NEW BOOKS

October 2007

NONFICTION

The American Civil War: A Hands-On History - Olsen, Christopher J.

In juxtaposing pithy narrative and end-of-chapter references to primary sources, this book offers a glimpse up the author's sleeve, at the process of history writing as well as of history making. Though many details of the Civil War have been omitted in this brief volume, the major characters, events and themes appear, accompanied by excerpts from letters, speeches, newspaper editorials and other supporting material that back Olsen's analysis and add texture. Lincoln 's Second Inaugural speech, his Gettysburg address, even Sullivan Ballou's sublimely heartbreaking letter to his wife are all here. There are also a few rarer nuggets: a mock menu highlighting the state of privation in besieged Vicksburg , for example, or the despicable Mississippi "Black Codes" during Reconstruction. Olsen, who teaches history at Indiana State University , has produced a tightly written book ideal for anyone looking for a quick introduction to one of the most important periods in American history. Publishers Weekly

 

Contents: Political sectionalism before 1850 -- Abolitionists, fugitive slaves, and the northern view of the south -- The proslavery arguments and sectional conflict -- The 1850s : free soil and the creation of a Republican majority -- The election of 1860, secession, and the Confederate States of America -- Fort Sumter and the beginning of the war -- Organization, strategy, and the first battle of Bull Run -- War on land and at sea in 1862 -- Families at war in 1861-1862 -- Military strategy and the war of 1812 : runaway slaves, the battle of Antietam, and the Emancipation Proclamation -- Union families, the peace movement, and northern politics in 1863 -- The war in 1863 : Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga -- European diplomacy, the Union blockade, and Confederate families at war in 1863 -- The war and Union politics in 1864 : Sherman, Grant, and Lincoln -- Confederate families at war in 1864-1865 -- 1865 : Emancipation, surrender, and assassination -- From presidential to congressional reconstruction : 1865 and 1866 -- From congressional reconstruction to redemption : 1867-1877 -- African Americans and the transition to freedom.

Making Globalization Work - Stiglitz , Joseph E.

Stiglitz's seminal Globalization and Its Discontents (2002) argued that globalization has not benefited as many people as it could, a failure attributable to structural flaws in international financial institutions as well as limited information and imperfect competition. With this selection, the Nobel Prize-winning economist suggests a host of solutions by which globalization can be "saved from its advocates" and made safe and worthwhile for the poor and rich alike. Each chapter examines, in some depth, an obstacle to equitable globalization (the burden of massive national debt, for example) and provides a set of possible solutions (a return to countercyclical lending and development of international bankruptcy laws, for example). Many of Stiglitz's proposals echo the familiar litanies of developing nations in the Doha round of international trade talks, but several, such as those drawing upon East Asia's experiments in contained progress, are innovative enough to warrant books of their own. Fairly accessible for a work of macroeconomics, this is a worthy counterpoint to Thomas Friedman's popular The World Is Flat (2005). – Booklist

 

Contents: Another world is possible -- The promise of development -- Making trade fair -- Patents, profits, and people -- Lifting the resource curse -- Saving the planet -- The multinational corporation -- The burden of debt -- Reforming the global reserve system -- Democratizing globalization.

Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back - Simon, Michele

Simon, a health policy expert and law professor, skewers the food industry for undermining the health of Americans with "nutrient deficient factory made pseudofoods ." In lawyerly fashion, she explains the ABCs of the business imperative of "Big Food" (Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods and McDonald's, among many others): make short-term profit without regard to the product's nutritional value or societal effects. Permissible tactics, she says, include false advertising, sham "healthy" food initiatives and co-opting the government, press and academia. Simon also argues that food-industry advocates use front groups to attack critics and spread misinformation about nutritional needs. Simon also chastises her fellow food activists for applauding all "steps in the right direction," no matter how inadequate; the press for its passive publication of scientifically dubious industry statements; and the government for abandoning effective regulation of the food industry. Her case made, Simon offers a host of suggestions and a manual-like set of directions to parents and other food activists on how to work with legislatures, school boards and the media to create a "just food system" that is "sustainable, affordable, accessible, and convenient." – Publishers Weekly

 

Contents: Anatomy of a food corporation: why we can't trust them -- Personal responsibility, energy balance, and other distractions -- Freedom from choice: distortions of all-American values -- Nutriwashing fast food -- Nutriwashing processed foods -- "Responsible marketing" to kids -- Exposing government complicity -- Co-opting the science -- Eating in the dark: nutrition labeling in restaurants -- Battling big food in schools -- Regulating junk food marketing to children -- Scapegoating the lawyers -- The bigger picture -- App.1. Anti-glossary -- App.2. Guide to industry groups and spin doctoring -- App.3. Myth vs. reality: nutrition labeling at fast-food and other chain restaurants -- App.4. Taking back our schools -- App.5. Protect your legal rights -- App.6. Resources for positive change.

The Arts in Latin America , 1492-1820 - Rishel , Joseph J.

Even though art is the distillate of history and the embodiment of cultural exchange, the art rooted in the Iberian conquest and colonization of Latin America has received precious little consideration. This omission is now spectacularly redressed in this prodigious volume, a comprehensive and complex undertaking involving a remarkable team of international scholars. More than 450 little-known works of art spanning three centuries represent the creative output of 10 Central and South American countries, Cuba , the Dominican Republic , and Puerto Rico . Accompanied by trailblazing essays that address everything from city planning and architecture to mysticism, politics, and everyday life are decorative arts, textiles, silver, and furniture, as well as paintings and sculpture, vibrant, colorful, and lavishly detailed works shaped by indigenous traditions as well as the aesthetics and beliefs of Spain and Portugal, Africa and Asia. Given that religious conversion was integral to colonization, Christianity is the dominant theme, albeit passionately reimagined in fresh and diverse artistic visions. Eye-opening on many fronts, this magnificent book enhances understanding of a still sharply relevant chapter in global history. – Booklist

 

Contents: Art in colonial Latin America: a brief critical review / Joseph J. Rishel -- Colonial foundations: points of contact and compatibility / Elizabeth Hill Boone and Thomas B.F. Cummins -- Spanish American colonial city: its origins, development, and functions / Alfonso Ortiz Crespo -- Black hand: notes on the African presence in the visual arts of Brazil and the Caribbean / Edward J. Sullivan -- Asia in the arts of colonial Latin America / Gauvin Alexander Bailey -- Parallel course of Latin American and European art in the viceregal era / Marcus Burke -- Artisans and artists in Ibero -America from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century / M. Concepción García Sáiz -- Decorative arts in Latin America, 1492-1820 / Mitchell A. Codding -- Textiles in colonial Latin America / Dilys E. Blum -- Dressing colonial, dressing diaspora / Gridley McKim -Smith -- Silver and silverwork, wealth and art in viceregal America / Cristina Esteras Martín -- Art of silver in colonial Brazil / Nuno Senos -- Exotic devotion: sculpture in viceregal America and Brazil, 1520-1820 / Marjorie Trusted -- Changing faces: the re-emergence of a sacred landscape in colonial Mexico and Peru / Adrian Locke -- Painting in colonial Latin America / Clara Bargellini -- Stars in the sea of the church: the Indian in eighteenth-century new Spanish painting / Ilona Katzew -- Observations on the origin, development, and manufacture of Latin American furniture / Jorge F. Rivas P.

The Changing Face of Antisemitism : From Ancient Times to the Present Day - Laqueur , Walter

As anti-Semitism seems on the upsurge in Europe and the Islamic world, this compact volume serves as a timely reminder that what has been called "the longest hatred" remains a potent force. Laqueur , director of the Wiener Library in London , the leading institute for the study of anti-Semitism, traces the history of anti-Semitism (or its precursor, anti-Judaism) from the classical period to its new manifestations in our present age. He traces the evolution of this hatred from a xenophobic distrust in the pre-Christian era to a rage in the medieval Christian world. In the nineteenth century, it morphed into racial hatred, forming the basis of twentieth-century genocide. But it is Laqueur's analysis of anti-Semitism today that gives the work special value. Racial anti-Semitism is today largely confined to extreme right-wingers. However, on the left of the political spectrum, extreme hostility toward the State of Israel is common. This is a disturbing but important work likely to spur further debate. – Booklist

 

Contents: The new antisemitism -- Interpretations of antisemitism -- Ancient and medieval anti-Judaism -- Enlightenment and after -- Racialism and Jewish conspiracies -- Towards the Holocaust -- Contemporary antisemitism -- Assimilation and its discontents -- Antisemitism and the left -- Antisemitism and the Muslim world.

Charlemagne - Wilson, Derek

A fascinating introduction to the ruler and his world. Several features help readers navigate this complicated era. A genealogy of the Carolingian dynasty helps keep track of Charlemagne's large family. A time line from his birth (742) to the division of his empire (843) lists significant events in Francia , the Byzantine Empire , Western Christendom, and the Islamic world. Nine maps trace the changes in the borders of the empires and the routes of invaders, and 16 pages of color pictures show how legends about Charlemagne captured the attention of artists and craftsmen through the ages. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources, Wilson 's account reads like an adventure story. The author comments on the reliability of his sources even as he faithfully quotes them. Charlemagne's intellectual pursuits, his ideas about faith, and his visions for his empires are also covered. Wilson shows how Charlemagne's image changed after his death and over the centuries. Sometimes, he was revered as the world's greatest warrior; at other times, as a saint or a philosopher king. Each age re-created him in a new light, and Wilson demonstrates how the empire he built led to the development of the European identity. – School Library Journal

Fountainhead: An American Novel - Den Uyl , Douglas J.

Offers a lively critical reading of Rand 's classic and seeks to establish her as a serious philosophical writer. Uyl argues that Objectivism is fundamentally a Socratic ideal and examines the philosophical bases of the novel, paying particular attention to how each central character represents a particular ideal or failing. He observes that with its emphasis on individualism and architecture, the novel stands as a symbol of American self-determination and Howard Roark the embodiment of the American ideal. – The Objectivism Store

The Little Book of Plagiarism - Posner, Richard A.

Not all plagiarized authors will agree with Posner's conclusion that plagiarism is an "embarrassingly second-rate" offense, "its practitioners... pathetic," and that plagiarism should remain an ethical rather than a legal offense, punished by public shaming. But in a fascinating historical tour of the subject, he dismisses the idea that good art must be totally original. Shakespeare stole the plot of Romeo and Juliet , and Manet's Olympia is a reworking of Titian's Venus d'Urbino — both examples of what Posner calls "creative imitation." But focusing on Kaavya Viswanathan novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life , Posner ( Uncertain Shield ), a judge on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and expert on intellectual property, says this was a particularly modern, market-driven form of plagiarism: Viswanathan was attempting to compete against Megan McCafferty in the chick lit market by appropriating her competitor's own words. Posner focuses a lot on student plagiarism and seems to think all students should be considered suspect; schools that don't subscribe to detection software like Turnitin , he says, are "naïve." Indeed, he believes publishers should, and will, begin to use such programs, concluding, optimistically, "We may be entering the twilight of plagiarism." Posner briefly brings politics into this important and timely discussion, accusing the so-called academic left of being "soft on plagiarism." – Publishers Weekly

The United States of Arugula : The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution - Kamp , David

New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year. Amazingly enough, just twenty years ago eating sushi was a daring novelty and many Americans had never even heard of salsa. Today, we don't bat an eye at a construction worker dipping a croissant into robust specialty coffee, city dwellers buying just-picked farmstand produce, or suburbanites stocking up on artisanal cheeses and extra virgin oils at supermarkets. The United States of Arugula is a rollicking, revealing stew of culinary innovation, food politics, and kitchen confidences chronicling how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive—and became the cultural success story of our era. The wickedly entertaining, hunger-inducing, behind-the-scenes story of the revolution in American food that has made exotic ingredients, celebrity chefs, rarefied cooking tools, and destination restaurants familiar aspects of our everyday lives. - from the publisher

 

Contents: Preface -- Introduction – America's Dysfunctional Relationship with Good Food -- Liberté , Egalité , Soulé -- The Food Establishment, Part I -- The Food Establishment, Part II -- Radical Notions -- Righteous and Crunchy -- The New Sun-Dried Lifestyle -- California Nouvelle -- Land of the Free-Range -- All Over the Map -- The Magic of Thinking Big -- Toward a McSustainable Future.

 

A Natural History of the Senses - Ackerman, Diane

"One of the real tests of writers," notes Ackerman in this liveliest of nature books, "is how well they write about smells. If they can't describe the scent of sanctity in a church, can you trust them to describe the suburbs of the heart?" Ackerman passes the test, writing with ease and fluency about the five senses. Did you know that bat guano smells like stale Wheat Thins? That Bach's music can quell anger around the world? That the leaves that shimmer so beautifully in fall have "no adaptive purpose"? Ackerman does, and she guides us through questions of sensation with an eye for the amusingly arcane reference and just the right phrase. – Amazon.com. From another review: An exciting multidiscipline book that crosses the lines of literature, history, anthropology, music, psychology, sociology, and philosophy and that flows with grace and reason. The theme is expressed in such a way as to draw readers into experiential thought and, therefore, impacts heavily upon the way one looks at the issue of sensing and its role for humanity. It is sure to raise readers' consciousness level while providing researched and analyzed information on this topic. In addition, the language is clear and concise, which makes the book valuable to a large cross section of readers. The generous use of cultural and historical examples adds to the readability. – School Library Journal

Contents: INTRODUCTION: In every Sense – SMELL -- The Mute Sense - A Map of Smell - Of Violets and Neurons - The Shape of Smell - Buckets of Light - The Winter Palace of Monarchs - The Oceans inside us - Notions and Nations of sweat - The Personality of Smell - Pheromones - Noses - Sneezing - Smell as Camouflage - Roses - The fallen Angel - Anosmia - Prodigies of Smell - A Famous Nose - An Offering to the Gods - Cleopatra's Heirs – TOUCH -- The Feeling Bubble - Speaking of Touch - First Touches - What is a Touch? - The Code Senders - Hair - The Inner climate - The Skin Has Eyes- Adventures in the Touch Dome- Animals- Tattoos - Pain - Easing Pain- The Point of Pain - Kissing- The Hand - Professional Touchers - Taboos - Subliminal Touch -- TASTE -- The Social Sense - Food and Sexe - The Omnivore's Picnic - of Cannibalism and sacred Cows - The Bloom of a Taste Bud - The Ultimate Dinner Party- Macabre Meals - The Heart of Craving - The Psychopharmacology of Chocolate - In Praise of Vanilla - The truth about Truffles - Ginger, and other Medicines - How to make Moose soup in a Hole in the Ground, or Dine in Space - ET FUGU, BRUTE? Food as Thrill-seeking - Beauty and the Beasts -- HEARING -- The Hearing Heart - Phantoms and Drapes - Jaguar of Sweet Laughter - Loud Noises - The Limits of Hearing, The Power of Sound - Deafness - Animals - Quicksand and Whale Songs - The Violin Remembers - Music and Emotion - Is music a Language? - Measure for Measure - Cathedrals in Sound - Earth Calling – VISION -- The Beholder's Eye - How to Watch the Sky - Light - Color - Why Leaves turn Color in the Fall - Animals - The Painter's Eye - The Face of Beauty - Watching a Night Launch of the Space shuttle - The Force of an Image: Ring Cycle - The round walls of Home – SYNESTHESIA -- Fantasia - Courting The Muse – POSTSCRIPT.

Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America - Behr, Edward

Behr chronicles one of the grand themes of 1920s America --the national experiment in teetotalism, with its concomitant speakeasies, flappers, and gang wars--in rollicking style. He describes, maybe even celebrates, such incredible characters as Cincinnati 's George Remus , Chicago 's Al Capone, and the whole nation's Warren Harding as he proceeds from the ideas that led to the "great experiment" to the ensuing hypocrisy and disillusionment to the era's close with repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933. Yet he gives more than the usual gangsters-and-gats treatment of the era, showing how great social movements and forces converged and competed for the country's soul. Finally, he spells out prohibition's lasting effects memorably, in the process increasing understanding of American culture then and now. Some see privacy and civil liberties in the U.S. increasingly under attack again, so a history of an earlier day when Henry Ford had his workers spied on to see whether they were drinkers seems timely, indeed. – Booklist

The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Love, Race, and War in the Nineteenth Century - Hodes , Martha

Award-winning historian Martha Hodes brings us into the extraordinary world of Eunice Connolly. Born white and poor in New England, Eunice moved from countryside to factory city, worked in the mills, then followed her husband to the Deep South . When the Civil War came, Eunice's brothers joined the Union army while her husband fought and died for the Confederacy. Back in New England , a widow and the mother of two, Eunice barely got by as a washerwoman, struggling with crushing depression. Four years later, she fell in love with a black sea captain, married him, and moved to his home in the West Indies . Following every lead in a collection of 500 family letters, Hodes traced Eunice's footsteps and met descendants along the way. This story of misfortune and defiance takes up grand themes of American history—opportunity and racism, war and freedom—and illuminates the lives of ordinary people in the past. – from the publisher

 

Contents: A story and a history -- A carpenter's wife -- Yankee in the deep South -- Servant and washerwoman -- From widow to bride -- The sea captain's wife -- Hurricane -- Searching for Eunice.

Simon Bolivar: A Life - Lynch, John

Bolivar is often referred to as the George Washington of South America, but that designation can be considered somewhat of a slight, for Bolivar was an original, not an imitator, a singular man who understood the cultural, historical, and physical differences between liberating the Spanish colonies of South America and the conditions faced by Washington in the English colonies of North America. This definitive biography, based on fresh and copious research, achieves a complete picture of Bolivar's thinking, actions, and impact. Lynch, professor of Latin American history at the University of London, in his all-inclusive approach to estimating the man brings to the fore two aspects of Bolivar's life and career that may come as a surprise to readers with little background: his extensive visits to Europe (and what ideas he picked up there) and the fact that his military campaigns (presented in considerable detail) to free South America represented not a clean trajectory of success but, rather, a series of setbacks as well as successes. In all, a major biography. – Booklist

 

Contents: Out of a Spanish colony -- Lessons from the Age of Reason -- Creole revolution -- War to the death -- Touchstone of the revolution -- New strategy, new front -- Society according to Bolívar -- War and love in the Andes -- The man of problems -- The magic of his prestige -- Journey of disillusion -- The legacy.

God Vs . the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law - Hamilton, Marci A.

The First Amendment is stirring second thoughts among scholars wary of the social and legal consequences of religious liberty. Hamilton investigates numerous contentious religious issues-from headline cases in which Catholic clergy have sought clerical immunity for alleged acts of child abuse to obscure episodes in which Sikh parents have protested against school policies preventing sons from carrying ceremonial knives. But all of the various episodes Hamilton chronicles ultimately underscore one simple thesis: Americans' right to believe whatever religious doctrines they choose deserves absolute protection; Americans' right to act on religious belief should end whenever such actions harm or endanger others. It will disturb some readers that Hamilton invokes her largely negative view of American religionists as justification for giving secular politicians expansive powers to curb religious excesses, but as religious belief continues to diversify in multicultural America , the urgency of the issues here raised guarantees Hamilton many interested readers. – Booklist

 

Contents: The problem -- Children -- Marriage -- Religious land use and residential neighborhoods -- Schools -- The prisons and the military -- Discrimination -- Boerne v. Flares : the case that fully restored the rule of law -- The decline of the special treatment of religious entities and the rise of the no-harm rule -- The path to the public good.

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany - Buford, Bill

Buford's book starts smartly—he first met dynamic celebrity chef Mario Batali at a dinner party at his own home, where Batali sparkled until 3 a.m.—and continues at a fast clip as he conceives the notion of becoming Batali's "kitchen slave." Buford wanted to profile Batali for the New Yorker but also wanted to learn about cooking; he would be a "journalist-tourist" in the boot camp of a "kitchen genius." His subject became an obsession, and over the next three years, he investigated a rich menu of subjects: what makes a three-star restaurant work; what it takes to be a TV food star; the techniques and history of Italian cooking, not just from library research but also from repeated trips to Italy to visit Batali's relatives. Terrific culinary writing tracks Buford's successive passions for short ribs, polenta, tortellini and then the butcher's art, Italian-style, of pig and cow. Along the way, to his own surprise, Buford found that he had become a kitchen insider. This is a wonderfully detailed and highly amusing book. – Publishers Weekly

In the Mind's Eye: Visual Thinkers, Gifted People with Dyslexia and Other Learning Difficulties, Computer Images and the Ironies of Creativity - West, Thomas G.

In this updated edition to his fascinating exploration of the "ironies of creativity," Thomas West furthers his ground-breaking research on how some innovations in computer visualization are making work and education more favorable to visual thinkers. In the Mind's Eye exposes many popular myths about conventional intelligence by examining the role of visual-spatial strengths and verbal weaknesses in the lives of eleven gifted individuals, including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, and others. West cites research in neuroscience that shows a link between visual talents and verbal difficulties, and he believes that new developments in computer technology herald a significant shift toward the increased use of visual approaches throughout the economy. These changes may be as revolutionary as the technology of the book, which translated ideas into written words. The use of visualization and virtual reality computer displays has already begun to move out of the world of science into that of business, representing marketing trends through moving pictures rather than tiresome charts and tables of numbers. According to West, creative visual thinkers (many of whom have had difficulty with verbal skills), aided by computers, will be at the forefront of innovation in a dramatically changing society. – from the publisher

Contents: Preface to the Updated Edition -- Preface -- Slow Words, Quick Images: An Overview -- Dyslexia and Learning Difficulties from the Inside -- Constellations of Traits, Some Neurological Perspectives -- Profiles, Part 1: Faraday, Maxwell, and Einstein -- Profiles, Part 2: Dodgson, Poincare, Edison, Tesla, and da Vinci -- Profiles, Part 3: Churchill, Patton, and Yeats -- Speech and Nonverbal Thought -- Patterns in Creativity -- Images, Computers, and Mathematics -- Patterns, Implications, Possibilities -- Epilogue -- Appendices -- Symptomatology -- Sources of Information -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Additional Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Copyright Acknowledgments -- Index.

In the Name of the Father: Washington 's Legacy, Slavery, and the Making of a Nation - Furstenberg, Francois

How were the ideals that were articulated in America 's founding documents—freedom, democracy and government based on the consent of the governed—disseminated to the nation? That question animates this extraordinary new study by Furstenberg, an assistant professor of history at the Université de Montréal, which shows how popular print—broadsides, newspaper columns, schoolbooks, sermons—taught citizens "liberal and republican values," and ultimately "create[d] a nation." Thus Furstenberg devotes a chapter to Mason Weems's bestselling early biography of Washington : in addition to originating the famous cherry tree story, Weems taught a generation of Americans subtle stories about nationalism, virtue and piety. Indeed, Washington —or, rather, images of Washington —became central to American political education. In reading Washington 's farewell address aloud to the family when it was reprinted, year after year, in the local newspaper, or in hanging his portrait on the dining room wall, Americans were expressing their consent to be governed by the government Washington presided over. In the deluge of founding father books, Furstenberg's blend of high-brow intellectual history and popular culture studies stands out; rather than lionize Washington , it advances an important argument about his role in shaping American political identity. – Publishers Weekly

 

Contents: What the nation was up against -- The farewell -- The threats: geographical, political, international -- Consent, slavery, and the problem of U.S. nationalism -- 1. The apotheosis of George Washington -- Washington dies -- The nation's uncertain future -- Civic texts: creating a new future -- Partisanship -- Nationalism and religion -- Resignation, gratitude, and consent -- 2. Washington 's family: slavery and the nation -- George's death and Martha's predicament -- Slavery and the national family -- Washington as abolitionist -- Washington and paternalism -- Toward a consenting republic? -- 3. Mason Locke Weems: spreading the American gospel -- Clergyman to evangelical bookseller: "true philanthropist and prudent speculator" -- Weems and antipartisanship -- Weem's Washington : a primer -- An "ad captandum " book -- Discriminating the " populi " -- Selling Marshall's biography: Weems and civic texts -- 4. Civic texts for slave and free: inventing the autonomous American -- Schoolbooks ad civic texts: the hidden bestsellers of early American literature -- From the Columbian orator to the English reader: the making of the autonomous individual -- Slavery and reading: the specter of uncontrolled slaves -- Civic texts for slaves, self-control, and the inculcation of slave autonomy -- 5. Slavery and the American individual -- Revolution, resistance, and autonomy -- Fit to be free -- The extended legacy of civic texts.

Dream Weaver: One Boy's Journey through the Landscape of Reality - Bowen, Jack

The hero of The Dream Weaver , young Ian Pinkle , encounters a world full of the unknown. With the help of a mentor and a friend or two, he sheds light on some of life's most difficult questions: How do we determine morality? What is the meaning of life? Does God exist? How can we determine Truth? Fairness? What are the mind and soul like? Ian--in his playful, curious manner--addresses these questions in a way that lets readers develop their own answers, and in doing so, he guides the readers through a history of philosophical thought in a clever, conversational and even adventurous style. This allows readers to think for themselves, ask questions themselves--and to be philosophers themselves. Alongside Ian's story are annotations that give an opportunity to realize the connections with Ian's dilemmas and insights to some of the most renowned thinkers throughout history. Whether Ian is creating universes to explore the apparent paradoxical issues of evil, or playfully addressing (and solving!) the chicken-or-the-egg question, he will provide all readers with both " a ha !" moments and moments that challenge their most firmly rooted foundations. And all the while, there's a nice little surprise waiting at the end. – from the publisher

Enlightening the World: Encyclopedie , The Book That Changed the Course of History - Blom , Philipp

In the dark corners of Paris 's bohemian cafes, salons and theaters, some of the greatest European thinkers of the 18th century congregated, and it was here that the Encyclopédie was born. The most enormous publishing effort of the day, the Encyclopédie would be neither the first of its kind nor ultimately the largest. But in this meticulously researched historical narrative, journalist and historian Blom (To Have and to Hold) argues that the Encyclopédie represents a turning point in the tide of intellectual history and is the last veritable record of Europe's ideas, traditions, politics, economics, tools and restrictions before the French Revolution. The bulk of Blom's narrative is driven by the drama that occurred among the work's many contributors and between them and the society in which they lived. The writers, many of whom stood for free thought and secularism, struggled with censorship, exile and even prison. And, as is revealed here through epistolary exchanges, on a personal level, the famed band of philosophes -including Diderot, D'Alembert , Voltaire, Grimm and Rousseau-were divided by mistresses, money, manipulation and, most of all, ego. Blom takes the reader through these events and through the Encyclopédie itself in a thorough and engaging way, and he makes a strong case for the work's importance in shaping philosophy and political thought for years to come. This book is a welcome read for European historians and for those interested in learning about one of the foremost works of the Enlightenment. – Publishers Weekly

The Perfect Stage Crew: The Compleat Technical Guide for High School, College, and Community Theater - Kaluta , John

Here is an indispensable, nuts-and-bolts guide to putting on a stunning, low-budget show in less than 40 days! The Perfect Stage Crew explains the pitfalls to avoid and provides solutions to the most common as well as most complex stage performance problems. Readers without Broadway-size budgets and resources will learn the low-cost, low-tech approaches to painting scenery, building sets, hanging lights, setting cues, and operating sound. They'll also find crucial guidance for generating publicity, preparing tickets, technical rehearsals, and more. – from the publisher

 

Contents: Preface: It's All about the Show. . . -- Ready -- Get Set -- Scene Painting Workshop -- Build the Thing Already -- Fix the Lights -- Fix the Sound -- Publicity -- Rehearsals, and Life -- Working Backstage -- Patching the Lights -- More on Sound -- Setting Cues -- The Week Before The Show -- Curtain Up -- Home, the Show's Over -- Acknowledgements -- Appendixes.

India : Life, Myth, and Art - Ram-Prasad, Chakravarthi

India 's cultural legacy is extraordinarily rich and diverse, as well as profoundly influential. This is the cradle of two of the world's greatest religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) and the holy language of Sanskrit, as well as the home of Sikhism and Jainism. For centuries India 's beliefs and myths have fascinated Westerners, including spiritual pilgrims who find themselves drawn to the special atmosphere of its holy places. India is the indispensable illustrated guide to the essential features of this life-enriching heritage of wisdom and beauty. As well as the religions and their sacred texts, ceremonies, art, and architecture, the scope of the book embraces such major themes as the impact of Islam; profound philosophical insights about time and the cosmos; and important innovations in technology, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. There are illustrated features on key aspects of Indian belief and practice, such as the linga and the yoni, the lotus, the chakras, and the fearsome goddess Kali. Sacred sites covered include the Mughal mausoleum of the Taj Mahal and the great Buddhist stupa at Sanchi . From the civilizations that grew up along the Indus river more than 4,000 years ago to the dawn of European imperialism, India traces the rise and fall of faiths, empires, and dynasties, giving us a multi-faceted portrait of a country that, because of its far-reaching cultural influence, has rightly been called “the mother of us all”. – from the publisher

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave - Douglass, Frederick

No book except perhaps Uncle Tom's Cabin had as powerful an impact on the abolitionist movement as Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass . But while Stowe wrote about imaginary characters, Douglass's book is a record of his own remarkable life. Born a slave in 1818 on a plantation in Maryland , Douglass taught himself to read and write. In 1845, seven years after escaping to the North, he published Narrative , the first of three autobiographies. This book calmly but dramatically recounts the horrors and the accomplishments of his early years—the daily, casual brutality of the white masters; his painful efforts to educate himself; his decision to find freedom or die; and his harrowing but successful escape. An astonishing orator and a skillful writer, Douglass became a newspaper editor, a political activist, and an eloquent spokesperson for the civil rights of African Americans. He lived through the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the beginning of segregation. He was celebrated internationally as the leading black intellectual of his day, and his story still resonates in ours. – from the publisher

Great Feuds in History: Ten Struggles that Shaped the World - Evans, Colin

Ever since Cain and Abel, feuds between the mighty and the famous have exercised a powerful hold on the public imagination. From the backwoods sniping of the Hatfields versus the Mc.Coys to the backhanded tactics of J.Edgar Hoover against Martin Luther King Jr., these ruthless, single-minded, and sometimes murderous personal battles have inflamed nations, destroyed lives, and altered the course of history. In Great Feuds in History, bestselling author Colin Evans puts us in the middle of ten of history's most significant struggles- high-stakes personal conflicts that had a lasting impact on the societies around them and on the generations that followed. Evans offers us an in-depth look at the personalities involved in the conflicts and the behind-the-scenes circumstances that caused these rivalries to take hold and fester. He asks, for instance, what was at the heart of the bitter, years-long feud between Queen Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots? Was it a religious battle between the Protestant monarch and Mary's pious Catholicism, as on the surface it seemed- or something more personal between the ambitious Virgin Queen and her wild and sexually impetuous counterpart? Evans takes us to colonial America to find out how two of the new nation's most intelligent and influential founding fathers--Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton-wound up dueling to the fatally flawed Trotsky. Vividly re-creating the drama of these clashes , . Great Feuds in History discloses the darker side of history's grandest figures and the compulsions that drove them with such single-minded fury-sometimes to the point of destruction. Spanning five hundred years of political rivalry, spiritual conflict, and ancestral discord, here are ten fascinating true tales of ambition, jealousy, fear, and pride that are as gripping and meaningful today as they were in their own turbulent times. – from the publisher

 

Contents: Elizabeth I versus Mary -- Parliament versus Charles I -- Burr versus Hamilton -- Hatfields versus McCoys -- Stalin versus Trotsky -- Amundsen versus Scott -- Duchess of Windsor versus Queen Mother -- Montgomery versus Patton -- Johnson versus Kennedy -- Hoover versus King.

Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects - Kolln , Martha

Most writers, even very good ones, would probably admit to a lack of knowledge of and confidence regarding grammar. Many can write good sentences; but shouldn't they be able to discuss them, thinking about alternatives? And many can punctuate their sentences; but shouldn't they, too, be able to explain why? The place in the writing process where a knowledge of grammar often makes the biggest difference is in the revision process. This book therefore provides its readers with the tools to have more confidence in their writing, to have the ability to talk about why they made the writing choices they did, and to see the versatility, beauty and vast possibilities of language. Presenting grammar as a rhetorical tool, this book avoids the "do's and don'ts" so long associated with grammar. It reveals to readers the system of grammar they already know subconsciously, encouraging them to use that knowledge to understand their choices as writers. In addition to providing key strategies for revision, the book presents systematic discussions of audience expectation, sentence rhythm and cohesion, subordination and coordination, punctuation, modifiers, diction, and other principles. Writers, teachers, and anyone who writes in general. – from the publisher

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 - Bloom, Harold, editor

Contents: Introduction -- Biographical Sketch -- The Story Behind the Story -- List of Characters -- Summary and Analysis -- Critical Views -- Literary and Biblical Allusions / Peter Sisario -- Themes in the Novel / Wayne L. Johnson -- Reverie / William F. Touponce -- Fahrenheit 451 as Social Criticism / David Mogen -- Fahrenheit 451 as a Cold War Novel / Kevin Hoskinson -- Stylistic Analysis / Robin Anne Reid -- The Writing of the Novel / Sam Weller -- Early Influences / Ray Bradbury -- Works by Ray Bradbury -- Annotated Bibliography -- Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Index.

 

Japanese Art: Masterpieces in Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture - Vecchia , Stefano

This magnificently illustrated book presents a panoramic view of Japanese art and culture, from its origins up through modern times, and offers special insight into the connection between Japanese art and the Western world. It examines the development of Japanese civilization through history, touching on its philosophical and religious foundations, and explores characteristic forms of Japanese architecture, sculpture, painting, and the delicate art of ceramics. In addition, Japanese Art offers special insight into quintessential Japanese forms of art such as calligraphy, the tea ceremony, lacquerware , and garden architecture, and includes an exploration of the small portable masterpieces so valued by collectors. On a broader level, this volume is a fundamental introduction to the complex reality of a country so near yet so far from its past. Japan presents a range of sensations that absorb and stun; the silent forests, the temples, the refined excellence of the arts and the artisanship. Nature has always played a dominant role in the life of the Japanese. It has represented both the human and the divine and has profoundly affected its religion, philosophy, literature and, of course, art. Today, changes in traditions are typical of this country, which seems to be aggressively modern and archaic at the same time. This is especially true of the many artistic expressions. For this reason, Japan 's influence on Western art during the 1970s is even more astonishing: Japanese painting, calligraphy, architecture, graphics and ceramics inspired many American and European artists with a desire for exotica and renewal, while Japanese artists enthusiastically embraced the international theories and movements. Japanese Art takes the reader on a stunning visual journey through Japan 's greatest artistic creations both past and present. – from the publisher

Contents: 1. The land, the people, the gods. The religious inspiration ; A complex history ; Japan meets the West -- 2. Architecture. Buddhist : The Horyu monastery of Nara ; Shinto : The Ise shrine ; Noble dwellings and defensive structures : Himeji castle ; The Japanese house ; A fruitful exchange -- 3. Sculpture. The reflection of the continent ; Under the sign of Buddha : the statue of Ganjin the monk ; Apogee of an art : Masks of ¯No theater ; Under the sign of eclecticism : Netsuke -- 4. The great fragile art of ceramics. The earliest history ; One art, many schools : the work of Ogata Kenzan ; Porcelain, the noble art ; A living tradition -- 5. All the colors of the rising sun. Art for faith and man ; The search for a Japanese style ; The disenchanted universe of Zen : Vocabulary of Japanese painting. Subjects of Japanese painting ; Reflections of a changing society ; New uncertain horizons : some characteristics of Japanese painting -- 6. The prints of the floating world. The technique of four masters. The artists. Materials ; Sold on the streets, revered in the West ; A secular journey through changes ; Thirty-six works in the shadow of Fuju ; A road between art and history ; The man from Genoa who painted Japan -- 7. Many paths to a unique culture. Calligraphy ; Single and multiple written languages : the calligrapher's instruments ; The path of introspection : tea ; The site of the ceremony : the instruments ; Lacquer : the irrestible resin ; A valuable product ; The garden : a small universe ; Tsukiyama ; Karesansui : Ryoan-ji : the universe in a walled garden ; Chaniwa ; The art of dressing ; Inro , a miniature art ; Weapons : the art of war ; Tsuba : the guard -- Chronology -- Bibliography.

The Crucible - Miller, Arthur

Based on historical people and real events, Arthur Miller's play uses the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence unleashed by the rumors of witchcraft as a powerful parable about McCarthyism.

  MEDIA

Farther Than the Eye Can See - DVD

This is the 45-minute educational edition, edited for language. “Blind climber Erik Weihenmayer and his team's highly successful ascent of Mount Everest . Directed by award-winning filmmaker Michael Brown of Serac Adventure Films, Farther Than the Eye Can See is an intimate look inside what Time magazine called the most successful Mount Everest expedition ever. This film beautifully captures the emotion, humor and drama of Erik's historic ascent as well as four other remarkable ‘firsts' on Mount Everest . Farther Than the Eye Can See has won 19 International Film Festival awards, was nominated for two Emmy's, and was ranked by Men's Journal as one of the top twenty adventure DVDs of all time.” – from the producer

Key Constitutional Concepts - DVD

This documentary from the Annenberg Foundation Trust begins by introducing the Constitution and why it was created. It then examines key Constitutional concepts -- separation of powers and individual rights -- by focusing on two landmark cases: Youngstown v. Sawyer, a challenge to President Truman's decision to put the steel mills under government control, and Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the Supreme Court establishes the right to be represented by an attorney. Each segment runs about 20 minutes.

 

Part 1. Creating a constitution -- Part 2. One man changes the Constitution, Gideon v. Wainwright -- Part 3. Checks and balances, Youngstown v. Sawyer.

Our Constitution: A Conversation - DVD

United States Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer talk about the Constitution with high school students and discuss why we have and need a constitution, what federalism is, how implicit and explicit rights are defined, and how separation of powers ensures that no one branch of government obtains too much power. Runs about 30 minutes.   Contents: Introduction -- Teaching the Constitution -- Why have a constitution? -- Helping to solve problems -- The power of precedent -- Moral values/Decision-making -- Separation of powers -- Relevance today -- Federalism -- Individual liberty vs. security -- Most influential cases -- Court decision making -- Conclusion

 

Mandate: The President and the People - DVD

From George Washington to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, examines the relationship between the presidency, mass media, and public opinion. Runs about 35 minutes.

 

Part 1: The founding fathers through President Jackson -- Part 2: President Lincoln and the Civil War -- Part 3: President Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal.

Dining in France - VHS

Have you ever wondered why...the French dine with both hands resting on the table ?... don't offer chrysanthemums as a gift?...Have you ever wondered what the French may eat...at a BBQ?...at Sunday lunch?...when entertaining a guest? How they shop for food, hold a fork and knife, or slice camembert and brie? This 1994 video was shot on location in the sidewalk cafes of Paris , in a village near St. Etienne in Southern France , and at the actual French homes of some real French people. Some of the information presented is based on a reference book about French table manners. The rest of the video shows documentary style how the French prepare a meal and how they actually eat. Included in the video are a French Barbecue, a French Sunday lunch and a French formal dinner. There is also a segment about the sidewalk cafes of Paris and their colorful literary history. Finally, there is a short French cooking show at the end which demonstrates how to prepare a French meal. The video also comes with a printed booklet of French recipes that you can prepare for yourself. – from the producer

Searching for the Roots of 9/11 - DVD

The winner of three Pulitzer Prizes, Thomas L. Friedman hosts this one-hour documentary, originally shown as part of the Discovery Channel's monthly Spotlight anthology. In his efforts to understand why 19 young Muslims would willingly sacrifice their lives to destroy the World Trade Center and seriously damage the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Friedman explores not only the events leading up to this unspeakable act of terrorism, but also the reason why this act was curiously accepted as par for the course by many otherwise rational and non-violent members of the Muslim community. Special emphasis is given to the resentment felt towards the U.S. by predominantly Muslim nations, with wealth and power being chief among the catalysts for that resentment. Produced in association with New York Times Television. – New York Times

 

FICTION 

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Hosseini , Khaled

Hosseini's follow-up to his best-selling debut, The Kite Runner (2003) views the plight of Afghanistan during the last half-century through the eyes of two women. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a maid and a businessman, who is given away in marriage at 15 to Rasheed , a man three times her age; their union is not a loving one. Laila is born to educated, liberal parents in Kabul the night the Communists take over Afghanistan . Adored by her father but neglected in favor of her older brothers by her mother, Laila finds her true love early on in Tariq , a thoughtful, chivalrous boy who lost a leg in an explosion. But when tensions between the Communists and the mujahideen make the city unsafe, Tariq and his family flee to Pakistan . A devastating tragedy brings Laila to the house of Rasheed and Mariam , where she is forced to make a horrific choice to secure her future. At the heart of the novel is the bond between Mariam and Laila , two very different women brought together by dire circumstances. Unimaginably tragic, Hosseini's magnificent second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to both Afghani suffering and strength. Readers who lost themselves in The Kite Runner will not want to miss this unforgettable follow-up. – Booklist

The Road - McCarthy, Cormac

Pulitzer Prize Winner, National Book Critic's Circle Award Finalist, A New York Times Notable Book. Ask any literary critic -- and most discerning readers -- to name the greatest living American novelist, and Cormac McCarthy is sure to surface as a major contender. Best known for his powerful regional fiction ( Sutree , the Border Trilogy, Blood Meridian, et al), this dazzling prose stylist crafts tragic, unforgettable stories suffused with violence, alienation, and an undeniably apocalyptic vision. Now, in what we consider McCarthy's best novel to date, the apocalypse itself becomes a set piece. Unfolding in a terrifying future where Armageddon has been waged and lost, The Road traces the odyssey of a father and his young son through a desolate landscape of devastation and danger. Powerful, moving, and extraordinary by any standard, this is McCarthy at his greatest and gravest. – Barnes and Noble editors

A Spot of Bother - Haddon, Mark

A spot of bother is quite an understatement for what Haddon's characters endure in his impressive second novel (after his best-selling Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ). George Hall, retired and content with building his painting studio, discovers a lesion on his skin. Despite a diagnosis of eczema, he thinks he is dying of cancer, but no one in George's family notices his mental decline because of their own bit of trouble. Wife Jean is having a not-so-secret affair with David, one of George's old coworkers. Daughter Katie will soon marry someone unsuitable in the eyes of her family. Son Jamie feels "he's landed on the wrong planet, in the wrong family," as he copes with a breakup with his boyfriend. In the carnival atmosphere of Katie's wedding, the toilet overflows, unexpected guests bring their dog, and George goes after David in a rage because he can't stand the smug look on his face, but their lives are mended as well as they could be. Haddon perfectly captures his characters' frailties and strengths while injecting humor with pinpoint accuracy. – Library Journal

Half of a Yellow Sun - Adichie , Chimamanda Ngozi

A magnificent novel in which the dreams and tragedies of 1960s Nigeria are filtered through the minds and experiences of stupendously compelling characters. From page 1, an unbreakable bond is forged between the reader and Ugwu , a bright and kind young teen who has left his barebones village to serve as houseboy to Odenigbo , a robust and radical professor full of hope for newly independent Nigeria in spite of ingrained ethnic divides and colonialism's deleterious aftereffects. Ugwu becomes devoted to Odenigbo's beautiful and cultured lover, Olanna , as Odenigbo's treacherous mother plots against her, and her estranged twin sister, tough and sardonic Kainene , takes up with a gentle Englishman. The momentous psychological and ethical pressures Adichie engineers could support an engrossing novel in their own right, but her great subject is Nigeria 's horrific civil war, specifically the fate of Biafra , the doomed breakaway Igbo state. "Half a yellow sun" is Biafra's emblem of hope, but the horrors and misery Adichie's characters endure transform the promising image of a rising sun into that of a sun setting grimly over a blood-soaked and starving land. Adichie has masterminded a commanding, sensitive epic about a vicious civil war that, for all its particular nightmares, parallels every war predicated by prejudice and stoked by outside powers hungry for oil and influence. – Booklist

The Lay of the Land - Ford, Richard

National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist and A New York Times Best Book of the Year. Ford's third novel featuring realtor Frank Bascombe finds the beleaguered everyman in the "Permanent Period" of his life, where he's trying mightily to deal with present circumstances while dodging past regrets. But it's Thanksgiving week, "the time of year when things go wrong if they're going to." Frank has recently been diagnosed and is undergoing treatment for prostate cancer; his second wife has left him for her first husband (presumed dead but recently resurrected); his long-divorced first wife has suddenly (and disturbingly) expressed an interest in getting back together; and his fractious relationship with his son is soon to be tested anew as the family gathers for an organic-turkey dinner. As Frank struggles to hold onto his peace of mind, events both large and small conspire to give him an "acute case of the heebie-jeebies." A barroom brawl with a drunken florist, a real-estate deal gone sour, and an unexpected, intense bout of grieving for his first child, who died at age nine--Frank suddenly finds himself just where he doesn't want to be, mired "in the meaning of everything." Through Frank's acerbic opinions on a host of issues, from the presidential election of 2000 to the real-estate business, friendship, and the "treacherous" nature of holidays, Ford crafts a mesmerizing narrative voice--one that gives us, with offhanded eloquence and a kind of grim mirth, "the lay of the land." – Booklist

Airs Beneath the Moon - Bishop, Toby

Larkyn Hamley , a 14-year-old farm girl with a special affinity for animals, finds a lost, starving, pregnant mare and cares for her. The mare dies giving birth to a colt that, much to Lark's surprise, has wings. She lovingly cares for him, and he bonds with her. A bond with a winged horse is for life, and when Horsemistress Philippa Winter arrives for the colt, she realizes she must take Lark, too, to the Academy of the Air, which trains winged foals and their riders-to-be. There Lark faces snobbery and hostility on the part of young women of noble birth, and she runs afoul of the devious plans of the power-hungry, sadistic eldest son of the dying duke, owner and protector of the birth lines of the winged horses. Bishop enables us to visualize the horses in solo flight and complicated formations, scenes at the academy are utterly real, and the characters have dimension. A thoroughly satisfying read. – Booklist

Every Visible Thing - Carey, Lisa

Five years after the disappearance of their oldest son, Hugh, the Furey family is functioning, yet shattered. Parents Henry and Elizabeth live in the same house, but not in the same world. When Lena , 15, finds a cache of Hugh's undeveloped film, she masquerades as a boy and begins to skip school and hang out with the dangerous older crowd she identifies from his photos, with the hope of discovering what happened to him. Meanwhile, Owen, 10, is dealing with severe bullying issues at school. He becomes fixated on guardian angels, a topic his theologian father researched before he lost his job. As Lena 's and Owen's lives threaten to implode, the Fureys must finally deal with their grief and strained relationships in order to survive. Carey's depiction of Lena 's obsession and guilt about her beloved brother, and her yearning for resolution and absolution, drives the story. She has an intense desire to know one brother while remaining unaware of the depth and violence of the other's situation. Owen's problems illustrate how difficult it is for victims to talk about what is happening, even if support is offered. – School Library Journal

The Stars My Destination - Bester, Alfred

Bester's The Stars My Destination was "said by many people to be the best science fiction novel ever written," T. A. Shippey related in the Times Literary Supplement. Wendell called it "undoubtedly Bester's masterpiece, showing his `pyrotechnical' style at its best." In the opinion of Village Voice reviewer Robert Morales, " The Stars My Destination --an incredible takeoff on The Count of Monte Cristo, and James Joyce pastiche--burlesqued the adventure novel into high art. Both story and novel excel in sheer lunatic excitement." – Gale Research. Amazon.com notes: When it comes to pop culture, Alfred Bester (1913-1987) is something of an unsung hero. He wrote radio scripts, screenplays, and comic books (in which capacity he created the original Green Lantern Oath). But Bester is best known for his science-fiction novels, and The Stars My Destination may be his finest creation. First published in 1956 (as Tiger! Tiger! ), the novel revolves around a hero named Gulliver Foyle , who teleports himself out of a tight spot and creates a great deal of consternation in the process. With its sly potshotting at corporate skullduggery, The Stars My Destination seems utterly contemporary, and has maintained its status as an underground classic for forty years.

Stolen Child - Donohue, Keith

When Henry Day runs away at age seven, he is captured by a gang of hobgoblins, or changelings. One of them assumes his identity and takes his place in his family, and the original Henry, now called Aniday , adapts to life with ageless children who survive in the woods, awaiting their turn to change places with a human. Told in alternating voices by the impostor and the real Henry, this story shows how their lives intertwine as they come to terms with their new realities. New England in the latter half of the 20th century is not kind to creatures of the shadowy realm, and the band of changelings slowly dwindles as housing developments and industry push away the forested areas where they hide. As much as the new Henry tries to assimilate, memories of a prior life nag at him, and he comes to realize that, just as he has stolen Aniday's childhood, his own childhood was stolen away from him in 19th-century Germany . Although the coincidences in their quests stretch a little thin at times, Donohue has created a haunting picture of two lonely spirits searching for identity in the modern world. He includes just enough fantasy that readers will look a little more closely the next time they are walking through a dark stretch of forest . – School Library Journal

After This - McDermott, Alice

John and Mary Keane, good Irish Catholics raising four children and sharing their lively family with a spinster "aunt," feel the impact of the 1960s on their family: the sudden freedom of the sexual revolution, the controversy and tragedy of the Vietnam War, and the growing irreverence of popular culture. Their story, which spans the years from the end of World War II to the 1970s, is as ordinary as it is compelling and as suspenseful as it is inevitable. The characters are so human and sympathetic that readers can barely leave them on the last page. The narrative unfolds in economical yet rich language, using flashbacks and foreshadowing to provide insight into characters, hints at world events, and exquisite images. The story is episodic: the meeting and marriage of Mary and John, outings at the ocean, a frightening storm and a fallen tree, the death of their firstborn in Vietnam , the pregnancy of an unmarried daughter, the renovation of the neighborhood church. These mostly ordinary events become extraordinary in the telling, making this a fine read for teens who appreciate family stories. – School Library Journal

  REFERENCE

Chronology of Science - Checkmark Books

Knowledge of the sequence of scientific discoveries can be important for fostering a broad understanding of science. Written by a science writer, Chronology of Science provides information on scientific and technological milestones that have shaped scientific history. The 2,000 chronologically arranged entries are aimed at middle- and high-school students (but leaning more toward the high-school level) and offer the reader a concise description of the discovery, the problem it addressed, and the impact it had on the field. The book is organized into sections by time periods, such as antiquity, the Renaissance, and the information age. Each section includes an introductory and closing essay, a time line for scientific discoveries, and a few black-and-white photographs, charts, and illustrations. Supplemental essays are included on topics such as "Astronomy in the Renaissance," "Theories of Geological Change," and "Science of DNA." The entries, which range in length from 50 to 150 words, have identifiers that categorize them into the core areas of biology, chemistry, earth science, marine science, mathematics, physics, space and astronomy, and weather and climate. Appended material includes a section on units and measures, the periodic table of the elements, an eight-page glossary, a listing of print books and articles, and a 5-page selection of Internet resources. Although the information presented in this volume is available elsewhere, the material is well organized and written at a level accessible to a student. In addition, the introductory and closing essays in each section could be of value to students in need of a broader perspective on the history of science. – Booklist

Contents: Acknowledgments – Introduction -- SECTION 1: Setting the Foundation-Science in Antiquity Through the First Century BCE – Introduction -- Measuring Time in the Ancient World -- Discovering the Scientific Advances of the Ancient World -- Conclusion -- SECTION 2: Expanding Knowledge: First Century CE-12th Century CE -- Introduction -- The Alchemists -- The Origin of Modern Numbers -- Conclusion -- SECTION 3: Science in the Renaissance: (1300-1632) -- Introduction -- Developing the Tools and Methods of Modern Science -- Astronomy in the Renaissance -- Conclusion -- SECTION 4: Building the Base of Modern Science: (1636-1759 -- ) Introduction -- Physics and Mathematics -- The Microscope and Biology -- Conclusion -- SECTION 5: Science in the Age of Revolutions: (1760-1850) -- Introduction -- Discovering the Elements -- Theories of Geological Change -- Conclusion -- SECTION 6: . Science Expands as the World Grows Smaller: (1851-1899) -- Introduction -- Theories of Evolution -- Finding the Microorganisms that Cause Disease -- Conclusion -- SECTION 7 : . New Theories and Old: 1900-1945 -- Introduction -- Awarding Science -- The Beginnings of Quantum Mechanics -- Conclusion -- SECTION 8 : . Science in the Post-Atomic World: 1976-1979 -- Introduction -- Science of DNA -- Exploring Space -- Conclusion -- SECTION 9 : . The Expansion of Science in the Information Age: 1980-2004 -- Introduction -- Climate Change -- Computers and Science -- Conclusion -- APPENDIXES: Appendix 1: Units and Measurements -- Fundamental Units -- Comparisons among Kelvin, Celsius, and Fahrenheit -- Useful Measures of Distance -- Definitions for Electricity and Magnetism -- Prefixes -- Appendix 2: Periodic Table of the Elements -- Glossary -- Further Reading -- Selected Works Discussed in Entries -- Selected Internet Resources -- Societies and Associations -- Index.

Oxford Dictionary of Allusions - Delahunty , Andrew

Allusions form a colourful extension to the English language, drawing on our collective knowledge of literature, mythology, and the Bible to give us a literary shorthand for describing people, places, and events. So a miser is a Scrooge, a strong man is a Samson or a Hercules, a beautiful woman is a Venus or a modern-day Helen of Troy - we can suffer like Sisyphus, fail like Canute, or linger like the smile of the Cheshire Cat. This reference work explains the meanings of the allusions in use in modern English, from Abaddon to Zorro, Tartarus to Tarzan, and Rubens to Rambo. Quotations from a range of authors and sources are included at most entries to illustrate usage--anywhere from Thomas Hardy to Ben Elton, Charles Dickens to Bridget Jones's Diary. This second edition includes completely up-to-date allusions--from Gollum to Kofi Annan --and a handy A-Z order has been adopted for extra ease of reference and usability. A thematic index is included. – from the publisher

Concise Oxford English-Arabic Dictionary - Doniach , N. S.

Designed for both the English speaker learning Arabic and the Arabic speaker learning English. It records the different levels of usage found in newspapers, radio, television, and films, providing major Arabic dialectal equivalents for familiar, colloquial, and slang words. The dictionary includes: * Nearly 40,000 entries providing English headwords with multiple meanings and their nearest Arabic equivalent * For Arabic speakers: phonetic equivalents for headwords, phrases illustrating unexpected and alien idioms, and explanations of headwords denoting concepts new to the Arab world * For English speakers: vowels and diacritics included in the Arabic text, irregular plurals of nouns, and simple verb conjugations in the imperfect tense * Meticulously transcribed Arabic characters for easy reading. – from the publisher

Everyday Biblical Literacy: The Essential Guide to Biblical Allusions in Art, Literature, and Life - Lang, J. Stephen

What do we mean when we call a woman a Jezebel? What exactly was a scapegoat? Why was a fast-and-furious driver called Jehu? In a more literate (and Bible-conscious) age, most people knew the source of these and hundreds of other names, phrases, and images. Artists and writers could assume their audiences would understand references to biblical people and events. Today, some of those meanings are lost. This book fills that gap in knowledge. It examines 750 common Biblical references (arranged alphabetically) and what they've come to represent in today's culture through art, literature, song and common phrases. The text discusses the most important names, places, images, events, and phrases of the Bible and looks at how each subject has been presented culturally in art, music, and literature. – from the publisher