And he describes exactly what these principles are, from understanding natural selection to grasping Maxwell's Equations governing electricity and magnetism; from recognizing that the surface of the earth is constantly in flux to grasping the basic concepts of physics and chemistry. With an appreciation of our national state of ignorance on scientific matters, he not only explains these concepts but also shows why they are worth knowing. from the publisher
Contents: Science : A world understood -- Scientific literacy : What is it? -- Scientific literacy : The argument from civics -- Scientific literacy : The argument from culture -- Scientific literacy : The argument from Aesthetics -- The state of scientific literacy -- The research pipeline -- The historical struggle with science education -- Apportioning the blame : How we got where we are -- The goals of science education -- Training for Galileo in the world of Craig Venter -- The great ideas approach to scientific literacy.
Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations - Linden , Eugene
Environmental journalist Linden considers how adaptable human societies are to alterations in weather. He offers several examples of societies that drastically deteriorated, such as Greenland's Norse settlements in 1350, Central America's Mayan civilization around 950, modern Syria 's Akkadian Empire circa 2200 B.C.E., as well as other casualties. Traditional archaeology, Linden reports, has had to incorporate the very vibrant field of paleoclimatology , whose means for determining past climates (ice cores, ocean sediments, oxygen isotope ratios, etc.) Linden crisply summarizes. He also rescues scholars' debates from the esoteric by embedding them in research about contemporary climate and its major factors, such as solar energy, the earth's axial tilt and orbit, the drift of the continents, and the distribution of heat by the ocean and atmosphere. Relatively restrained in tone, and consequently more persuasive by its sobriety, Linden's presentation of scientists' theories on historical climate change will provoke readers concerned about the implications of global warming for modern civilization. Booklist
Contents: A matter of emphasis -- The deep past : climate as creator -- Destroyer -- The first victim -- Weapons of mass destruction : disease, migration, conflict, and famine -- Empty promises of water : the collapse of the Mayans -- The Little Ice Age : five hundred years of climate chaos -- Climate comes into focus -- The gears of global climate -- Proxy wars I : ice -- Proxy wars II : mud -- The mystery of Tell Leilan -- Scorched Earth -- Is it Little Ice Age, or ages? -- El Niñ o : how it works -- El Niño meets empire -- A taste of things to come? -- The tides of public opinion -- Water moving through water -- Going forward -- Chronology : the accelerating pace of climate change and scientific discovery.
Finishing Techniques for Hand Knitters: Give Your Knitting That Professional Look - Brant, Sharon
Booklist Starred Review: Presentation is everything, particularly for knitted projects that take hours from cast on to bind off to complete. The thrill of finishing quickly dissipates when you realize you have to put your project together. Finishing a knitted piece is an entirely other skill from knitting, and many knitters avoid knitting patterns that require it. Brant tackles this intimidating subject through lush photographs, easy-to-follow instructions, and clear explanations of a wide array of techniques. She breaks down how to determine your size, obtain the right gauge, change yarns, calculate yardage, read a pattern diagram, and alter pattern measurements to fit. Her explanation of blocking is brief, maybe because this is the one finishing technique effectively covered by most knitting books. Clear, crisp photographs and simply written instructions illustrate techniques for casting on, shaping, binding off, garment assembly, embellishments, and edgings. Every topic from buttonholes to picking up stitches has two or three techniques explained. Brant provides patterns for all the sweaters used to illustrate the techniques in the book. Sure to become a well-worn, frequently referenced book. - Booklist
HIV/AIDS: A Very Short Introduction - Whiteside, Alan
HIV/AIDS is without doubt the worst epidemic to hit humankind since the Black Death. As of 2004 an estimated 40 million people were living with the disease, and about 20 million had died. Despite rapid scientific advances there is still no cure and the drugs are expensive and toxic. In the developing world, especially in parts of Africa , life expectancy has plummeted to below 35 years, causing a serious decline in economic growth, a sharp increase in orphans, and the imminent collapse of health care systems. The news is not all bleak though. There have been unprecedented breakthroughs in understanding diseases and developing drugs. Because the disease is so closely linked to sexual activity and drug use, the need to understand and change behavior has caused us to reassess what it means to be human and how we should operate in the globalizing world. This Very Short Introduction tackles the science, the international and local politics, the fascinating demographics, and the devastating consequences of the disease, and suggests how we must respond .- from the publisher
Contents: The emergence and state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic -- How HIV/AIDS works and scientific responses -- The factors that shape different epidemics -- Illness, deaths, and populations -- The impact of AIDS on production and people -- AIDS and politics -- Responding to HIV/AIDS -- The next 25 years.
Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water - Barlow, Maude
Canadian antiglobalization activist Barlow ( Blue Gold ) calls for a blue covenant among nations to define the world's fresh water as a human right and a public trust rather than a commercial product. Barlow marshals facts and figures with admirable (if often dry) comprehensiveness, noting that as many as 36 U.S. states could reach a water crisis in five years; that once vast freshwater resources like Lake Chad and the Aral Sea are becoming briny puddles; and a handful of multinational water companies, abetted by World Bank monetary policies and United Nations political timidity, are bidding for the complete commodification of formerly public water resources. Her passionate plea for access-to-water activism is buttressed with some breakthroughs; Uruguay has enshrined public water rights in its constitution (the only nation to do so), and water warriors are fighting back in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, where activists have forced private water companies to cede control of municipal water systems. There's a noble tilting-at-windmills quality to the author's call for private citizens and nongovernmental organizations to challenge corporate control of water delivery, agitate for equitable access to clean water and confront the reality that freshwater supplies are dwindling. Publishers Weekly
Contents: Where has all the water gone? -- Setting the stage for corporate control of water -- The water hunters move in -- The water warriors fight back -- The future of water.
The Food of France - Root, Waverly
While this might sound like a cookbook, it's actually a travelogue focusing on the foods of various regions in France . Instead of providing information on what visitors should see during their travels, Waverly Root reveals what they should eat. Root, who made his living as a foreign correspondent and has written several volumes on his penchant for food, is an excellent guide whose descriptions will convince globetrotters that there's much more to travel than sightseeing. Co-winner of the 1990 James Beard Cookbook Award. from the publisher
Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
Essays on Gatsby and friends.
Contents: The great Gatsby : Two versions of the hero / David Parker -- Gatsby and the failure of the omniscient "I" / Ron Neuhaus -- Gatsby and John Keats : another version / Joseph B. Wagner -- The waste land myth and symbols in The great Gatsby / Letha Audhuy -- Compensating visions : The great Gatsby / John T. Irwin -- The great Gatsby : Fitzgerald's opulent synthesis (1925) / Robert Roulston and Helen H. Roulston -- Individualism reconsidered / Ronald Berman -- "A world complete in itself" : Gatsby's elegiac narration / Dan Coleman -- An elusive rhythm : The great Gatsby reclaims Troilus and Criseyde / Casie Hermansson -- Implying authors in The great Gatsby / Elizabeth Preston -- Carraway's complaint / George Monteiro -- Possessions in The great Gatsby / Scott Donaldson.
Ibsen: A Doll's House (Plays in Production) - Tornqvist , Egil
This critical study of Ibsen's A Doll's House addresses fundamental questions of text, reception and performance. What is the definitive 'version' of A Doll's House : original text, translation, stage presentation, radio version, adaptation to film or television? What occurs when a drama intended for recipients in one language is translated into another, or when a play written for the stage is adapted for radio, television or film? And to what extent do differences between the media and between directorial approaches influence the meaning of the play text? Discussions of these issues include an internal analysis of the dramatic text and comparative performance analysis, framed by the biographical background to the play and its impact on dramas by Strindberg, Shaw and O'Neill and on films by Ingmar Bergman. The book concludes with a list of productions and a select bibliography. from the publisher
Contents: Prologue: background -- The drama text -- Translating Et Dukkehjem -- A Doll's House as stage play --A Doll's House as radio drama -- A Doll's House as teleplay -- A Doll's House as film -- Transposing the end of A Doll's House -- Epilogue: impact -- Sequence scheme of Et Dukkehjem / A Doll's House -- Select list of productions -- Notes -- Select bibliography -- Index.
Bloom's Major Dramatists: Henrik Ibsen - Bloom, Harold ( editor)
Essays on Ibsen and his works.
Contents: Indhold : Henrik Ibsen: The task of the poet. -- E.M. Forster: Ibsen the romantic. -- Francis Fergusson: Ghosts. -- Eric Bentley: Ibsen. Una Ellis- Fermor : Introduction to Hedda Gabler and other plays. -- Michael Meyer: Introduction to The pillars of society. -- John Northam : The wild duck. -- Richard Gilman: Ibsen and the making of modern drama. -- Sverre Arestad : The Ibsen hero. Robert Brustein : The fate of ibsenism . -- Inga- Stina Ewbank : Brand. -- Barbara Fass Leavy : Hedda Gabler and the Huldre . -- Harold Bloom: Ibsen: Trolls and Peer Gynt . -- Michael Goldman: Eyolf's eyes: Ibsen and the cultural meanings of child abuse. -- Thomas F. Van Laan : Ibsen and Shakespeare
Understanding Great Literature: The Great Gatsby - Wyley , Michael J.
Discusses themes, characters, context, and the humanity of the novel as well as Fitzgerald's life.
Contents: Introduction The humanity of The Great Gatsby Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald The Jazz Age, gangsters, and the American Dream Wealth, love, and tragedy Characters of The Great Gatsby Themes in The Great Gatsby Notes For further exploration Appendix of criticism Chronology Works consulted Index.
Pirates: Fact or Fiction - Cordingly , John
Contents: The pirate seas The Spanish Main The Barbary Corsairs Pirates in the Indian ocean The Eastern seas A pirate miscellany Index.
A Tale of Two Cities: The Souvenir Guide to Mark the Bicentenary of the French Revolution
Contents: France and England : how we saw ourselves Louis XVI: king who failed to become a martyr Marie-Antoinette, queen of France Seeds of revolt The French church on the eve of the revolution Power, privilege, wealth What was the third estate? George III: abdication or deposition? Guide to the exhibition Disarming the throne How The Terror emerged Women and the revolution London : mega-city of Europe A tale of two cities Let them eat bread how England escaped revolution Protagonists' gallery Glossary.
Royal Armada: 400 Years
Contents: Drake the man Heresy and reform Divorces and executions The boy king and Bloody Mary Nobility of England and Spain Elizabeth and her dazzling court Guide to the exhibition at the national Maritime Museum Mary, queen of Scots The most powerful monarch in Christendom The English fleet The invincible armada The great social divide State of emergency.
Mutiny on the Bounty: 1789 1989
Contents: William Bligh's Royal Navy Jolly tars were our men The Pacific: great unknown Bligh and the mutiny Mutineer who made history The epic open boat voyage Tahiti, paradise on earth The tragedy of the Pandora Pitcairn: What happened Turning a mutiny into legend Film-makers and Bounty Elizabeth Bligh: her beginnings.
FICTION
The Dead Fathers Club - Haig, Matt
Booklist Starred Review: What happens when you die? Well, if you're murdered, you become a ghost, as 11-year-old Philip learns when he sees his dead father at the man's wake. Things start to get sticky when Dad then asks Philip to kill his killer, the boy's oily uncle, Alan, who has designs on both Mum and the family pub, the Castle and Falcon. Uncle Alan, it seems, wants to become king of the Castle in his late brother's stead. Poor bewildered, indecisive Philip. To kill or not to kill--that is the question that comes to haunt him. British author Haig's darkly witty and delightfully clever American debut (his first novel, The Last Family in England , was published in the UK in 2004) is clearly inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet , and part of the fun for the reader is discovering the many droll and unforced parallels. But the real draw is the extraordinary voice that Haig has created for his first-person narrator. Given to panic attacks, Philip is a breathless storyteller who seldom stops for punctuation but whose honesty and innocence, which shine from every sentence, are utterly captivating and heartbreakingly poignant. The result is an absolutely irresistible read. Booklist
The Book of Names - Gregory, Jill
According to Jewish tradition, each generation produces 36 righteous souls who hold up the universe. In this page-turner, a Gnostic group that wants the world to end, thus defeating God and paving the way for their own spiritual ascension, has murdered 33 of the 36. Ever since he was involved in a childhood accident, David Shepherd has been compulsively writing down names. When he learns through a kabbalistic rabbi that he is the keeper of the names of righteous souls (and realizes that his stepdaughter is one of them), he finds himself in the middle of a nightmare filled with killings, natural disasters, and the knowledge that the fate of the world in his hands. Coauthors Gregory and Tintori use the now-common Da Vinci Code formula of short chapters and steadily building suspense, but their intriguing premise--also behind Sam Bourne's The Righteous Men (2006)--helps separate this tale from garden-variety religious thrillers. And where others have tried and usually failed, the authors give succinct explanations of the principles of kabbalah and Gnosticism, both complex and often misunderstood. Compulsively readable. Booklist
Medicus : A Novel of the Roman Empire - Downie , Ruth
The salacious underside of Roman-occupied Britain comes to life in Britisher Downie's debut. Gaius Petrius Ruso , a military medicus (or doctor), transfers to the 20th Legion in the remote Britannia port of Deva (now Chester ) to start over after a ruinous divorce and his father's death. Things go downhill from there. His quarters are filthy and vermin-filled, and his superior at the hospital is a petty tyrant. Gaius rescues and buys an injured slave girl, Tilla , from her abusive master, but she refuses to talk, can't cook and costs more to keep than he can afford. Meanwhile, young women from the local bordello keep turning up dead, and nobody is interested in investigating. Gaius becomes a reluctant detective, but his sleuthing threatens to get him killed and leaves him scant time to work on the first-aid guide he's writing to help salvage his finances. Tilla plots her escape as she recovers from her injuries, and just when Ruso becomes attached to her, she runs away, complicating his personal life and his investigation. Downie's auspicious debut sparkles with beguiling characters and a vividly imagined evocation of a hazy frontier. Publishers Weekly
Mistress of the Art of Death - Franklin, Ariana
In the twelfth century, the Salerno School of Medicine (in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily) boasted female students among its ranks. When Adelia , one of the university's prodigies, is summoned to considerably less-progressive Cambridge , England , to provide forensic support in the investigation of the murder of four children, she must conceal her identity lest she be labeled a witch. Still, her predicament is far less perilous than that of the Jewish residents of Cambridge , whom the Catholic townspeople have blamed for the quartet of deaths. King Henry II, while ruthless, is no fool; mindful of the tax revenues derived from Jewish merchants, he's vowed his protection until they can be exonerated. Adelia , whose entourage includes a Jewish investigator and a Muslim bodyguard, carefully analyzes the corpses. Her conclusions, alas, are far from definitive: the crimes could be the work of a serial killer, or perhaps one among the latest group of pilgrims who've recently returned from Canterbury . Franklin delivers rich period detail and a bloody good ending reflecting the savagery of the times. Booklist
Nineteen Minutes - Picoult , Jodi
Best known for tackling controversial issues through richly told fictional accounts, Jodi Picoult's 14th novel, Nineteen Minutes , deals with the truth and consequences of a smalltown high-school shooting. Set in Sterling , New Hampshire , Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. As with any Picoult novel, the answers are never black and white, and it is her exceptional ability to blur the lines between right and wrong that make this author such a captivating storyteller. At times, Nineteen Minutes can seem tediously stereotypical-- jocks versus nerds, parent versus child, teacher versus student. Part of Picoult's gift is showing us the subtleties of these common dynamics, and the startling effects they often have on the moral landscape. As Peter's mother says at the end of this spellbinding novel, "Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million?" Amazon.com
Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale - Napoli , Donna Jo
This powerful survival story invents a backstory for Melkorka , a character in a major Icelandic work, the Laxdæla saga. Melkorka , 15, and sister Brigid , eight, are daughters of an Irish king early in the 10th century, when Viking raids on castles and monasteries are common. After a Norse youth attacks their brother, their father plans revenge by luring a Viking ship to their town. The girls, dressed as boys in peasant clothing, are hurriedly sent for their safety to a distant " ringfort ." Instead, they are captured by Russian slavers who troll the coastlines, kidnapping women and children. To conceal their high birth, Mel and Brigid do not speak, and their silence gives them a hold over their captors, the leader of whom comes to fear that Mel is an enchantress. Melkorka's journey becomes intellectual as well as geographical. Accustomed to being waited on, she admits to disdain for slaves: "Some are of ordinary intelligence, but most are stupid," she says at the beginning, an opinion that will change radically with her reversed circumstances. Publishers Weekly
Overclocked : Stories of the Future Present - Doctorow, Cory
An unabashed promulgator of the Internet and its democratic potential, Doctorow ( Eastern Standard Tribe ) explores the benefits and consequences of online systems in this provocative collection of six mostly long stories. "When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth" is a moving chronicle of a widely dispersed network of techno-geeks laboring to keep the World Wide Web running as an epitaph to an earth devastated by a bioweapon apocalypse. In "After the Siege"the bleak chronicle of a modern siege of Stalingrad the horrors of war become fodder for a documentary film crew's reality-based entertainment. Two tales riff on classic SF themes: "I, Robot," in which Isaac Asimov's positronic bots are cogs in a dysfunctional future totalitarian state, and " Anda's Game," a brilliant homage to Orson Scott Card's Ender's saga, in which a role-playing enthusiast finds herself immersed in a surprisingly real world of class warfare fought online by avatars of game players. Most "meat"-minded readers will find much to savor. Publishers Weekly
Contents: Printcrime -- When sysadmins ruled the earth -- Anda's game -- I, robot -- I row-boat -- After the siege -- About the author.
Embers - Marai , Sandor
Two old men, once the best of friends, meet after a 41-year break in their relationship. They dine together, taking the same places at the table that they had assumed on the last meal they shared, then sit beside each other in front of a dying fire, one of them nearly silent, the other one, his host, slowly and deliberately tracing the course of their dead friendship. This sensitive, long-considered elaboration of one man's lifelong grievance is as gripping as any adventure story and explains why Márai's forgotten 1942 masterpiece is being compared with the work of Thomas Mann. In some ways, Márai's work is more modern than Mann's. His brevity, simplicity, and succinct, unadorned lyricism may call to mind Latin American novelists like Gabriel García Márquez , or even Italo Calvino. It is the tone of magical realism, although Márai's work is only magical in the sense that he completely engages his reader, spinning a web of words as his wounded central character describes his betrayal and abandonment at the hands of his closest friend. Even the setting, an old castle, evokes dark fairy tales. The story of the rediscovery of Embers is as fascinating as the novel itself. A celebrated Hungarian novelist of the 1930s, Márai survived the war but was persecuted by the Communists after they came to power. His books were suppressed, even destroyed, and he was forced to flee his country in 1948. He died in San Diego in 1989, one year before the neglected Embers was finally reprinted in his native land. This reprint was discovered by the Italian writer and publisher Roberto Calasso , and the subsequent editions have become international bestsellers. All of Márai's novels are now slated for American publication. Amazon.com
The Beast - Myers, Walter Dean
Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon, 17, leaves Harlem, and his girl, Gabi, to spend his senior year at Wallingford Academy in Connecticut , with the hope that he will get into an Ivy League college. While he adjusts to prep-school life and navigates the racial and social divides of the haves and the want-to-haves, Gabi's life comes undone. Her mother is dying, her younger brother may be running with a gang, and her blind grandfather has come to stay. When Spoon comes home for Christmas, Gabi is different. She's thinner, certainly, and so is her spirit. Spoon discovers a needle in her room and "the beast," heroin, is uncovered. Gabi-a clear-eyed, sassy Dominicana who writes poetry and dreams of attending Columbia-explains that she has lost the road that once ran through her life to her future. Most of the first-person narrative takes place during the holiday break in Harlem , and Myers's descriptions of the streets and people-the bright, clean, working-class hope and the slate-gray bankruptcy of drugs and crime-are photographically authentic and dizzyingly musical. Spoon's observations are philosophical and precocious, but the story races along at the pace of his anxieties-about a future, with or without Gabi, and about his place in Harlem and in the world. The language is simple and clean; the plot unfolds seamlessly; and the characters emerge shaky, worldly wise, and cautiously optimistic. School Library Journal
Tudor series : Also new this month are the novels in Philippa Gregory's Tudor series , including the basis for the new film release, The Other Boleyn Girl . Although Gregory did not write the series in chronological order, if you would like to read them in their historical order, here it is, along with the subjects of each: The Constant Princess (Katherine of Aragon); The Other Boleyn Girl (Anne Boleyn); The Boleyn Inheritance (Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard); The Queen's Fool (Mary Tudor and Elizabeth 1) and The Virgin's Lover (Elizabeth I).
The Constant Princess - Gregory, Philippa
As youngest daughter to the Spanish monarchs and crusaders King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Catalina, princess of Wales and of Spain , was promised to the English Prince Arthur when she was three. She leaves Spain at 15 to fulfill her destiny as queen of England , where she finds true love with Arthur (after some initial sourness) as they plot the future of their kingdom together. Arthur dies young, however, leaving Catalina a widow and ineligible for the throne. Before his death, he extracts a promise from his wife to marry his younger brother Henry in order to become queen anyway, have children and rule as they had planned, a situation that can only be if Catalina denies that Arthur was ever her lover. Gregory's latest (after Earthly Joys ) compellingly dramatizes how Catalina uses her faith, her cunning and her utter belief in destiny to reclaim her rightful title. By alternating tight third-person narration with Catalina's unguarded thoughts and gripping dialogue, the author presents a thorough, sympathetic portrait of her heroine and her transformation into Queen Katherine. Gregory's skill for creating suspense pulls the reader along despite the historical novel's foregone conclusion. Publishers Weekly
The Other Boleyn Girl - Gregory, Philippa
Sisterly rivalry is the basis of this fresh, wonderfully vivid retelling of the story of Anne Boleyn. Anne, her sister Mary and their brother George are all brought to the king's court at a young age, as players in their uncle's plans to advance the family's fortunes. Mary, the sweet, blond sister, wins King Henry VIII's favor when she is barely 14 and already married to one of his courtiers. Their affair lasts several years, and she gives Henry a daughter and a son. But her dark, clever, scheming sister, Anne, insinuates herself into Henry's graces, styling herself as his adviser and confidant. Soon she displaces Mary as his lover and begins her machinations to rid him of his wife, Katherine of Aragon. This is only the beginning of the intrigue that Gregory so handily chronicles, capturing beautifully the mingled hate and love Anne, Mary and George ("kin and enemies all at once") feel for each other and the toll their family's ambition takes on them. Mary, the story's narrator, is the most sympathetic of the siblings, but even she is twisted by the demands of power and status. Anne, most tormented of all, is ruthless in her drive to become queen, and then to give Henry a male heir. Rather than settling for a picturesque rendering of court life, Gregory conveys its claustrophobic, all-consuming nature with consummate skill. The self-defeating folly of the quest for power lingers longest in the reader's mind. Publishers Weekly
The Boleyn Inheritance - Gregory, Philippa
Publishers Weekly Starred Review: Returning to the scene of The Other Boleyn Girl , historical powerhouse Gregory again brings the women of Henry VIII's court vividly to life. Among the cast, who alternately narrate: Henry's fourth wife, Bavarian-born Anne of Cleves; his fifth wife, English teenager Katherine Howard; and Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn), the jealous spouse whose testimony helped send her husband... and sister-in-law Anne Boleyn to their execution. Attended by Lady Rochford , 24-year-old Anne of Cleves endures a disastrous first encounter with the twice-her-age kingan occasion where Henry takes notice of Katherine Howard. Gregory beautifully explains Anne of Cleves's decision to stay in England after her divorce, and offers contemporary descriptions of Lady Rochford's madness. While Gregory renders Lady Rochford with great emotion, and Anne of Cleves with sympathy, her most captivating portrayal is Katherine, the clever yet naïve 16th-century adolescent counting her gowns and trinkets. Male characters are not nearly as endearing. Gregory's accounts of events are accurate enough to be persuasive, her characterizations modern enough to be convincing. Rich in intrigue and irony, this is a tale where readers will already know who was divorced, beheaded or survived, but will savor Gregory's sharp staging of how and why. Publishers Weekly
The Queen's Fool - Gregory, Philippa
A young woman caught in the rivalry between Queen Mary and her half sister, Elizabeth, must find her true destiny amid treason, poisonous rivalries, loss of faith, and unrequited love. It is winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee Spain with her father. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee. Her gift of "Sight," the ability to foresee the future, is priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court. Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward's protector, who brings her to court as a "holy fool" for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up in her own yearnings and desires. Teeming with vibrant period detail and peopled by characters seamlessly woven into the sweeping tapestry of history, The Queen's Fool is another rich and emotionally resonant gem from this wonderful storyteller. from the publisher
The Virgin's Lover - Gregory, Philippa
Bestseller Gregory captivates again with this expertly crafted historical about the beautiful young Virgin Queen, portrayed as a narcissistic, neurotic home-wrecker. As in her previous novels about Tudor England, Gregory amasses a wealth of colorful period detail to depict the shaky first days of Elizabeth I's reign. The year is 1558, an especially dangerous time for the nation: no bishop will coronate Henry VIII's Protestant daughter, the treasury is bankrupt, the army is unpaid and demoralized. Meanwhile, the French are occupying Scotland and threatening to install "that woman"Mary, Queen of Scotson the throne. Ignoring the matrimonial advice of pragmatic Secretary of State William Cecil, the 25-year-old Elizabeth persists in stringing along Europe's most eligible bachelors, including King Philip of Spain and the Hapsburg archduke Ferdinand. It's no secret why: she's fallen for her master of horse, Sir Robert Dudley, whose traitorous family history and marriage to the privately Catholic Amy make him an unsuitable consort. Gregory deftly depicts this love triangle as both larger than life and all too familiar; all three characters are sympathetic without being likable, particularly the arch-mistress Elizabeth, who pouts, throws tantrums, connives and betrays with queenly impunity. After a while the plot stagnates, as the lovers flaunt their emotions in the face of repetitious arguments from Amy, Cecil and various other scandalized members of the court. But readers addicted to Gregory's intelligent, well-researched tales of intrigue and romance will be enthralled, right down to the teasingly tragic ending. Publishers Weekly