(source: Library Journal)
Fraser, Flora. Pauline Bonaparte: Venus of Empire. Knopf. Feb. 2009. c.304p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-307-26544-9. $28.95. BIOG
Fraser (The Unruly Queen), a prolific biographer in the tradition of her mother, Antonia Fraser, tells the story of Napoleon’s favorite sister, a fiercely independent woman who was an internationally heralded celebrity in her time. Reputed to be the most beautiful woman in Europe, she is best remembered today as the model for the semi-nude Venus Triumphant by Antonio Canova. Born Paulina and titled the Princess Borghese after her second marriage to a wealthy Italian revolutionary with papal connections, she was renowned for her fierce devotion to her brother, lavish lifestyle as a fashionista of the time, tempestuous love affairs, and scandalous personal behavior, which allegedly included interracial, lesbian, and incestuous trysts. Using Paulina’s personal correspondence, the Bonaparte family papers, and other archival sources, Fraser reconstructs Paulina’s story, with the rise and fall of her brother’s political fortunes as backdrop. Aiming to separate scandal mongering from the reality, Fraser places Paulina’s behavior within the context of the Bonaparte family, her clannish Corsican background, and her era, marked as it was by a libertine code of sexual conduct among the aristocracy. A lively and engrossing narrative; highly recommended for libraries serving general readers fascinated by royalty or the political maneuverings of the Napoleonic period.—Marie Marmo Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ
Gopnik, Adam. Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life. Knopf. Jan. 2009. c.224p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-307-27078-8. $24.95. BIOG
This book is about the greatness of two very different men who happened to be born on the same day, February 12, 1809, on different sides of the Atlantic. Gopnik argues that Lincoln’s training in the law and Darwin’s as a naturalist shaped their writing styles and propelled their thinking on the central issues facing them. Unfortunately for Gopnik, this work just can’t compete with such recent Lincoln studies as William Lee Miller’s President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman and Janet Browne’s on Darwin. Gopnik’s flashy little book is larded with judgments that seem insightful at first but don’t unpack well. What does it mean to say that Lincoln and Darwin are “emblematic of figures in the spread of bourgeois liberal democracy, and the central role for science that goes with it”? How is science central to Lincoln’s thought in any meaningful way? And how does Darwin’s thought symbolize “bourgeois liberal democracy”? This facile observation ties the two figures together but doesn’t illuminate them. The book’s title refers to Secretary of State Stanton’s observation at Lincoln’s deathbed, remembered either as “Now he belongs to the angels” or “the ages,” but the question as to wording does not provide an adequate organizing framework here. Gopnik refers frequently to other scholars and provides a bibliography but no footnotes or index. Not recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/08.]—David Keymer, Modesto, CA
Gordon, Meryl. Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach. Houghton. 2008. c.304p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-618-89373-7. $28. BIOG
This is a behind-the-scenes account of the scandal sparked when the grandson of world-famous philanthropist Brooke Astor sued his father for neglecting to properly care for his grandmother. Gordon (New York magazine) conducted 230 interviews for the book and interweaves Astor family history with insights provided by Astor’s family, friends, caregivers, and servants. Shortly after Astor’s death, Tony Marshall, her 83-year-old son, was indicted on 18 counts of grand larceny, falsifying business records, conspiracy, and possession of stolen property, reigniting a frenzy in the tabloids that began 16 months earlier, when grandson Philip Marshall first raised the allegations that his aged grandmother was living out her final days in neglect. Intimate details of the family life and interpersonal relationships of the New York society icon are exposed by Gordon in this impeccably researched, thoroughly detailed, and absorbing profile of a sadly dysfunctional family. Recommended for public libraries.[See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/08.]—Donna L. Davey, New York Univ. Lib.
In Lincoln’s Hand: His Original Manuscripts with Commentary by Distinguished Americans. Bantam. Feb. 2009. c.196p. ed. by Harold Holzer & Joshua Wolf Shenk. illus. ISBN 978-0-553-80742-4. $35. BIOG
Getting to see the writings of anyone from the past—on paper in his or her own hand—draws in the viewer and makes a long-ago figure seem close. Here we gaze at manuscripts of Abraham Lincoln, with very helpful transcriptions provided, and so, as the editors say, we’re “thrust into a new intimacy with Lincoln’s mind.” This book stands out among Lincoln birth bicentennial books because of its intent visually to show Lincoln in the act, as it were, of reckoning with the many forces in his life. The 41 manuscripts included (to appear in the Library of Congress’s exhibit, “With Malice Toward None,” opening on February 12, 2009, with later stops in Sacramento, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Omaha) are each newly approached by a prominent person in today’s culture. There’s Cynthia Ozick on Lincoln’s 1848 ruminations on Niagara Falls; Conan O’Brien checking out Lincoln’s humor; both presidents Bush, as well as Carter and Clinton; Liam Neeson, a future President Lincoln (via Spielberg); and Henry Louis Gates. Many of the Lincoln pieces included are well known, but whether they’re familiar or not, we rarely get to gaze on them so movingly, ink on paper. Highly recommended for all public, high school, and college libraries.—Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal
Lemay, J.A. Leo. The Life of Benjamin Franklin. Vol. 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748–1757. Univ. of Pennsylvania. 2008. c.768p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-8122-4121-1. $45. BIOG
This third volume of Lemay’s magisterial biography of Benjamin Franklin takes its subject from his retirement from business as printer of the Pennsylvania Gazette to his departure for England, where he would represent the interests of his colony against the Penn family and the British government. In these nine years, Franklin became the consummate multitasker: he organized militia defenses against the French and Indians in two wars, became leader of the Quaker party in the Pennsylvania Assembly, founded the Academy of Philadelphia (later to be the University of Pennsylvania), engaged in pathbreaking electrical experiments, improved the Colonial postal system, and proposed the Albany Plan of Union, to name a few of his activities. All along, Lemay offers insightful analyses of Franklin as well as numerous large and small discoveries or new interpretations. He has found more than a dozen minor writings not attributed to Franklin previously. Differing from historians like Gordon S. Wood (The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin) and Franklin biographer Walter Isaacson, Lemay argues that Franklin was already a full-fledged American patriot before 1757. With regret, one notes that Lemay passed away while this volume was in its final stages of preparation. At this time it is not known whether any of the projected four additional volumes will appear. This third volume is highly recommended for all academic and large public libraries.—Thomas J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., NY
McCourt, Alphie. A Long Stone’s Throw. Sterling & Ross, dist. by Publishers Group West. 2008. c.384p. ISBN 978-0-9814535-5-2. $24.95. AUTOBIOG
This first book from McCourt is the work of the youngest of four brothers. His brothers Michael, Frank (Angela’s Ashes), and Malachy (A Monk Swimming)—the subjects of two documentaries—are a big part of Alphie’s own story, an extraordinary tale of an ordinary man. The book begins with Alphie’s immigration to America in the 1960s, his frustrating travels between Canada and the United States, and his draft into the army. We are then taken back to the 1940s and 1950s, when Alphie was growing up in Limerick, Ireland. A hard-working Irish Catholic, the author writes of his formative years, his struggles with guilt, and life in a broken home. We come full circle to 1959, the year Alphie and his family took a Christmas trip to New York City, at which time he determined that he would not be returning home. Yet we follow Alphie as he does go back to Ireland, only to return to America again, his life reading like a fascinating roller coaster. Recommended for all public libraries.—David L. Reynolds, Cleveland P.L.
Randall, Margaret. To Change the World: My Years in Cuba. Rutgers Univ. Feb. 2009. c.256p. photogs. index. ISBN 978-0-8135-4432-8. pap. $24.95. AUTOBIOG
At first blush, it would be easy to dismiss Randall (Stones Witness) as just another disillusioned radical of the 1960s—but it would be a mistake. Poet, essayist, photographer, and social activist, Randall, now over 70 years old, has lived a fascinating life in locations ranging from New York to New Mexico, with Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, and other destinations in between. She visited Cuba several times before living there from 1969 to 1980. Randall’s fondness and indeed admiration for Cuba are unmistakable, especially when she’s talking about the nation’s systems of health care and education, a premise that will both provoke and anger some readers. Cuba’s health care, so widely lauded among Latin American nations, is the subject of a standing joke in Havana—when asked why he is traveling to Venezuela, a man answers that he needs to see his doctor, a jab at Castro’s doctors-for-oil agreement with Hugo Chavez. Yet Randall’s personal reflection on a decade in Cuba is a worthy addition to the ever growing body of literature on Cuba—past and present. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.—Boyd Childress, Auburn Univ. Libs., AL
ZZ. China High: A Memoir. St. Martin’s. Apr. 2009. c.368p. ISBN 978-0-312-53108-9. $24.95. AUTOBIOG
“ZZ”? Who’s that? When you read this sassy memoir, you will see why this China-born, American-raised law school graduate might want to keep his name out of the papers. The book starts as a smartly written but unsurprising account of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll in Beijing, where the night scene is hot and so is ZZ’s motorcycle. ZZ starts “Foodzie’s,” an innovative delivery service, but the plot thickens when he is imprisoned, not, as in other China memoirs, for political dissent but because he was caught with a “Zigarette,” a hand-rolled special laced with morphine. The absorbing heart of the book is ZZ’s short but transformative term in a dark, wet prison, where he bonds with an assortment of criminals, his introduction to the “real” China. This prison coming-of-age reminds him of Confucius’s classic admonition that a boy becomes a man at the age of 30. Although the epiphany could be more developed, this is a spiritual journey of universal, not merely Chinese, import. For any library with an interest in the genre or the topic.—Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL
Tofel, Richard J. Restless Genius: Barney Kilgore, the Wall Street Journal, and the Invention of Modern Journalism. St. Martin’s. Feb. 2009. c.256p. photogs. index. ISBN 978-0-312-53674-9. $25.95. COMM
While Barney Kilgore might not be widely known to many outside of the newspaper industry, the Wall Street Journal, which evolved out of his lifetime of hard work, is certainly known to businesspeople and informed readers around the world. The story of Kilgore and this influential newspaper is captured in a compelling biography by Tofel (Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939), former managing editor and assistant publisher of the Journal. This is not only an account of one man’s life during the Depression and the New Deal but also a history of the Journal in particular and business and financial newspapers in general. The cutting-edge ideas and writing style that Kilgore developed transformed the paper from a narrowly focused financial bulletin to the leading business news source it is today. What makes this work especially appealing is the incorporation of the many letters Kilgore wrote to his father, giving the reader a glimpse into this esteemed newsman’s way of thinking about his newspaper and the news of the day. Recommended for all libraries, especially those with business and communications collections.—Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL
Williams, Thomas A. How To Write Your Book (Guaranteed!). Williams & Co. 2008. c.168p. index. ISBN 978-1-878853-93-6. pap. $16.95. COMM
In a book that’s part writing guide and part publishing resource, Williams (Poet Power: The Complete Guide to Getting Your Poetry Published), who runs his own publishing company and has written a variety of books published by his and other companies, explains his detailed system to ensure the completion of a written work, whether it be a novel, a nonfiction book, or a doctoral dissertation. Though actual details may vary (e.g., slips of paper vs. note cards), many elements in this system echo the steps students are taught as they approach their first research paper. For some readers, the final chapter and the two appendixes, in which Williams explores the publishing industry, will be more valuable. The second appendix, featuring publishing FAQs, is particularly helpful. Beginning writers will likely appreciate Williams’s approachable style, and readers interested in understanding modern publishing may find value in his independent publishing experience. Unfortunately, the book’s cover, with cartoon images that resemble clip art, may discourage browsers from picking it up. Recommended for large public libraries’ adult and teen collections.—Stacey Rae Brownlie, Lancaster P.L., PA
Roman, Kenneth. The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising. Palgrave Macmillan. Jan. 2009. c.272p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-1-4039-7895-0. $27.95. BUS
Roman (coauthor, How To Advertise) worked directly with David Ogilvy, a legend in the world of advertising, as CEO and chair of Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) and had his professional coming-of-age at the firm after Ogilvy had become a celebrity. His book doesn’t break any new ground, but it provides context for O&M’s success, which is largely based on the ability to sell by using smart ideas that appeal to buyers. Roman mourns the passing of the golden age of advertising, and his book may appeal to others who see a new era in which advertising agencies do not play the role they once did; today, marketing dollars are being invested in online advertising and direct response. Ogilvy’s books about his approach, the most famous of which is Confessions of an Advertising Man, offer timeless insights about benefits to buyers. Mark Tungate’s 2007 Adland is one of the most comprehensive books on the history of advertising. Given the number of books on the topic, Roman’s is recommended only for libraries with large collections on advertising.—Stephen Turner, Turner Devaughan, Abington, PA
Slater, Robert. Soros: The World’s Most Influential Investor. McGraw. Jan. 2009. c.289p. index. ISBN 978-0-07-160844-2. $27.95. BUS
This is Slater’s 1994 bio of Soros, with its contents “refreshed” and another 25 percent or so of updated material added. Slater, who gained greater cooperation from and access to Soros and his colleagues for this edition, continues to portray him as a man of contradictions, a Jewish Hungarian survivor of the Holocaust who is ambivalent about his religious roots and makes public pronouncements but appears shy of publicity. A fabulously successful pioneer in hedge funds, Soros says he regrets not becoming a philosopher. Slater ascribes much of Soros’s trading success to his ability to recognize economic trends, jump on them aggressively, and retreat when wrong before suffering irretrievable losses. He explains that Soros has emerged, since 1994, more focused on philanthropy and changing the world. Soros has donated over $5 billion to various causes and, says Slater, became active in American politics owing to his opposition to the Bush administration. It is only since 1994 that Soros has come close to fulfilling his ambition to be considered a man of ideas. Unfortunately, Slater’s post-1994 section seems rushed or tacked on, and his subject’s personal life remains in shadows. Nonetheless, Soros’s stature makes Slater’s work a required and recommended purchase for all libraries.—Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ., PA
Tulgan, Bruce. Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How To Manage Generation Y. Jossey-Bass. Mar. 2009. c.208p. ISBN 978-0-470-25626-8. $24.95. BUS
Compiling years of research, including interviews with Gen Yers (those born between 1978 and 1990) and the organizations that manage them, Tulgan (Managing Generation X) crafts insightful lessons on how to manage the newest generation to enter the workforce. With extensive quotes from members of Gen Y and their more experienced managers, Tulgan successfully dispels popular myths (e.g., that managers of Gen Y staff need to present their work as fun) and offers practical advice for recruiting, retaining, and managing this new crop of young workers. While conceding that Gen Yers are more high maintenance than their predecessors, Tulgan also argues that these new recruits have the potential to be the most highly productive generation in history. The author’s assessment is far from sugarcoated; he describes Generation Y as “Generation X on fast-forward and with self-esteem on steroids” and dissects a diverse range of case studies to help managers overcome possible Gen Y obstacles. This book will serve as an effective tool for both veteran managers and self-evaluating Gen Yers. Recommended for business collections in public and academic libraries.—Allen McGinley, Piscataway P.L., NJ
Dupre, Anne Proffitt. Speaking Up: The Unintended Costs of Free Speech in Public Schools. Harvard Univ. Jan. 2009. c.282p. index. ISBN 978-0-674-03114-2. $29.95. ED
Dupre, a former school teacher and current professor of law at the University of Georgia, examines the evolving balance of freedom of speech for Americans vs. the needs for control and orderliness in the education of American children. The fundamental question is, How much freedom of speech do American schoolchildren need? Should children’s need for freedom of expression and thought, without any consideration of responsibility, trump the need of schools to maintain discipline and an environment conducive to learning? Dupre examines the history of the debate on free speech in schools in the contexts of protests, student publications, religious speech, textbook selection, teacher speech, and civility. She also includes as a case study the Alaska case of the students who sued when suspended for displaying a “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner. Well written, insightful, and occasionally humorous, this book is a great study of free speech in schools. Written for an audience with at least a high school reading level, this is highly recommended for any library supporting students and researchers in educational administration and law.—Mark Bay, Univ. of the Cumberlands Lib., Williamsburg, KY
Weisbrod, Burton A. & others. Mission and Money: Understanding the University. Cambridge Univ. 2008. 360p. index. ISBN 978-0-521-51510-8. $30. ED
The usual financial concerns about higher education center around rising tuition, but Weisbrod, Jeffrey P. Ballou, and Evelyn D. Asch, specialists in economics and public policy, present a much more extensive analysis of the different types of revenue pursued by colleges and universities and their complex influences on educational mission. The authors create the “two-good framework” to explore the tension between institutional pursuit of mission—including teaching, research, and service—and revenue seeking. They explain that fulfilling mission can restrain revenue seeking while increasing revenue can undermine mission, and they advise administrators to evaluate impacts before selecting policies. Their comprehensive approach is particularly useful, examining a variety of possible revenue sources from tuition, donations, and endowments to patents, lobbying, and intercollegiate athletics and comparing interactions in the public, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors. The book concludes with a look at public policy issues, where the authors urge the public and government officials to consider the full range of relevant factors before pursuing any simple “fixes.” The solid research, careful analysis, and extensive bibliography make this an important addition to academic libraries as well as general libraries with serious readers.—Elizabeth R. Hayford, formerly with Associated Colls. of the Midwest, Evanston, IL
Wolters, Raymond. Race and Education, 1954–2007. Univ. of Missouri. Jan. 2009. c.336p. index. ISBN 978-0-8262-1828-5. $44.95. ED
Wolters (history, Univ. of Delaware) here continues his conservative analysis of race in public schools (see The Burden of Brown). He begins with a summary of the arguments of Brown v. Board of Education, claiming that the decision was based on biased social science and weak claims on constitutionality. But, Wolters argues, the Brown decision established only desegregation, that is, the need for race-blind school enrollment; only later did the Supreme Court require active integration using racial criteria. Wolters traces education law and achievement through the early success of desegregation, subsequent resegregation, and court-ordered integration. Most of this work is Wolters’s critique of integration, including its shaky legal precedent and lack of academic or social benefits; he’s adept at citing case law to make his arguments. He is less convincing with social science research, as he generally cites secondary sources and fails to tease out the complexities of the overlap among race, class, and family background (although he admits that the intersection makes correlation and causality difficult to determine). Still, this is a strong history of education law regarding race and is recommended for larger academic and law libraries.—Erica L. Foley, Clinton-Macomb P.L., Clinton Twp., MI
Baker, John F., Jr. The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family’s Journey to Freedom. Atria: S. & S. Feb. 2009. c.288p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-1-4165-6740-0. $25. HIST
When Baker was in a seventh-grade social studies class, he saw a photograph of four African Americans in a textbook. Baker later learned from his grandmother that the three men and one woman were ancestors, former slaves of the Washington family of Tennessee. This discovery sparked a lifelong interest in genealogy, culminating in this fascinating book. Based on the papers of the Washington family, U.S. census records, period newspaper accounts, interviews with 11 family members, and DNA evidence, Baker’s book traces his family from its origin in West Africa through enslavement in Virginia and Tennessee, the Civil War, emancipation and sharecropping, and departure from the rural South for the urban North. He also provides a detailed account of life on the Wessyngton Plantation, once the largest tobacco plantation in the United States. Historians will find this book useful for its examination of rural life in the 19th-century South, and general readers will find a moving story of a family achieving freedom. Recommended for all libraries.—Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ., Parkersburg
Baker, Simon. Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. BBC, dist. by Trafalgar Square. 2008. 448p. photogs. index. ISBN 978-1-84607-284-0. pap. $16.95. HIST
Employing the “Great Man” theory of history, this book successfully fills a need created in part by the BBC series of the same name (for which Baker was the development producer) and HBO’s Rome. Baker’s book is purposefully not social history; he does not complicate a subject many readers already find confusing. Instead, he effectively profiles several important figures from Rome’s history, although his choices might baffle some historians. For example, Baker devotes more pages to Nero than to Augustus and more to Constantine than to Scipio. He also focuses more attention on Christians and Jews than some might expect from a history of Rome. Considering that he is covering 1000 years in fewer than 500 pages, his methods work well. Baker’s explanation of the events that culminated with Augustus becoming emperor is well written, clear, and succinct. Certainly, this is not an academic book, but it may serve to draw more readers to the subject of Roman history. Recommended for public libraries.—Clay Williams, Hunter Coll. Lib., New York
Bascomb, Neal. Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World’s Most Notorious Nazi. Houghton Harcourt. Mar. 2009. c.400p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-618-85867. $26. HIST
Bascomb (The Perfect Mile) revisits a well-documented episode in the establishment of Israel and postwar international crime and punishment, the seizure of the Holocaust logistician Adolf Eichmann by Mossad agents in 1960. Eichmann’s arrest, trial, and execution, unfolding over three years, was arguably Israel’s primal, grand international initiative, and among the varied reactions to the proceedings Hannah Arendt’s controversial rumination stands out as a key 20th-century text in journalistic moral philosophy. Bascomb’s concern, however, is action. In a singing prose style, he demonstrates that while the discovery of Eichmann in Argentina and subsequent abduction operation were fairly simple, virtually everything that had to go right went brilliantly, final testament that the task was managed and executed with great discipline. The details elicited from Bascomb’s interviews with a startling range of people associated with the events freshen interest in this famous story, here enhanced by the use of previously unpublished photographs. Recommended for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/08.]—Scott H. Silverman, Bryn Mawr Coll., PA
Benardo, Leonard & Jennifer Weiss. Citizen-in-Chief: The Second Lives of the American Presidents. Morrow. Feb. 2009. c.384p. index. ISBN 978-0-06-124496-4. $27.99. HIST
George W. Bush should find some consolation in this book, since one lesson it teaches is that no matter how unpopular a President was when he left office, he found a way to rehabilitate his image and recover at least some of his popularity. Benardo and Weiss (Brooklyn by Name) explore the post-presidential lives of all former presidents through Bill Clinton and give the reader plenty of well-documented information along the way. The opening segment, “Getting Solvent,” shows how former presidents made their livings before Congress authorized a pension for them in 1958, while “War, Conflict and the Ex-Presidency” shows the complications ex-Presidents have caused their successors during times of international crisis. For example, John Tyler went on to serve in the Confederate Congress during the Civil War, and Herbert Hoover preached isolationism until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. In “On the Road Again” and “Return to Politics,” the authors describe how a number of former Presidents continued to be active in government and politics after they left the White House. In the final section, “The Greater Good,” former Presidents’ philanthropic and diplomatic endeavors are detailed, especially those of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The authors offer critical analysis where appropriate, and they relate many entertaining personal anecdotes. Recommended for public and academic libraries.—Jill Ortner, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.
Daalder, Ivo H. & I.M. Destler. In the Shadow of the Oval Office: From JFK to Bush II; The Presidents’ National Security Advisers. S. & S. Feb. 2009. c.400p. index. ISBN 978-1-4165-5319-9. $27. HIST
Scholars Daalder (senior fellow, Brookings Institution; America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy) and Destler (Sch. of Public Policy, Univ. of Maryland: American Trade Politics) have produced a timely survey of national security advisers, members of the President’s staff who often wield substantial power despite not going through a public confirmation process. Drawing upon research conducted as part of an oral history project at the University of Maryland and the Brookings Institution, the authors undoubtedly bring the right combination of insight and experience to the story. Starting with the relationship between John F. Kennedy and his adviser, McGeorge Bundy, in 1961, they devote a chapter to each administration up through George W. Bush, describing how these advisers interacted with the President, secretaries of state and defense, and others to shape national security policy. Because it covers such a broad time period, the book introduces a dizzying number of players; a reader without a basic grounding in modern U.S. history could become confused. However, the authors have a readable style and fill a niche in political history with their specific focus. Recommended for undergraduate libraries serving political science students and larger public libraries where there is interest. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/08.]—Elizabeth Goldman, Black River Group, Ottawa, Ont.
Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich at War. Penguin. Mar. 2009. c.928p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-1-59420-206-3. $40. HIST
In this final volume in a history of Nazi Germany, Evans (modern history, Cambridge Univ.; The Third Reich in Power) focuses on the war years and skillfully moves from analyzing grand strategy to the war’s local impact. Interestingly, even during the war Hitler maintained his propensity for having subordinates fight one another for supremacy rather than developing an efficient governmental system. By 1942 Hitler, confident in his military genius and disgusted with his generals, appointed himself commander in chief of the Wehrmacht, necessitating an entirely new management style for a man whose prewar administrative skills were at best lackadaisical. Hitler’s micro-management of military affairs, down to the tactical level, contributed to later military disasters. Evans, however, does not accept the postwar myth that Germany’s war effort was better organized by its generals. Some of the most compelling sections detail how the Nazi conquest derailed the moral compass of so many Europeans. Local populations—in Croatia, for example—enthusiastically adopted Nazi methods of ethnic cleansing to create racial utopias, demonstrating that you cannot separate the war from Nazi racial ideology. Perhaps the best of an impressive series, this book is recommended for all libraries.—Frederic Krome, University of Cincinnati Clermont Coll.
French, Marilyn. From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women. Vol. 3: Infernos and Paradises, the Triumph of Capitalism in the 19th Century. c.376p. ISBN 978-1-55861-583-0. ea. vol: Feminist Pr, dist. by Consortium. 2008. bibliog. index. pap. $19.95. HIST
Feminist Press now brings the second half of French’s monumental work, originally published in Canada in 2003, to a thankful American audience. Volumes 3 and 4 delve into the economic and political revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries. Industrialization and the ensuing capitalist, Socialist, Communist, and anti-imperialist movements across the globe all benefit from French’s erudite feminist historical treatment. Her coverage is encyclopedic, but her prose is impressively accessible, creating a rare find: a page-turning, can’t-put-it-down history text. The book’s simple premise is concisely stated in the foreword by Margaret Atwood: “Women, it seems, are not a footnote after all.” Yet to bring a gender-inclusive history to fruition required 15 years of comprehensive scholarship, all highly visible in each volume. Biographies of exceptional women, ethnographic studies, anthropological scholarship, and feminist theory bolster French’s historical narrative.With women at the center of this history, examination of power is vital; French tackles its core: the political structures, economic forces, and social practices that allow one group of people to dominate another. She highlights the exploitation of female labor in both the public and the private spheres as well as the patriarchal structure of political systems, including those that claim egalitarianism. She notes women’s attempts to counter oppressive institutions and practices, e.g., via suffrage movements in Great Britain and the United States and anti-colonialist revolutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. French is always keenly aware of the collision among gender, race, and class, never glossing over women’s shifting position on the power scale as both oppressed and oppressor. She doesn’t shy away from biology either, acknowledging the challenges presented by the female body’s unique ability to bear life. This is not a simple repackaging of history for women. French instead gives life to a new way of looking at the world as it exists for women. Her history is sure to inspire the burgeoning feminist in every woman and man. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries and essential for universities with women’s studies programs.—Veronica Arellano, Univ. of Houston Libs., TX
French, Marilyn. From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women. Vol. 4: Revolutions and the Struggles for Justice in the 20th Century. c.592p. maps. ISBN 978-1-55861-584-7. ea. vol: Feminist Pr, dist. by Consortium. 2008. bibliog. index. pap. $19.95. HIST
Feminist Press now brings the second half of French’s monumental work, originally published in Canada in 2003, to a thankful American audience. Volumes 3 and 4 delve into the economic and political revolutions of the 19th and 20th centuries. Industrialization and the ensuing capitalist, Socialist, Communist, and anti-imperialist movements across the globe all benefit from French’s erudite feminist historical treatment. Her coverage is encyclopedic, but her prose is impressively accessible, creating a rare find: a page-turning, can’t-put-it-down history text. The book’s simple premise is concisely stated in the foreword by Margaret Atwood: “Women, it seems, are not a footnote after all.” Yet to bring a gender-inclusive history to fruition required 15 years of comprehensive scholarship, all highly visible in each volume. Biographies of exceptional women, ethnographic studies, anthropological scholarship, and feminist theory bolster French’s historical narrative.With women at the center of this history, examination of power is vital; French tackles its core: the political structures, economic forces, and social practices that allow one group of people to dominate another. She highlights the exploitation of female labor in both the public and the private spheres as well as the patriarchal structure of political systems, including those that claim egalitarianism. She notes women’s attempts to counter oppressive institutions and practices, e.g., via suffrage movements in Great Britain and the United States and anti-colonialist revolutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. French is always keenly aware of the collision among gender, race, and class, never glossing over women’s shifting position on the power scale as both oppressed and oppressor. She doesn’t shy away from biology either, acknowledging the challenges presented by the female body’s unique ability to bear life. This is not a simple repackaging of history for women. French instead gives life to a new way of looking at the world as it exists for women. Her history is sure to inspire the burgeoning feminist in every woman and man. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries and essential for universities with women’s studies programs.—Veronica Arellano, Univ. of Houston Libs., TX
Garson, Paul. Album of the Damned: Snapshots from the Third Reich. Academy Chicago. 2008. 410p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-89733-576-8. $50. HIST
The most remarkable thing about this book is the ordinariness of the pictures. Husbands and wives posing, fathers and sons seated together proudly, groups of smiling soldiers, and, lest we forget where we are, dead bodies. Garson, a well-known photographer and magazine writer, has collected over 400 photographs taken mostly by German soldiers and some civilians that reveal in somber black-and-white tones a part of World War II that has often been overlooked by the numerous published collections of battle photographs. Garson’s photographs show a quiet side of the war, one far away from the battlefield but still very much a part of the everyday experience of German and non-German citizens engulfed in a world war. Most striking is a picture of young men in bathing suits laughing and sharing a drink. After a full day spent murdering men, women, and children, these men went home to their wives and families, had a good night’s sleep, and then went back to killing again the next day. A stunningly chilling collection of photographs recording the daily lives of ordinary people quietly going about their normal business in the midst of horror, this unforgettable work is recommended for all collections.—Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past. Crown. Jan. 2009. c.448p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-307-38240-5. $27.50. HIST
Harvard historian Gates argues that family history has a special place in African American culture, in part because the American institution of slavery allowed for the creation of precious few records of African Americans’ lives. By detailing individuals’ stories, he writes, we may tell an important part of the larger American story. In these genealogies, Gates uses the search for the family history of 19 notable African Americans to form a narrative that goes beyond family lore. He illuminates the technical challenges of tracing African Americans’ roots, but he also shares his famous subjects’ memories and reflections about their families’ reticence in discussing slavery or telling ancestors’ stories about it. These elements combine in an intelligent narrative that will be accessible even to those who aren’t genealogists. A closing chapter introduces some of the tools and methods for African American genealogical research, with bibliographic sources. This book is an able companion to the PBS series Gates hosted, but it stands on its own as well. Essential for genealogy collections; recommended for all public and high school libraries.—Emily-Jane Dawson, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR
Herring, George C. From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776. Oxford Univ. (Oxford History of the United States). 2008. 1040p. maps. index. ISBN 978-0-19-507822-0. $35. HIST
Herring (history, emeritus, Univ. of Kentucky; America’s Longest War) has created a verbal monument to the place of the United States in the world. The only themed volume so far in the “Oxford History of the United States” series, this work portrays the history of the world’s foremost republic through the prism of its international interactions. Striking is the emergence, through Herring’s clear and compelling storytelling, of certain themes in the way the United States has conducted and still conducts itself among nations. Through Herring’s methodical presentation of the facts we see a nation alternately petty and grasping, magnanimous and generous, a nation propelled to greatness by equal amounts of arrogance, racism, and greed but most of all by a genuine desire to make of the world something better. The author’s quick character sketches of the actors who move this narrative forward bring life to a subject that could, in less skilled hands, easily induce tedium. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries.—Michael F. Russo, Louisiana State Univ. Libs., Baton Rouge
Kline, Michael J. The Baltimore Plot: The First Conspiracy To Assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Westholme. Jan. 2009. c.528p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-1-59416-071-4. $29.95. HIST
Corporate lawyer Kline details an alleged plot to which most Lincoln books only allude. President-elect Lincoln journeyed by private railway from Springfield, IL, through Maryland to his 1861 inauguration and, in Baltimore, escaped from what was probably the first conspiracy to assassinate him. The alleged plotters were never brought to trial. Kline contextualizes Baltimore as the largest city of a pro-secessionist border state, where previous tumults had earned it the sobriquet “Mobtown.” Foiling the plot burnished the reputation of private detective Allan Pinkerton, among others. Lincoln’s protectors saved his life but not his reputation. The press ridiculed Lincoln for resorting to disguise when moving between stations in Baltimore in the midst of his otherwise highly publicized “Lincoln Special” to Washington. Lincoln thereafter vowed never to hide. Kline translates legal concepts into comprehensible language, making readable an at times exhaustive examination of a scheme tied together through the “circumstantial evidence of motive, means, and opportunity.” Kline invites his readers to serve as judge and jury and to conjecture how history would have been different had such a conspiracy succeeded. Comparing favorably with Harold Holzer’s Lincoln President-Elect, this book demonstrates the use of archival sources beyond the usual standard and is recommended for libraries serving specialists and general readers.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress
Kushner, David. Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary Suburb. Walker. Feb. 2009. c.256p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-8027-1619-4. $25. HIST
In 1957, Bev and Lew Wechsler, activists and residents of Levittown, PA, welcomed Daisy and Bill Myers and their children to move next door. The Myers thus became the first black family to reside in Levittown, built and maintained as an explicitly “whites only” suburb. Rolling Stone contributing editor Kushner (Masters of Doom) frames the Myers’s story within the rise of self-assured entrepreneur developer Bill Levitt, who built wildly successful postwar suburbs and was an unrepentant defender of racially exclusive policies. Kushner also limns the contemporary civil rights struggle but focuses on the immediate fallout of the Myers’s move into Levittown: nonstop protests, near-riots, and threats from appalled residents backed by out-of-town white supremacists, which were countered by the Wechslers and other forward-thinking residents with support from local Quaker and human rights groups. Though the Myers family prevailed in the courts, and Levitt’s communities would be officially integrated by 1960, the tension of that summer is still palpable in this gripping account. Timing gives this publication an additional layer of historic intrigue: in November 2008, voters in Bucks County, PA, home to Levittown, selected Barack Obama for President by an 8.5 percent margin. Recommended for all public libraries and essential for regional collections.—Janet Ingraham Dwyer, Worthington Libs., OH
Malcolm, Joyce Lee. Peter’s War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution. Yale Univ. Feb. 2009. c.272p. index. ISBN 978-0-300-11930-5. $28. HIST
Malcolm (law, George Mason Univ.) vividly recounts the Revolutionary War experiences of slaves such as Peter Nelson, who at age 12 enlisted in the Massachusetts militia and participated in some of the war’s most famous battles. Malcolm’s deep research, including into primary sources, sheds light on slaves’ wartime involvement, chronicling the stories of men who bravely and willingly fought alongside free whites not knowing whether their efforts toward victory would result in their own eventual freedom. Malcolm describes in grim and poignant detail the vastly different wartime experiences of three slaves—Peter; his father, Jupiter; and unrelated Southern slave Titus, who joined the British army and engaged in guerrilla warfare against American slaves and their owners. Using the three slaves’ stories as a narrative fulcrum, Malcolm provides a succinct but satisfying overview of the entire war. Major historical figures such as George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and John Adams play key roles in this narrative, but the author’s focus is on the unknown and forgotten participants. She has assembled an engagingly written and incisive book, valuable to both scholars and informed general readers. Recommended for history collections in academic and large public libraries.—Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina, Thomas Cooper Lib., Columbia
Marozzi, Justin. The Way of Herodotus: Travels with the Man Who Invented History. Da Capo. Jan. 2009. c.352p. maps. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-306-81621-5. $27.50. HIST
Herodotus is a somewhat controversial figure, dubbed both the “Father of History” and the “Father of Lies” for his famous Histories, which explored the causes of the Greek and Persian wars while often digressing into cultural notes, examinations of politics, and local legends. Marozzi (Tamerlane) makes no secret of his admiration for the man, and in this vivid travelog he lets Herodotus’s spirit be companion and guide. Marozzi traces Herodotus’s footsteps as he sought out knowledgeable people for their observations through what is now Greece, Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq. Though times have changed, there’s plenty of evidence in Marozzi’s explorations and encounters to suggest that the overall messages in Herodotus’s work—the hubris of man, the strangeness and power of culture, and the importance of historical records—are just as applicable to the world today. While his imagined version of Herodotus’s personality sometimes seems a bit of a stretch, Marozzi succeeds admirably at emulating the tone of the work he so admires, producing a lively and accessible narrative that’s often as eclectic as its spiritual predecessor. Recommended for public libraries, especially those with travel history collections or as a companion to Ryszard Kapuscinski’s Travels with Herodotus.—Kathleen McCallister, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia
Moore, Wendy. Wedlock: The True Story of the Disastrous Marriage and Remarkable Divorce of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore. Crown. Mar. 2009. c.352p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-307-45223-8. $25.95. HIST
Once the richest heiress in Britain, Mary Eleanor Bowes (1749–1800), ancestor of the current queen, was a highly intelligent and accomplished woman renowned as a gifted botanist and playwright. She nevertheless frequently exhibited poor judgment, particularly with regard to men. After Mary was widowed at age 27, there was no shortage of suitors vying for her hand in marriage. Debt ridden and a recent widower, Capt. Andrew Robinson Stoney staged a duel pretending to defend Mary’s honor and feigned injury to procure Mary’s sympathy. Convinced of his imminent death, Mary agreed to marry him even though she was betrothed to someone else. She was thereafter subjected to unimaginable cruelty, violence, and degradation at the hands of her husband and was kept as a virtual prisoner. In an era when domestic abuse was an accepted part of marital life, Stoney’s inhumane treatment of Mary still shocked many. Eventually, Mary was able to escape her captor and successfully petitioned for divorce, which was difficult if not impossible for a woman to obtain at that time. Moore (The Knife Man) skillfully depicts Mary’s life with poignant detail in an exhaustively researched book that joins only a few works about Bowes. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.—Carrie Benbow, Toronto P.L., Ont.
Morin, Karen M. Frontiers of Femininity: A New Historical Geography of the Nineteenth-Century American West. Syracuse Univ. (Space, Place, & Society). 2008. c.248p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-8156-3167-5. $29.95. HIST
Morin (geography, Bucknell Univ.) examines the travel writings of American and British Victorian women in the American West and Mexico. Her work here seems to follow closely the kind of research presented in Maria H. Frawley’s A Wider Range: Writing by Women in Victorian England, explaining that travel writing provides a way both to solidify and to defy cultural standards. But Morin moves the discussion forward by looking at how those travel narratives served as a way for women to redefine their gender identity “in place” by comparing their gender roles to those of the women they encountered. In this way, says Morin, their writing demonstrates how women maneuvered between needing to appear as proper Victorian ladies while at the same time reevaluating their understanding of societal and institutional norms based on what they experienced during their travels. This well-researched volume is recommended for academic libraries with collections in Western Americana, social history, geographic history, travel writing, women’s history, and gender studies.—Crystal Goldman, Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City
Prochaska, Frank. The Eagle and the Crown: Americans and the British Monarchy. Yale Univ. 2008. 256p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-300-14195-5. $40. HIST
The Declaration of Independence blasts George III and kingship. So why is it that George III’s great-great-great-great granddaughter Elizabeth II and her family so fascinate “the Colonies”? Yale lecturer in history Prochaska doesn’t quite figure that out either, but his chronicle of the Crown as seen from this side of the pond is worth reading. While the intensity of interest has never been so strong as in recent years, Prochaska documents how the royals have long been of interest to America. Some of this fascination is owing to snobbery in a land lacking a defined aristocracy, some is a longing for something above politics, and some is respect for this country’s British heritage (though the royals aren’t very British themselves—the Queen Mum was the first royal consort from Britain since James II’s first wife). And part of our fascination is out of sheer respect for the queen, who does her somewhat indefinable work quite well. Prochaska, who ends his study with the death of Princess Diana, considers the U.S. presidency to have shades of the British monarchy in its contours. Suitable for all libraries with deep American history collections and for public libraries with patrons interested in the royals, i.e., most of them.—Michael Eshleman, Kings Mills, OH
Rapport, Mike. 1848: Year of Revolution. Basic Bks: Perseus. Feb. 2009. c.496p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-465-01436-1. $29.95. HIST
Rapport (history, Univ. of Stirling; Shape of the World) skillfully unravels a complex series of cataclysmic events that swept over Europe in 1848, forever changing the lives of millions. Surging population growth, economic collapse, and oppressive regimes were just a few of the factors that led to the spontaneous ignition of revolutionary fires that January. Street barricades went up in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and other autocratic capitals of Europe. From Sicily to Slovakia, the disempowered demanded civil rights, enfranchisement, and constitutional governance. In many cases initial demands met with success, but by the end of the year the autocrats of Europe regained their footing and, after horrendous bloodshed, their dominance. By 1851 the hopes of a new order were shattered, but, as Rapport stresses, profound changes had been made. For example, in the eastern reaches of Europe, the medieval institution of serfdom was finally abolished. The author also maintains that the ideals of 1848—liberty, democracy, civil society, nationhood—were at last fulfilled in the 1989 uprisings against the Soviet hegemony. Rapport mixes his lucid narrative with astute analysis based on memoirs, eyewitness accounts, and secondary sources. While his work does not surpass Jonathan Sperber’s excellent The European Revolutions, 1848–1851, Rapport’s study is a worthy and affordable addition to any modern European history collection.—Jim Doyle, Rome, GA
Reed, Thomas C. & Danny B. Stillman. The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation. Zenith. Jan. 2009. c.393p. photogs. maps. index. ISBN 978-0-7603-3502-4. $30.
Tucker, Todd. Atomic America: How a Deadly Explosion and a Feared Admiral Changed the Course of Nuclear History. Free Pr: S. & S. Mar. 2009. c.288p. index. ISBN 978-1-4165-4433-3. $26.
Younger, Stephen M. The Bomb: A New History. Ecco: HarperCollins. Jan. 2009. c.256p. index. ISBN 978-0-06-153719-6. $26.95. HIST
Reed (former secretary of the air force) has joined with veteran Los Alamos physicist Stillman to write a complement to his earlier At the Abyss: An Insider’s History of the Cold War. This book illustrates how nuclear technology and scientific knowledge was developed and distributed according to decisions made within fluctuating global geopolitical contexts. Even “peaceful” research and energy programs can be easily co-opted for military uses. While radical Islamic fundamentalism is clearly a dangerous threat to a weakened America, the authors emphasize how an ambitious and rising China has been quick to aid proliferation in its bid to become the world’s leading power. Most important is the human element—who decides to use the weapons and why—and this is not always predictable or preventable. It is all very alarming, no doubt what the authors intended. Suitable for academic and public libraries. (Index not seen.)
Younger’s book follows logically from his earlier Endangered Species: How We Can Avoid Mass Destruction and Build a Lasting Peace. Younger certainly knows the high-level policy issues, having been a former director of the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. He wants to dispel dangerous myths and inform the debate about the role of nuclear weapons. So while he adds some interesting details to the standard nuclear history of the world, the key chapters are about defense against attack, maintaining our forces, and what the future might bring; these chapters could have been even longer at the expense of the history chapters. Younger believes that nuclear weapons will always be with us, certainly as a deterrent to other countries, and that we should modernize our forces to make them safer and less vulnerable. According to the author, there is no bibliography or reference notes in the interest of fairness and security. Suitable for academic and public libraries. (Index not seen.)
Tucker, a former nuclear engineer aboard the submarine U.S.S. Alabama, gives us two stories. The first is about the explosion of army nuclear reactor SL-1, probably caused by poor design, maintenance, performance, and procedures, that killed three men in Idaho on January 3, 1961. More importantly, he describes the development of nuclear power from experimental reactors to practical applications for military purposes, with small and powerful designs. There are interesting details about fantastically expensive (and dangerous) proposals for nuclear-powered bombers and an extensive mobile missile system under the Arctic ice, but the centerpiece of the book is a project tightly managed by Adm. Hyman Rickover that led to nuclear submarines and surface ships, now the core of the U.S. Navy. The Cold War was just the bitter context; desperate bureaucratic infighting and program survival at times seemed more important to the Pentagon brass. This is interesting scientific and administrative military history, though the SL-1 event is covered more extensively in William McKeown’s Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America’s First Nuclear Accident. Suitable for academic and large public libraries. (Index not seen.) All three books convey the message that we must maintain constant vigilance, though Reed and Stillman deliver the best work.—Dan Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL
Sandweiss, Martha A. Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line. Penguin Pr.: Penguin Group (USA). Feb. 2009. c.358p. index. ISBN 978-1-59420-200-1. $27.95. HIST
American West historian Sandweiss (American studies & history, Amherst Coll.; Print the Legend) utilizes archival, newspaper, and a panoply of digitized resources to analyze the personal and social complexity of the life of noted surveyor and geologist Clarence King (1842–1901). King, the scion of a storied white New England family, passed as the purported Pullman porter James Todd in order to espouse his African American common-law wife, Ada Copeland Todd King. Unlike previous King biographers (e.g., Robert Wilson, The Explorer King), Sandweiss treats in detail the challenges and dilemmas that King confronted in post-Civil War America, even in relatively tolerant New York City. Balancing scholarly exploration with readability, she focuses on King’s 13-year secret (until he was on his deathbed, King kept the fact of his actual race from his wife), which produced acute psychological strains. History learned of it with a legal claim for his trust fund in 1933. Sandweiss demonstrates just how racial identity and inequality circumscribes behavior, adding both general background and individual perspectives on the conundrum of race in America. Her literary references add to a historical narrative that should catch the attention of both specialists and the reading public. A welcome choice for both academic and public libraries.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Library of Congress
Taylor, D.J. Bright Young People: The Lost Generation of London’s Jazz Age. Farrar. Jan. 2009. c.384p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-374-11683-5. $27. HIST
This meticulously researched account of a notorious group of 1920s London partygoers was first published in England in 2007 to positive reviews, which noted the sensitive way novelist and biographer Taylor (Kept: A Victorian Mystery; Orwell: The Life) draws human detail from behind the gossip column scandals and the Evelyn Waugh novelizations that immortalized the group. Taylor shows how the media played a large part in creating the legend, manipulating those who fit the mold into an early expression of celebrity culture. Taylor begins with an analysis of who the members of this relatively small group of well-connected youngsters were. He considers their wartime childhoods, which perhaps contributed to their excess and dissipation. As Taylor details the rise of the group, from the mid-1920s to 1929, we read of their elaborate parties, unrepentant decadence, and refusal to settle down in early adulthood. Taylor then follows the decline of the group in the 1930s, as the next world war loomed. This detailed work, both biography and social history, is suited to academic and large public libraries.—Rebecca Bollen Manalac, Sydney, Australia
Thompson, Antonio S. German Jackboots on Kentucky Bluegrass: Housing German Prisoners of War in Kentucky, 1942–1946. Diversion. Jan. 2009. c.261p. bibliog. illus. index. ISBN 978-1-935290-00-1. pap. $24.95. HIST
The arresting title of this scholarly work immediately catches one’s attention and highlights an important part of our nation’s history. America housed nearly 371,000 German prisoners of war during World War II, and Kentucky received more than 9000 of those. The Kentucky POWs resided in three permanent camps at Breckinridge, Campbell, and Fort Knox, as well as on other Kentucky military bases. Using many primary and archival sources, the authors show that the state was influenced economically and culturally by the influx of these German soldiers, who were likewise affected as they gained insight into American democracy and formed lifelong friendships with native Kentuckians who showed them their innate Southern hospitality. For Kentuckians, the legacy continues in the 30 beautifully painted murals by one of the prisoners of war, Daniel Mayer, still preserved at Camp Breckinridge. Thoroughly researched and well documented, the book may focus exclusively on Kentucky but is an excellent springboard to further study of a neglected topic. A good choice for academic and large public libraries. [The author of this book has reviewed history and political science titles for LJ.—Ed.] —Nancy Richey, Western Kentucky Univ. Lib., Bowling Green
Bentley, Barbara. A Dance with the Devil: A True Story of Marriage to a Psychopath. Berkley: Penguin Group (USA). 2008. 362p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-425-22118-1. pap. $16. CRIME
Amid the proliferation of true-crime books about child murderers and serial killers, it’s difficult to make a story with no corpse seem compelling. But in her memoir of marriage to a charismatic liar who ultimately tries to kill her, Bentley, a victim’s advocate, succeeds. She holds nothing back as she describes how her friends and family strove to prevent her relationship with sociopath John Perry, who claimed to be an admiral who spoke seven languages and served as best man in Frank Sinatra’s wedding. He wooed her, married her, and seduced her out of thousands of dollars before their final violent encounter. Although the last section, about Bentley’s successful attempt to change California divorce law to protect victims like herself, goes on a little too long, this well-written account belongs in all public libraries with true-crime sections.—Daisy Porter, San José P.L., CA
Doherty, Brian. Gun Control on Trial: Inside the Supreme Court Battle over the Second Amendment. Cato, dist. by National Bk. Network. 2008. c.160p. bibliog. ISBN 978-1-933995-25-0. $16.95. LAW
The 2008 Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v. Heller interpreted the meaning of the Second Amendment’s “right to bear arms” as an individual right but left it unclear the extent to which guns might be regulated. Doherty, an editor at Reason magazine, journalist, and commentator, was recruited by the libertarian Cato Institute to write this insider account of the case, with behind-the-scenes information on personalities and events and legal/historical context. He makes clear that he is an advocate for gun rights and that the five-to-four decision was, in his opinion, the only reasonable one. While there is considerable information here, Doherty clutters the book with his numerous gratuitous one-sided opinions and quotes from interviewees. This may be the first book to discuss Heller, but libraries would do better to wait for a more carefully written, balanced work or rely on a pre-Heller legal discussion such as Mark V. Tushnet ’s Out of Range: Why the Constitution Can’t End the Battle over Guns.—Mary Jane Brustman, SUNY at Albany Libs.
Flynn, Kevin. Wicked Intentions: The Sheila LaBarre Murders. New Horizon. Jan. 2009. 328p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-88282-341-6. $24.95. CRIME
A routine well-being check on developmentally disabled Kenneth Countie in March 2006 turned up a grisly discovery. A bloody mattress, pruning shears, and a burn pit with what looked like human bones signaled that something awful had happened on the farm of Sheila LaBarre, just outside of Epping, NH. Suspicion immediately fell on LaBarre, the charming but unstable woman who had inherited the farm and often brought young lovers to live with her, many of them drifters who were never seen again. Flynn, the television journalist who covered the case from its beginning, takes the reader through LaBarre’s disturbing life story, covering her abusive childhood, her failed marriages, her violent rages against the passive (and often developmentally disabled) boyfriends she charmed and then controlled, and finally the evidence that pointed to at least one murder and perhaps many more. The tragedy of the story is that nobody in town believed her incapable of these monstrous acts but that the very fear she inspired kept anyone from intervening until it was too late. For public libraries.—Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH
Hayslett, Jerrianne. Anatomy of a Trial: Public Loss, Lessons Learned from The People vs. O.J. Simpson. Univ. of Missouri. 2008. c.256p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-8262-1822-3. $29.95. LAW
Hayslett, the information officer and media liaison for the Los Angeles Superior Court during the 1995 criminal trial of O.J. Simpson on charges of murder, here examines how an ordinary felony murder trial was turned into a public spectacle of excessive proportions by the outlandish and at times unprofessional conduct of prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the presiding judge, Lance Ito. As she was present daily in both the courtroom and Ito’s chambers, Hayslett delivers an insider’s account of how the judge went from a paragon of judicial stature and competence to a celebrity aspirant devoid of talent or stage skill. Frequently criticizing the judge for being too deferential to the demands of Simpson’s attorneys, Hayslett provides more than just a captivating tale of an aberrational trial and its consequences. Her account includes an essential blueprint for what the media and judges can do in the future to avoid sideshows and to fulfill their responsibilities to the public. Recommended for academic and law libraries.—Philip Y. Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Law Lib., New York
Howard, Philip K. Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law. Norton. Jan. 2009. c.224p. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-393-06566-4. $24.95. LAW
Readers familiar with Howard’s previous best sellers (Death of Common Sense and The Collapse of the Common Good) will recognize the central argument in this book: the “lawsuit culture” of the United States has undermined personal freedom and diminished our capacity for common sense. Using dramatic stories to illustrate his points, Howard describes education and healthcare systems so bound by rules, policies, and laws that teachers and doctors are incapable of acting according to their best professional judgment. Although a good deal of the book is dedicated to tracing the historical origins of the current legal culture, Howard is primarily concerned with laying out his vision for changing the culture and restoring coherent boundaries to the legal system. The book concludes with an eight-point “agenda for change” summarizing Howard’s arguments, plus a substantial bibliography. Recommended for all public libraries and for academic libraries collecting in legal philosophy and cultural criticism.—Rachel Bridgewater, Reed Coll., Portland, OR
Marks, Kathy. Lost Paradise: From Mutiny on the Bounty to a Modern-Day Legacy of Sexual Mayhem, the Dark Secrets of Pitcairn Island Revealed. Free Pr: S. & S. Jan. 2009. c.352p. ISBN 978-1-4165-9744-5. $26.95. CRIME
Pitcairn Island has been fantasy fodder for generations as an isolated tropical island originally populated by mutinous H.M.S. Bounty sailors and their Polynesian concubines. Not all has been well in that paradise, however. Investigations begun in 2000 eventually led to child rape charges against some of the tiny island’s most powerful men. The trials were held on the island, with only six journalists authorized to observe—among them Marks, who had 20 years of newspaper experience and was reporting for two papers. Marks stayed on the island for six tumultuous weeks and continued her research from abroad. Her troubling story depicts a community in which child rape and other abuses had become widely tolerated over generations. Marks rarely lets her outrage outpace her reporting, despite the lurid content. Although her effort falls short of ethnography, her speculations about the involuted nature of sexuality and power on the island are convincing. This somewhat disorganized, emotive account will leave readers shaken. Recommended for all public libraries and any academic libraries that collect true crime.—Lisa Klopfer, Eastern Michigan Univ., Ypsilanti
Atwood, Margaret. Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. House of Anansi, dist. by Publishers Group West. 2008. c.240p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-88784-800-1. pap. $15.95. POL SCI
Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale) is one of North America’s most esteemed and celebrated writers, having published dozens of novels, poetry collections, and essays. A distinguished commentator on world events, having penned among other critical writings “A Letter to America” in early 2003 that stills resonates today in light of the emerging financial crisis, she has now published a profound and erudite study of debt in all its guises, in essays that originated as lectures on Canadian radio. Here, aptly illustrated by a balloon about to explode, the lessons she advances elegantly cover debt as sin, as plot, as religious incantation, and as feckless conduct, intermingled with her references to ancient wisdoms and contemporary follies. The results are most felicitous. The text makes plain Atwood’s skill at combining painstaking research on the great truths of civilization with personal anecdotes that resonate with all in a fashion not seen since Stephen Leacock’s essays from his zenith almost 100 years ago. A book to be found on the shelves of all libraries.—Gilles Renaud, Cornwall, Ont.
Bennis, Phyllis. Ending the Iraq War: A Primer. Olive Branch: Interlink. Jan. 2009. 208p. ISBN 978-1-56656-717-6. pap. $10. INT AFFAIRS
In one of the most intelligently argued books on the many issues surrounding the war in Iraq, Bennis (fellow, Inst. for Policy Studies; Challenging Empire), a seasoned observer of the contemporary Middle East, examines in jargon-free and highly informative fashion many of the questions that have been raised by both supporters and critics of the Iraq War. Part 1 explains the sociopolitical forces in Iraq, while Part 2 focuses on Washington’s rationale for launching the war and demystifies many of the commonly held assumptions about its causes. Part 3 deals with the implications of the Iraq War for the region and the rest of the world; such topics as the roles of Israel, Iran, and the UN are analyzed. Finally, in Part 4, the author explains how to end the Iraq War and withdraw American forces from Iraq. What makes this book unique is the question-and-answer format the author uses throughout to provide lucid answers to many of the commonly asked questions about the nature of this war. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries.—Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile
Codevilla, Angelo M. Advice to War Presidents: A Remedial Course in Statecraft. Basic Bks: Perseus. Apr. 2009. c.336p. index. ISBN 978-0-465-00483-6. $27.50. INT AFFAIRS
Veteran international relations author Codevilla (international relations, Boston Univ.; No Victory, No Peace) questions basic assumptions that have guided U.S. foreign policy since Woodrow Wilson tried to make the world safe for democracy, including the idea of an “international community” that speaks with a unified voice, that all peoples want to live in an America-like democracy, and that nations are willing to engage in exercises of collective security. He is equally critical of three prevalent schools of thought in international relations: liberal internationalism, neoconservatism, and realism. Instead of following one of these, he urges policy makers to rely on the judicious use of proven tools, including diplomacy, economic sanctions, war, intelligence, security, and winning the peace following a period of conflict. The many examples of theories that failed, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and economic sanctions against Iraq, provide strong support for his approach. Although the ideas expressed here are currently out of favor, they are worth consideration by anyone with an interest in world affairs. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.—Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York
Mann, James. The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War. Viking. Mar. 2009. c.390p. index. ISBN 978-0-670-02054-6. $27.95. POL SCI
Ronald Reagan did not “win” the Cold War, nor was he just historically lucky, as two contrasting viewpoints would sometimes have it. Instead, writes former journalist Mann (author-in-residence, Johns Hopkins Sch. of Advanced International Studies; Rise of the Vulcans), after a career of hard line anticommunism Reagan proved more flexible and visionary than many other leaders of American foreign policy and more opportunistic and insightful into the motives of Mikhail Gorbachev when the Soviet leader signaled change in the USSR’s own conventional hard-line position. Mann’s book has four sections: an analysis of the long personal and political relationship between Reagan and Richard Nixon, the two leading anti-Communists of their era; the story of how Reagan put to use his friendship with Susan Massie, a writer on Russian history from outside the academic establishment; a close study of Reagan’s famous 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall; and an examination of Reagan’s final two years in office, when the Cold War began to thaw. Mann bases his argument upon impressive original research, including interviews with principals who range from George Shultz, to Colin Powel, to Helmut Kohl, to Nancy Reagan. Highly recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/08.]—Bob Nardini, Nashville
Fisher, Helen. Why Him? Why Her?: Finding Real Love by Understanding Your Personality Type. Holt. Feb. 2009. c.336p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-8050-8292-0. $25. PSYCH
Fisher (anthropology, Rutgers Univ.; Why We Love) presents her research for Chemistry.com on personality types and long-term relationships. Paralleling the theories of Hippocrates, Carl Jung, David Keirsey, and others, she posits that people fall into four different groups of inherited temperament: explorers, builders, directors, and negotiators. She offers a test for readers to find their type and thoroughly explains the traits of each temperament and the corresponding chemicals and hormones. To illustrate these traits, Fisher assigns well-known historical figures to the types. Next, readers learn what each type is looking for in a mate, what sort of connection the different types hope to make, and how they behave in dating and relationships. Fisher explores each of the ten possible relationship combinations of the four types, describing strengths and pitfalls of each. There is also a section on the biology of first impressions and early dating behaviors. Readers seeking a long-term relationship will be interested in Fisher’s ideas, and her book is recommended for larger public libraries.—Erica L. Foley, Clinton-Macomb P.L., Clinton Twp., MI
Fleet, Carole Brody with Syd Harriet. Widows Wear Stilettos: A Practical and Emotional Guide for the Young Widow. New Horizon. Jan. 2009. c.224p. ISBN 978-0-88282-339-3. pap. $14.95. PSYCH
Motivational speaker and coach Fleet, who was widowed at 40 and has since made numerous guest appearances on television and radio, offers a guide for women who have also experienced the loss of a partner at a young age. Fleet’s presentation is frank and interspersed with bits of honest humor. The text is easy to read, with charts and tips sprinkled throughout. Fleet, with psychotherapist Harriet, provides information on how to organize details such as funeral arrangements, wills, social security, and insurance at a time when organization is the last thing a new widow may want to face. She discusses emotional, physical, and spiritual health and finishes by focusing on living the rest of your life. This is a book about hope, and women will want to read it and share it with others, regardless of marital status or age. An essential addition to every public library.—Melody Ballard, Pima Cty. P.L., Tucson, AZ
Orloff, Judith, M.D. Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life. Harmony: Crown. Mar. 2009. c.416p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-307-33818-1. $24.95. PSYCH
Psychiatrist and best-selling author Orloff (Positive Energy; Dr. Orloff’s Guide to Intuitive Healing) successfully combines spirituality and intuition with traditional medicine. In Part 1, Orloff presents four components of emotion—biology, energy, spirituality, and psychology—and provides a 20-question assessment to highlight individuals’ strengths and weaknesses. She addresses the use of dreams in making life changes and teaches the reader how to meditate. Orloff divides Part 2 into seven chapters, each devoted to a difficult negative emotion. Throughout, Orloff details how one can use the four components of emotion to transform negative emotions into positive ones and become a more centered and emotionally healthy person. For example, she provides an action plan to help readers respond to anger from a more empathic place instead of spinning out of control. This well-written book is full of good advice for anyone who wants to take more control of his or her emotional life. Highly recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/08.]—Phyllis Goodman, West Chester Lib., OH
Philpott, Don & Janelle Hill. The Wounded Warrior Handbook: A Resource Guide for Returning Veterans. Government Institutes. 2008. c.304p. index. ISBN 978-1-60590-271-5. pap. $30. PSYCH
Philpott (Education Facility Security Handbook; ed., Homeland Defense Journal) and Hill, president of a consulting provider and a U.S. Marine Corps volunteer, offer straightforward answers to questions commonly asked by wounded U.S. military veterans and their family members as they struggle with the complexities of receiving their needed care. As the authors reveal, over 25,000 service members have sustained injury in the war in Iraq, and approximately half of these injuries have been serious enough to require medical evacuation back to the United States. Well organized, comprehensive, and relatively easy to follow, the material covers, e.g., obtaining medical treatment and post-treatment rehabilitation, setting up mental-health counseling, family support, and the difficult transition from wounded soldier to citizen veteran. The authors also explain filing for support from agencies like the Veterans Administration (VA) and the Department of Defense. The extensive listing of web sites and other contact information for veteran support agencies is alone worth the price of this valuable resource. Essential for all helping professionals who work with veterans and their family members, this belongs in all VA hospitals and clinics. Highly recommended for university libraries supporting the helping professions and larger public libraries.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX
Sills, Judith. Getting Naked Again: Dating, Romance, Sex, and Love When You’ve Been Divorced, Widowed, Dumped, or Distracted. Springboard: Grand Central. Feb. 2009. c.271p. ISBN 978-0-446-58249-0. $24.99. PSYCH
Courting again as an over-50 retread raises psychosocial and sometimes physical challenges. Sills (Biting the Apple: Women Getting Wise About Love) focuses on the psychosocial for both women and men readers. Internally, one must permit a change in identity, from attached and not looking to alone and looking. Externally, one must play a no-longer-familiar game again but now with different rules. Clinical psychologist Sills has logged 35 years of interpersonal insight, and it shows in warm and witty advice that’s simultaneously protective and permissive. Also, she talked to 100 newly dating singles aged 50 to 80, and her quotations from the field are apt and memorable. Sills is a superb writer and a real pleasure to read. The only drawback is the lack of a resource section. For example, she gives no information about aging and sexuality regarding biology or techniques. That’s fine—other books do—but she should suggest some, like Robert Butler and Myrna Lewis’s classic, The New Love and Sex After 60, which all public libraries should have. Sills’s book is recommended for public libraries.—Martha Cornog, Philadelphia
Stanovich, Keith E. What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought. Yale Univ.. Jan. 2009. c.328p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-300-12385-2. $30. PSYCH
Stanovich (human development & applied psychology, Univ. of Toronto; How To Think Straight About Psychology) argues that IQ tests measure cognitive efficiency but not the degree to which subjects make rational decisions. He explains that individuals with high IQs are as likely as others to go for quick, easy answers, adopt beliefs that preclude rational thinking, or be unaware of the rules of chance and probability—a concept Stanovich terms dysrationalia. In a weak first chapter, he introduces someone he thinks may be dysrational, President George W. Bush, whose IQ has been estimated to be around 120 but whose supporters have said he is “dogmatic” and “incurious.” But readers should persist; the rest of the book is worthwhile and better supported. This is an important book for much the same reason that Daniel Goleman’s best-selling Emotional Intelligence has proven so useful: it is based on sound evidence and allows for better prediction and education for success. This engaging and accessible book is highly recommended for most public and academic libraries.—Mary Ann Hughes, Shelton, WA
Zeidner, Moshe & others. What We Know About Emotional Intelligence: How It Affects Learning, Work, Relationships, and Our Mental Health. MIT. Apr. 2009. c.450p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-262-01260-7. $29.95. PSYCH
Does emotional intelligence (EI) exist as real science? asks this meticulously documented work. Zeidner (education psychology & human development, Univ. of Haifa), Gerald Matthews (psychology, Univ. of Cincinnati), and Richard D. Roberts (research scientist, Educational Testing Service) delve into the research surrounding EI, which has found recent popularity for application in schools and businesses. They note the important applications that EI may have in education, the workplace, and the clinic and briefly touch on moral and ethical issues. The reliability of the various tests that try to define and measure EI is scrutinized using research studies published as recently as 2008. The authors do not dismiss EI as pseudoscience, but they do make many suggestions for further research to validate the study of this intelligence as its own discipline. Droll comments throughout help lighten the technical discussions. Recommended for practitioners and graduate collections in psychology, business, and education.—Margaret Cardwell, Memphis, TN
Frank, Nathaniel. Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin’s. Mar. 2009. c.352p. index. ISBN 978-0-312-37348-1. $25.95. SOC SCI
The U.S. Army policy that came to be known as “don’t ask, don’t tell” was controversial since its inception in 1993. This analysis by Frank (Palm Ctr., Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) will be as important as Allan Berube’s Coming Out Under Fire and Randy Shilts’s Conduct Unbecoming. Frank looks at the policy through a variety of lenses—historical, sociological, and political—demonstrating the policy’s logical flaws and negative consequences for American security. The interviews he conducts with dismissed and active service personnel put a human face on the issue. Especially interesting is the chapter devoted to dismissing gay and lesbian Arabic linguists from the Defense Language Institute. Frank’s most important and probably most controversial conclusion is that the policy is based on nothing more than prejudice. This book will have an audience among the general public as well as policymakers. Most libraries will want it.—David Azzolina, Univ. of PA Lib.
Eat: Los Angeles; The Food Lover’s Guide to Los Angeles. Prospect Park. 2008. 315p. ed. by Colleen Dunn Bates. index. ISBN 978-0-9753939-6-3. pap. $19.95. TRAV
Much more than just a traditional restaurant guide, this book offers information about bakeries, wine shops, markets, caterers, festivals, cooking classes, and even taco trucks in order to assist the L.A. resident or savvy visitor in the pursuit of the “gustatorily rewarding life.” Entries include answers to why a place is recommended, what one can expect to find, and also who the typical customer is, so that the user will know if he will be dining with hipsters, movie stars, and/or “Chihuahuas in Birkin bags.” Places designated as “Essentially L.A.,” based on food or history, are especially recommended. The more detailed sections on good food neighborhoods are useful for planning day outings. Compact, attractively designed, and sturdily bound to withstand repeated use, the book has only one minor drawback: the lack of an index by type of food. Clearly intended mostly for Angelenos or those familiar with the area, this guide is essential for L.A.-area libraries; otherwise recommended for travel collections where there is interest.—Megan Hahn Fraser, Young Research Lib., Univ. of California, Los Angeles
Ski Atlas of the World: The Complete Reference to the Best Resorts. Abbeville. 2008. c.300p. ed. by Arnie Wilson. photogs. maps. index. ISBN 978-0-7892-0986-3. $50. TRAV
Wilson, longtime ski correspondent for the Financial Times and editor of Ski & Board magazine, has compiled a handsome book featuring approximately 400 gorgeous skiing and mountain photographs, 93 informative maps, and historical and anecdotal text about skiing and snowboarding around the world. Wilson is in The Guinness Book of World Records for skiing every day of 1994, a feat that took him to 240 resorts in 13 countries. Here, he documents the history of the sport and then introduces 80 of the best ski resorts around the world. The book spans Europe, the United States, and Canada and includes a final section on South America, Australasia, and Japan. Entries include information on the resort’s history, terrain, flavor, and facilities. Famous locations such as Zermatt, Aspen, Whistler, Kitzbühel, Jackson Hole, Banff, and Lillehammer are profiled, as well as new areas in such countries as Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia. A section at the end of the book summarizes resorts, indicating location, resort details, elevation, vertical drop, number of lifts, marked runs, ungroomed terrain, snow making, night skiing, and length of season. This invaluable, attractive reference is recommended for public libraries.—Melinda Stivers Leach, Precision Editorial Svcs., Wondervu, CO
A Year of Festivals: How To Have the Time of Your Life. Lonely Planet. 2008. 256p. photogs. index. ISBN 978-1-74179-049-8. pap. $24.99. TRAV
Lonely Planet’s guidebooks often cover locations off the beaten path and are favored among backpackers and travelers with smaller budgets. But with this work, the editors have created a book that is in fact more useful to the armchair traveler. The year is broken out into 48 weeks of festivals, with the remaining four weeks used to collect thematically related events. Within each week, the editors have chosen to focus on four events from the worldwide calendar, providing a few details about the festivals and a brief summary of what to expect when in attendance. Most of the real estate on each page is devoted to full-color photographs from selected events. Frequently, these photographs prove to be more compelling than the accompanying text. The organizational format makes this book nearly impossible for use by a serious traveler, though it is saved somewhat by the location index that groups events by country. Recommended for public libraries with a broad travel collection or programs with an emphasis on international cultural events.—Anna Creech, Univ. of Richmond, VA
