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Reviewer's Choice
The Hidden History of American Democracy
Thom Hartmann
Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.
1333 Broadway, Suite 1000, Oakland CA, 94612
www.bkconnection.com
9781523004386, $19.95, PB, 192pp
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-History-American-Democracy-Rediscovering/dp/152300438X
Synopsis: With the publication of "The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity's Ancient Way of Living", Thom Hartmann provides his readers with a succinct, powerful, sweeping history and analysis of American democracy, and shows how democracy is the one form of governance most likely to produce peace and happiness among people.
With the violent exception of the Civil War, American democracy resisted the pressure to disintegrate into factionalism for nearly two centuries, and now, with the currently deepening and increasingly hostile polarization of the American people our very system of democratic elections is at stake.
So how do we save our democracy?
"The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity's Ancient Way of Living" offers a clear call to action and a set of solutions with road maps for both individuals and communities to follow in order to create a safer, more just society, more equitable, more civil, and more prosperous economy.
Critique: Given the current threat to American Democracy from domestic fascists and their present control of roughly 1/3 of the general American public through deliberate and consistent campaigns of misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and lies, as well as a recently failed campaign to overthrow a freely and fairly elected presidential election, "The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity's Ancient Way of Living" by Thom Hartmann should be a core addition to highschool, community, college, and university library 21st Century American Political Science collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of Political Science students, academia, political activists, and non-specialist general readers alarmed by what is currently happening in our country that "The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity's Ancient Way of Living" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Thom Hartmann (https://www.thomhartmann.com) is a four time winner of the Project Censored Award, a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books, and America's #1 progressive talk radio show host for more than a decade. His show is carried on SiriusXM and radio stations nationwide and simulcast on Free Speech TV.
When the Subject Is Rape: A Guide for Male Partners, Friends & Family Members
Alan W. McEvoy, PhD
Square One Publishers
115 Herricks Road, Garden City Park, NY 11040
www.squareonepublishers.com
9780757005220, $17.95, PB, 168pp
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-the-subject-is-rape-alan-w-mcevoy-phd/1143047970
Synopsis: Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person who is incapable of giving valid consent, such as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, has an intellectual disability, or is below the legal age of consent. The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault. (Wikipedia)
Rape is, unfortunately, an all-too-common violent crime usually perpetrated against women. For victims, the process of sharing information about an assault with loves ones or reporting the crime to the police can be harrowing, embarrassing, and painful. The responses of others can greatly affect the way a rape survivor copes. Often the men who are closest to rape survivors (intimate partners, friends, and family members) are simply unprepared to offer the right assistance. The wrong word or action may trigger an unexpected reaction.
Expertly written by Alan W. McEvoy, "When the Subject Is Rape: A Guide for Male Partners, Friends & Family Members" is designed specifically to illustrate the role men can play as allies in a woman's recovery from rape.
"When the Subject Is Rape" carefully examines the many aspects of rape. It looks at both the short- and long-term emotional and psychological impacts rape can have on a woman, what she can expect during the prosecution of her rapist, and strategies that can help her to recover from the assault. It also discusses how the men in her life should communicate with her and address her needs throughout her recovery, and describes how they should conduct themselves to avoid unintentionally causing her more pain. Furthermore, it explains how to identify changes in behavior that may signal an undisclosed rape.
Even if a rape goes unreported, both the emotional consequences and the need for support throughout the recovery process will still be present.
Rape is not an easy subject to discuss. Sexual violence can radically alter the course of a woman's life. By understanding the trauma associated with rape and other forms of sexual assault, men can play an important part in a woman's healing process. "When the Subject Is Rape" provides information that can help men to create a climate of support for the empowerment of women who are on the path to recovery.
Critique: Most rapes and sexual assaults against women go unreported, or are reported years after the event (such as was the case with respect to men like Bill Cosby). But whether reported or unreported, women need the emotional support of their family members and friends -- including the men in their lives be they husbands, boyfriends, brothers, fathers, or uncles. Rape and sexual assault is to be found in every community, and on every campus, so every community library, every college/university library, and every counseling center needs to have a copy of "When the Subject Is Rape: A Guide for Male Partners, Friends & Family Members" in their collection for the benefit of their patrons and students. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "When the Subject Is Rape: A Guide for Male Partners, Friends & Family Members" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.49).
Editorial Note: Alan W. McEvoy earned his doctorate in sociology from Western Michigan University. He is an emeritus professor at Northern Michigan University, where he served as head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. He is the author or co-author of numerous works on rape, child abuse, intimate partner violence, toxic romantic relationships, youth suicide, and bullying. He has served as an expert witness in litigation involving violence in schools. (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/alan-w-mcevoy-phd)
The Writing/Publishing Shelf
The Art of Libromancy
Josh Cook
Biblioasis
www.biblioasis.com
9781771965415, $18.95, PB, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Libromancy-Selling-Reading-Twenty-first/dp/177196541X
Synopsis: With Amazon's growing power in both book selling and publishing, considering where and how we get our books is more important now than ever - especially to authors, publishers, and dedicated bibliophiles.
The simple act of putting a book in a reader's hands (what booksellers call hand-selling) becomes a catalyst for an exploration of the moral, financial, and political pressures all independent bookstores face.
From the relationship between bookselling and white supremacy, to censorship and the spread of misinformation, to the consolidation of the publishing industry, with the publication of "The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-first Century" veteran bookseller and writer Josh Cook turns a generous yet critical eye to an industry at the heart of American culture, sharing tips and techniques for becoming a better reader and, of course, recommending great books along the way.
Critique: Exceptionally well written, deftly organized, and impressively presented, "The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-first Century" is as informed and informative, as it is inherently fascinating commentary on the independent bookstore owner/seller in a publishing industry increasingly dominated by the big book bookstore chains and the internet based booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble).
In the author's words: "If books are important to you because you're a reader or a writer, then how books are sold should be important to you as well. If it matters to you that your vegetables are organic, your clothes made without child labor, your beer brewed without a culture of misogyny, then it should matter how books are made and sold to you."
While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99), "The Art of Libromancy: On Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-first Century" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Writing/Publishing collections and supplemental Contemporary Media Studies curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Josh Cook (https://www.portersquarebooks.com/josh-cook) is a bookseller and co-owner at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he has worked since 2004. He is also author of the critically acclaimed postmodern detective novel An Exaggerated Murder and his fiction, criticism, and poetry have appeared in numerous leading literary publications.
The Environmental Studies Shelf
Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean
Christina Gerhardt
University of California Press
111 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607
www.ucpress.edu
9780520304826, $34.95, HC, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Change-Atlas-Islands-Rising/dp/0520304829
Synopsis: Because of the Climate Change driven sea level rises, atlases are having to be redrawn as islands are disappearing. What does an island see when the sea rises?
With the publication of "Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean" Professor Christina Gerhardt deftly weaves together essays, maps, art, and poetry to show us (and make even the more reluctant of us see) what is happening to island nations in a warming world.
Low-lying islands are least responsible for global warming, but they are suffering the brunt of it.
"Sea Change" is transportive atlas reorients our vantage point to place islands at the center of the story, highlighting Indigenous and Black voices and the work of communities taking action for local and global climate justice.
At once serious and playful, well-researched and lavishly designed, "Sea Change" is a stunning exploration of the climate and our world's coastlines. A compendium of immersive storytelling, scientific expertise, and rallying cries from island populations that shout with hope -- We are not drowning! We are fighting!, "Sea Change" is an atlas will galvanize readers in the fight against climate change and the choices we all face.
Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a an Introduction (Of Oceans and Islands), a seven page Glossary, a five page Map Citations, and a fifteen page bibliography of Works Cited, "Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean" is exceptionally well written, organized and presented, making it a timely, critically important, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Environmentalism collections and supplemental Environmental Issues curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Christina Gerhardt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Gerhardt) is Associate Professor at the University of Hawai'i at M?noa, Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and former Barron Professor of Environment and the Humanities at Princeton University. Her environmental journalism has been published by Grist.org, The Nation, The Progressive, and the Washington Monthly.
The Health/Medicine Shelf
Safe Movement for All Spines
Gwen Miller
North Atlantic Books
2526 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-2607
www.northatlanticbooks.com
9781623177980, $25.95, PB, 384pp
https://www.amazon.com/Safe-Movement-All-Spines-Conditions/dp/1623177987
Synopsis: With the publication of "Safe Movement for All Spines: A Guide to Spinal Anatomy and How to Work with 21 Spine and Hip Conditions", Gwen Miller provides an essential guide for all movement therapists and teachers working with clients and patients with spinal movement and pain issues.
With ready-made exercises and easy adaptations, yoga instructors, pilates teachers, and fitness instructors will learn: How to distinguish among different common spinal pathologies and mechanical dysfunctions--plus appropriate interventions and adjustments for each; All about osteoporosis, spinal stenosis, hypermobility syndromes, and more; Guidelines for appropriate movement and injury prevention; How to work safely and effectively with both pre- and post-surgical clients; Targeted programs for specific back-pain issues.
Critique: Nicely illustrated, exceptionally well organized and presented, "Safe Movement for All Spines: A Guide to Spinal Anatomy and How to Work with 21 Spine and Hip Conditions" is fully accessible and easy to understand by professional and non-professional readers alike. The lessons and practices comprising "Safe Movement for All Spines" are especially appropriate to share with clients wanting to practice them at home or in the studio. While also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.99), "Safe Movement for All Spines" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, medical clinic, college, and university library Physical Exercise/Rehabilitation, Pain Management, and Osteoporosis collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Gwen Miller (www.gwenmillerstudio.com) is the owner of Gwen Miller Studio, an integrated clinical movement and manual therapy system and studio. Miller is an experienced continuing education provider through Pilates Method Alliance - NACPT, American Council on Exercise, International Association of Yoga Therapists, and Yoga Alliance. She has developed, written, and taught dozens of continuing education workshops and courses on a variety of health and fitness topics, including scoliosis, spinal pathologies, balance and stabilization training, osteoporosis, interval training, and more. With 20 years' education and experience teaching movement, Miller enjoys mentoring teachers and developing community among movement professionals.
The Education Shelf
Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades
Susanne Croasdaile
https://www.croasdaile.org
Cast, Inc.
https://www.cast.org
9781943085002, $27.00, PB, 144pp
https://www.amazon.com/Building-Executive-Function-Motivation-Middle/dp/1943085005
Synopsis: With the publication of "Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades: A Universal Design for Learning Approach" and using real-life examples, Susanne Croasdaile shows educators how to integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to transform the learning experience for their students. She provides a roadmap for anyone who seeks practical, research-based strategies to help their students survive and thrive to become expert learners in the middle grades.
In an easy-to-follow, 8-step process, this instructive guide offers numerous strategies that will enhance instruction and support student social and emotional competency. By highlighting practices related to students' executive function and sustained effort, "Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades" is will prove to be an enduringly useful and highly valued addition to the toolkit of every classroom teacher, coach, and administrator.
Critique: Impressively informative, exceptionally well written, thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades: A Universal Design for Learning Approach" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, school district, college, and university library Teacher Education, Educational Psychology, and Behavioral Science collections. Ideal for in-service workshop curriculums it should be noted that "Building Executive Function and Motivation in the Middle Grades: A Universal Design for Learning Approach" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.49).
Editorial Note: Susanne Croasdaile, PhD, has been a classroom teacher, instructional coach, professional developer, program specialist, systems change consultant, and associate director of curriculum and instructions for public schools in Virginia and Louisiana. With more than 25 years of experience in K-12, higher education, and educational research and evaluation, she uses a range of roles to support school-based faculty members as reflective practitioners and to lift their voices to the larger education community.
The American History Shelf
The New Civil Rights Movement Reader
Traci Parker, editor
Marcia Walker-McWilliams, editor
University of Massachusetts Press
https://www.umasspress.com
9781625346896, $36.95, PB, 600pp
https://www.amazon.com/New-Civil-Rights-Movement-Reader/dp/1625346891
Synopsis: In the United States, the fight to secure full civil rights for African American people has endured for centuries. The movement has included many voices, among them, working people, charismatic activists, musicians and artists, the LGBTQIA community, veterans, suburbanites, and elected officials.
Moving from the labor struggles of the 1930s to the sit-ins and boycotts of midcentury, and the Black Lives Matter protests of today, "The New Civil Rights Movement Reader: Resistance, Resilience, and Justice" is an expansive volume that brings together first-person accounts, political documents and speeches, and historical photographs from each region of the country.
Designed for use in college and university courses and also engaging for the non-specialist general reader, "The New Civil Rights Movement Reader" is new compilation is the most diverse, most inclusive, and most comprehensive resource available for teaching and learning about the civil rights movement.
With chronological and geographical depth, "The New Civil Rights Movement Reader" directly addresses a range of key topics, including youth activism, regional and local freedom struggles, voting rights, economic inequality, gender, sexuality, and culture, and the movement's global
Critique: Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by academicians Traci Parker and Marcia Walker-McWilliams, "The New Civil Rights Movement Reader: Resistance, Resilience, and Justice" is an impressive, high value, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American History and Race Relations collections, as well as supplemental African-American History curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, historian, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The New Civil Rights Movement Reader: Resistance, Resilience, and Justice" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $30.99).
Editorial Note #1: Traci Parker (https://traciparker.com) is associate professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement: Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights from the 1930s to the 1980s.
Editorial Note #2: Marcia Walker-McWilliams ((https://www.linkedin.com/in/marciaphd)) is executive director of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium and author of Reverend Addie Wyatt: Faith and the Fight for Labor, Gender, and Racial Equality.
Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond
Timothy G. Anderson, editor
Brian Schoen, editor
Ohio University Press
215 Columbus Road, Suite 101, Athens, OH 45701
www.ohioswallow.com
9780821425268, $55.00, HC, 292pp
https://www.amazon.com/Settling-Ohio-Peoples-Approaches-Midwestern/dp/0821425269
Synopsis: The Ohio Valley possesses some of the most resource-rich terrain in the world. Its settlement by humans was thus consequential not only for shaping the geographic and cultural landscape of the region but also for forming the United States and impacting the future of world history.
Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by academicians and historians Timothy G. Anderson and Brian Schoen, "Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond", begins with an overview of the first people who inhabited the region, who built civilizations that moved massive amounts of earth and left an archaeological record that drew the interest of subsequent settlers and continues to intrigue scholars. It highlights how, in the eighteenth century, Native Americans who migrated from the East and North interacted with Europeans to develop impressive trading networks and how they navigated complicated wars and sought to preserve national identities in the face of violent attempts to remove them from their lands.
The contributors to "Settling Ohio" situates the traditional story of Ohio settlement, including the Northwest Ordinance, the dealings of the Ohio Company of Associates, and early road building, into a far richer story of contested spaces, competing visions of nationhood, and complicated relations with Indian peoples. By so doing, they provide valuable new insights into how chaotic and contingent early national politics and frontier development truly were.
Chapters highlighting the role of apple-growing culture, education, African American settlers, and the diverse migration flows into Ohio from the East and Europe further demonstrate the complex multiethnic composition of Ohio's early settlements and the tensions that resulted.
A final theme of "Settling Ohio" is the desirability of working to recover the often-forgotten history of non-White peoples displaced by the processes of settler colonialism that has been, until recently, undervalued in the scholarship.
Critique: With its twelve chapters deftly organized into three major sections (First Nation; American Foundations; Alternate Histories), and featuring a sixteen page Appendix, a six page listing of the contributors and their credentials, and a nine page Index, "Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond" is an impressive work of seminal scholarship and an unreservedly recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library American History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond" is also available in a paperback edition (9780821425275, $28.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $15.65).
Editorial Note #1: Timothy G. Anderson (https://www.ohio.edu/cas/anderst1) is an historical geographer and is an Associate Professor of Geography at Ohio University.
Editorial Note #2: Brian Schoen (https://www.ohio.edu/cas/schoen) is the chair of the Department of History and the James Richard Hamilton/Baker & Hostetler Distinguished Professor of Teaching in the Humanities at Ohio University. He is the author of The Fragile Fabric of Union: Cotton, Federal Politics, and the Global Origins of the Civil War and has co-edited three other collections.
To the Last Extremity
Mark Maloy
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216431, $16.95, PB, 192pp
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Extremity-Charleston-1776-1782-Revolutionary/dp/1611216435
Synopsis: June 1776: Just a month before America declared its independence from Great Britain, a British fleet of warships and thousands of British soldiers appeared off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. After a day-long battle, the most powerful navy in the world was bloodily repulsed by the Americans.
In the spring of 1779, a British force brazenly marched from Savannah to Charleston and tested the city's defenses before falling back. Finally, in the spring of 1780, a large British force returned to Charleston and laid siege to the city. The result was the worst American defeat of the Revolutionary War for the Americans, which cost them the city and an entire army of nearly 6,000 men. The citizens and soldiers suffered more than two years of occupation and imprisonment.
However, the siege of Charleston also marked the beginning of the end of the war. The fall of Charleston initiated a series of events that resulted in the American victory at Yorktown and the successful independence of the colonies.
South Carolina's historic port city is one of the most beautiful and historic in the United States. Numerous sites, battlefields, and buildings from this period still exist. In "To the Last Extremity: The Battles for Charleston, 1776-1782", historian Mark Maloy not only recounts the Revolutionary War history of Charleston, but takes you to the places where these events occurred.
Through it all, brave patriots were willing to defend the city and their liberty "to the last extremity."
Critique: Armchair historians and students of the American Revolution will enjoy "To the Last Extremity: The Battles for Charleston, 1776-1782", a true story outnumbered patriots forcing back the most powerful navy in the world at that time -- and where soldiers of the American Revolution bravely defended the city in 1779 and 1780, and where thousands suffered under occupation. While highly recommended for school and community library American Revolution History collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "To the Last Extremity: The Battles for Charleston, 1776-1782" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).
Editorial Note: Mark Maloy (https://www.battlefields.org/contributors/mark-maloy) is an historian and currently works for the National Park Service in Virginia. He holds an undergraduate degree in History from the College of William and Mary and a graduate degree in History from George Mason University. He has worked at numerous public historic sites and archaeological digs for the past fifteen years. He is also a Revolutionary War reenactor.
A Maritime History of the American Revolutionary War
Theodore Corbett
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781399040419, $34.95, HC, 280pp
https://www.amazon.com/Maritime-History-American-Revolutionary-Atlantic-Wide/dp/1399040413
Synopsis: While many books have been written on the naval history of the Revolution, "A Maritime History of the American Revolutionary War: An Atlantic-Wide Conflict over Independence and Empire" by independent scholar Theodore Corbett is one of the first to treat it in its entirety as an Atlantic-wide conflict.
While its geographical scope is vast, this seminal study features overlooked aspects of the war in which sloops and barges fought, actions which proved to be as decisive as the familiar ship of the line confrontations.
This is also history from the bottom up, emphasizing the role of the crew as much the not always heroic officers.
From naval perspective the rebellious colonies did not gain a military victory, though Benjamin Franklin was able to secure their independence at the peace table in Europe. The final chapter of "A Maritime History of the American Revolutionary War" is on the Royal Navy's evacuation of white and black loyalists.
Critique: A original, meticulous, detailed, documented, and fascinating historical study, "A Maritime History of the American Revolutionary War: An Atlantic-Wide Conflict over Independence and Empire" is informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a section of b/w plates, thirty-eight pages of Notes, and a four page Index. A work of throughly impressive scholarship that is thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, (and also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99), "A Maritime History of the American Revolutionary War: An Atlantic-Wide Conflict" is highly recommended as a core addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Revolutionary History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Theodore Corbett (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Theodore-Corbett/a/4970) is a scholar of the American Revolutionary War, an interest which grew during a career in teaching at several universities. He has published the award-winning No Turning Point, The Saratoga Campaign in Perspective and two community studies of the war, Revolutionary New Castle and Revolutionary Chestertown. For this maritime history, he has done research at the Caird Library, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Archives Centre, The Maritime Museum of Liverpool and the New York Historical Society as a Gilder Lehrman Fellow.
The World History Shelf
Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe
Stuart Carroll
Cambridge University Press
One Liberty Plaza, Fl. 20, New York, NY 10006
www.cambridge.org
9781009287326, $39.99, HC, 490pp
https://www.amazon.com/Enmity-Violence-Early-Modern-Europe/dp/100928732X
Synopsis: "Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe" is an original study in which Professor Stuart Carroll transforms our understanding of Europe between 1500 and 1800 by exploring how ordinary people felt about their enemies and the violence it engendered. Enmity, a state or feeling of mutual opposition or hostility, became a major social problem during the transition to modernity.
"Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe" examines how people used the law, and how they characterized their enmities and expressed their sense of justice or injustice.
Through the examples of early modern Italy, Germany, France and England, we see when and why everyday animosities escalated and the attempts of the state to control and even exploit the violence that ensued.
Professor Carroll also examines the communal and religious pressures for peace, and how notions of good neighbourliness and civil order finally worked to underpin trust in the state. Ultimately, enmity is not a relic of the past; it remains one of the greatest challenges to contemporary liberal democracy.
Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of numerous Figures, Maps, Tables, an informative Introduction and Conclusion, a five page Select Bibliography, and a twelve page Index, "Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe" is a seminal work of meticulous scholarship and solidly recommended addition to personal, community, college, and university library European History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in Italian, German, English and French history that "Enmity and Violence in Early Modern Europe" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $37.99).
Editorial Note: Stuart Carroll (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Carroll) is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of York. He is one of the editors of the Cambridge World History of Violence (2020). His other publications include Blood and Violence in Early Modern France (2006) and Martyrs and Murderers: the Guise Family and the Making of Europe, which won the J. Russell Major prize of the American Historical Association in 2011. He has also been awarded the Sixteenth Century Society's Nancy Lyman Roelker Prize an unprecedented four times.
The Queen's Frog Prince
David Lee
Chronos Books
c/o Collective Ink Books
https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com
9781803411644, $23.95, PB, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Queens-Frog-Prince-Courtship-Elizabeth/dp/1803411643
Synopsis: Between the years 1579 and 1581, a courtship between Elizabeth I of England and Francois, Duke of Anjou took place. Though this courtship is often dismissed as a political tactic on Elizabeth's part to create an Anglo-French alliance during the Wars of Religion, with the publication of "The Queen's Frog Prince: The Courtship of Elizabeth I and the Duke of Anjou" Irish historian Davie Leed presents an alternative interpretation.
In his history of Elizabeth I and the Duke of Anjou, Lee pores over some of the surviving love letters exchanged between Elizabeth and Anjou, whom Elizabeth affectionately nicknamed "my frog." Lee suggests that although the courtship suited Elizabeth I politically, it also blossomed into something much more complex, an affectionate bond, and that to understand Elizabeth I as a woman, she must first be seen for who she was beneath all the vainglory and iconography.
Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of illustrations, a 'Dramatis Personae', fourteen pages of Notes, and a five page Bibliography, "The Queen's Frog Prince: The Courtship of Elizabeth I and the Duke of Anjou" is exceptionally 'reader friendly' in both organization and presentation. While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $22.75) for the personal reading lists of students, academia, historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject, "The Queen's Frog Prince" will prove to be a welcome pic for community and academic library British Royal History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: David Lee is an Irish historian, who specialises in women's history. He first became interested in the Tudors as a teenager. David's interest in Tudor history, particularly Tudor women's history, attracted him so much that he found himself embarking on a path towards a career in the historical profession. David earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Maynooth University in 2019 and recently, a Master's Degree specializing in nineteenth-century women landowners and heiresses. He is currently also writing a joint biography of William and Robert Cecil. He has contributed two articles on Queen Anne Boleyn.com and has appeared on podcasts with Natalie Grueninger of the Talking Tudors podcast series. He also writes monthly articles for Tudor Life magazine.
The Granddaughters of Edward III
Kathryn Warner
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781526779250, $42.95, HC, 224pp
https://www.amazon.com/Granddaughters-Edward-III-Kathryn-Warner/dp/1526779250
Synopsis: Edward III (13 November 1312 - 21 June 1377) may best known to history for his restoration of English kingly authority after the disastrous and mysterious fall of his father, Edward II, and eventual demise of his mother, Queen Isabella. It was Edward III who arguably put England on the map as a military might. This show of power and strength was not simply through developments in government, success in warfare or the establishment of the Order of the Garter, which fused ideals of chivalry and national identity to form camaraderie between king and peerage. The expansion of England as a formidable European powerhouse was also achieved through the traditional lines of political marriages, particularly those of the king of England's own granddaughters.
"The Granddaughters of Edward III" by academician and historian Kathryn Warner is a joint biography of nine of those women who lived between 1355 and 1440, and their dramatic, turbulent lives. One was queen of Portugal and was the mother of the Illustrious Generation; one married into the family of her parents' deadly enemies and became queen of Castile; one became pregnant by the king of England's half-brother while married to someone else, and her third husband was imprisoned for marrying her without permission; one was widowed at about 24 when her husband was summarily beheaded by a mob, and some years later bore an illegitimate daughter to an earl; one saw her marriage annulled so that her husband could marry a Bohemian lady-in-waiting; one was born illegitimate, had sixteen children, and was the grandmother of two kings of England.
Critique: Informatively enriched for the reader with the inclusion of a section of black/white illustrations, three pages of Family Trees genealogies, a one page listing of Abbreviations, forty pages of Notes, a ten page Bibliography, and a five page Index, "The Granddaughters of Edward III" is an extraordinary history of the life, times, and importance of nine women during and after the reign of Edward III. A thorough work of meticulous and painstaking scholarship, "The Granddaughters of Edward III" will appeal to both academia and the general public with an interest in British Royal History/Biographies. While fully recommended for community, college, and university library English Royal History and Women's Biography collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Granddaughters of Edward III" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Kathryn Warner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Warner) holds a BA and an MA with Distinction in medieval history and literature from the University of Manchester, and is the author of biographies about Edward II and his queen Isabella. Kathryn has had work published in the English Historical Review, has given a paper at the International Medieval Congress, and appeared in a BBC documentary. She runs a popular blog on Edward II and is an expert on Edward II, Isabelle of Castille and Richard II.
Roman Special Forces and Special Ops
Simon Elliott
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781399090926, $34.95, HC, 176pp
https://www.amazon.com/Roman-Special-Forces-Ops-Speculatores/dp/1399090925
Synopsis: There is an ever expanding library of studies about the Roman army and the mighty legions that conquered their empire and then defended it for centuries against all comers. But little has been written about the men and units employed when something more subtle than the march of legions into pitched battle was required. "Roman Special Forces and Special Ops: Speculatores, Exploratores, Protectores and Areani in the Service of Rome" by archaeologist and historian Simon Elliott is the only published study that is dedicated to Roman special ops and the role of the Speculatores, Exploratores, Protectores and Areani.
An expert when it comes to Roman military history, in "Roman Special Forces and Special Ops" Simon Elliott reveals the kinds of special operations conducted by the Romans: tactical scouting ahead of the legions, covert strategic reconnaissance in neighboring states, espionage, assassination or abduction of dissidents and enemies, counter-insurgency, and close protection of Roman officials and commanders.
While such missions were frequently executed by ad-hoc units or individuals detailed for that specific mission, "Roman Special Forces and Special Ops" goes on to reveal the evidence for the aforementioned specialist units -- concluding with an analysis of the extent to which these various forces corresponded to a modern conception of Special Forces.
These men were the eyes and ears of the Empire, the deadly tip of the Roman sword.
Critique: An impressively well written, eloquent, and detailed historical account, "Roman Special Forces and Special Ops: Speculatores, Exploratores, Protectores and Areani in the Service of Rome" by Roman history expert Simon Elliott is a seminal, ground-breaking, impressively detailed, well documented, and truly exceptional work of meticulous and original scholarship that is enhanced for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of an informative Introduction and Conclusion, and Appendix (Enemies of the Roman Republic and Empire), a section of photographic images, a ten page Reference and Bibliography list, and a three page Index. Of immense interest and value to academia and the non-specialist reader alike, "Roman Special Forces and Special Ops" is a unique and unreservedly recommended pick for community, college, and university library Roman Military History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Roman Special Forces and Special Ops" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).
Editorial Note: Dr Simon Elliott (http://www.simonelliott20.com) is an archaeologist, historian and broadcaster. He has written numerous books on themes related to the classical world and military history, and frequently appears on broadcast media as a presenter and expert. Amongst others, his books published by Casemate Publishers include Ancient Greeks at War (2021), Old Testament Warriors (2021) and Romans at War (2020). He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent, Trustee of the Council for British Archaeology, Ambassador for Museum of London Archaeology, President of the Society of Ancients, and Guide Lecturer for Andante Travels and Hidden History Travel.
Edward I's Granddaughters
Louise Wyatt
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781399006705, $30.95, HC, 176pp
https://www.amazon.com/Edward-Granddaughters-Murder-Power-Plantagenets/dp/1399006703
Synopsis: Edward I and his offspring, especially Edward II, are not shrouded by the mists of time. While Edward I's two sons and daughter by his second marriage are lesser known, especially the eldest, Thomas Plantagenet of Brotherton. He made no particular impression on history, despite being Earl of Norfolk and Earl Marshal, but Thomas did father three children.
Of these, only one is usually remembered: Margaret of Norfolk. Indomitable, defiant, respected and fiercely intelligent, she defied her cousin Edward III more than once and outlived most of her family. Her brother Edward of Norfolk died young but her sister, Alice of Norfolk, survived childhood. But not for long.
In 1338, by the time she was fourteen, Alice was married to Sir Edward Montagu, younger brother of the famous earl of Salisbury, William Montagu and Bishop of Ely, Simon Montagu. Edward was a warrior knight at Crecy, involved in the wars with Scotland, loyal to his brother and his king. The marriage produced five children within a decade, but by 1350 Edward Montagu was showing his dark side and was part of the knightly criminal gangs that terrorized local areas. One day in June 1351, Alice of Norfolk paid the price.
Despite being a Plantagenet, daughter of an earl, granddaughter, niece and cousin to kings, Alice of Norfolk has mostly been forgotten. Even looking at contemporary records, Alice hardly features apart from land and property dealings with her husband. A dusty reference to the unfortunate circumstances of her death marks the end of her life and one which will more than likely remain a mystery.
Critique: Edward I (17/18 June 1239 - 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 to 1306, he ruled Gascony as Duke of Aquitaine in his capacity as a vassal of the French king. (Wikipedia)
A brilliant and informative history that rescues from an undeserved obscurity the lives and times of King Edward's grandchildren, "Edward I's Granddaughters: Murder, Power and Plantagenets" by Louise Wyatt is an extraordinary and inherently fascinating study that is a particularly and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library British Royal History/Biography collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in British Royalty that "Edward I's Granddaughters: Murder, Power and Plantagenets" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $29.99).
Editorial Note: Louise Wyatt (https://www.facebook.com/WyattAuthor) has loved history since discovering Dunster Castle in Somerset aged six years old. Reading and writing as soon as school started, Louise has published three local history books between 2017 and 2018 and more recently, A History of Nursing. A registered nurse and author, medieval history is a particular passion, with nursing history from antiquity onwards coming a close second.
James II & VII: Britain's Last Catholic King
Laura Brennan
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781399012584, $42.95, HC, 192pp
https://www.amazon.com/James-II-VII-Britains-Catholic/dp/1399012584
Synopsis: James II & VII (14 October 1633 O.S. - 16 September 1701) was not born to be a king. As the Duke of York he grew up in a Britain divided by civil wars and witnessed big events in British history including the Battle of Edgehill (1642).
After the execution of his father Charles I at the hands of the Parliamentarians, James soldiered in Europe until his brother, Charles II was restored to the crowns of Britain.
Under his brother's reign, James converted to Catholicism and subsequently became the heart of several political storms until 1681.
Upon inheriting the throne from his brother Charles II, in 1685, James struggled to balance his personal faith and the evolving politics of the time, upsetting courtiers, his parliament and his subjects eventually leading to the Glorious Revolution and him losing his throne in 1688.
With the publication of "James II & VII: Britain's Last Catholic King", journalist and historian Laura Brennan examines the politics and events of James' life, both before and during his reign, to explain why he was unable to maintain the thrones of Britain, as well as the last few years of his life in exile, how he tried to regain the throne and his sad death.
Often overlooked as just a king who ruled for less than four years, James II & VII was an accidental but key historical figure in the shaping of British history. The events at the end of his reign were the first steps in creating a better constitution and democratic Britain.
Critique: Deftly organized into two main sections (The Duke of York: 1633-1685) and James II & VII & The Exile years: 1685-1701), and informative enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a four page Bibliography and a six page Index, "James II & VII: Britain's Last Catholic King" is an impressive work of original and definitive historical research and an especially welcome addition to personal, professional, community, college and university library British Royal History/Biography collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "James II & VII: Britain's Last Catholic King" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).
Editorial Note: Laura Brennan (https://laurabrennan.godaddysites.com/about-us) initially trained to become a journalist at Bournemouth University before gaining a BA Hons. degree in History from London Metropolitan University in 2005. While working at BBC Outside Broadcasts, she studied part time to gain her MA in History at Queen Mary University of London 2007 to 2009.
Julius Caesar's Civil War
Julian Romane
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781399089425, $49.95, HC, 328pp
https://www.amazon.com/Julius-Caesars-Civil-War-Strategies/dp/1399089420
Synopsis: With the publication of "Julius Caesar's Civil War: Tactics, Strategies and Logistics" historian Julian Romane examines the campaigns of Julius Caesar throughout the civil wars that followed his famous crossing of the Rubicon, through to the defeat of the final Pompeian diehards at the battle of Munda. "Julius Caesar's Civil War" analyzes Caesar's generalship in the widest sense, with a strong emphasis on the logistical and financial effort required to put his legions in the field and keep them equipped, fed and paid. The attention given to this important but often-neglected aspect sets this detailed and documented account apart from many others.
"Julius Caesar's Civil War: Tactics, Strategies and Logistics" addresses the nature of late Republican Roman armies, describing their organization, tactics and equipment. The fact that such armies were employed both by and against Caesar only emphasizes the role of generalship in the outcome. This is followed by a detailed account of the strategic maneuvers in Caesar's epochal duel with Pompey the Great and the resultant battles at Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus. The final campaigns to mop up opposition in Spain and Africa are studied in equal detail to give a complete picture of Caesar's command performance in these history-shaping events.
Critique: A seminal work of outstanding historical scholarship, "Julius Caesar's Civil War: Tactics, Strategies and Logistics" is chronologically organized into six major sections (Italy; War in Spain; War against Pompey; War in the East; War in Africa; The Second Spanish War). This impressive study is further enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of nine Appendices, a ten page Bibliography, and a four page Index. While also available for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers in a digital book format (Kindle, $22.49), "Julius Caesar's Civil War: Tactics, Strategies and Logistics" is a valued and recommended addition for community and academic library Ancient Roman Military History collections and supplemental curriculum Julius Caesar studies lists.
Editorial Note: Julian Romane (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Julian-Romane/a/2586) has a BA from Beloit College Wisconsin and an MA from the University of Colorado. He has been fascinated with ancient/early medieval military history for half a century. He has published articles in several journals and is the editor and/or' translator of several books on historical and political subjects. His first monograph, "Byzantium Triumphant", was published by Pen & Sword in 2015.
Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire
John D. Grainger
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781399051224, $49.95, HC, 264pp
https://www.amazon.com/Sextus-Julius-Frontinus-Roman-Empire/dp/1399051229
Synopsis: Sextus Iulius Frontinus (c. 40 - 103 AD) is best known as author of the military handbook Strategems but, in addition to writing this and other works (now lost), he also had a varied and surprisingly influential career in military and civil posts around the Roman Empire.
Frontinus loyally served at least six emperors, often acting as a trusted counselor, and even deputized for Trajan while he was busy in Germany and elsewhere. He was possibly the longest-serving governor of Britain (five years), where he completed the subjugation of Wales and established the frontier in northern England at the Ribble-Tees line. He founded several legionary fortresses, including those that later became the towns of York, Chester and Caerleon. He also served on the Rhine, in Spain and Asia and in the civil sphere reformed the water supply of Rome.
With the publication of "Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire: Author of Stratagems, Advisor to Emperors, Governor of Britain, Pacifier of Wales", historian John Grainger has written the first full biography of Frontinus. Reconstructing his life to the fullest extent permitted by the sources, he favorably re-evaluates his importance, particularly in Britain (at the expense of the better-known Agricola. Froninus' career, the author concludes, is one of the most varied and significant of any that can be reconsructed for any Roman who did not become Emperor.
Critique: A solid work of meticulous and documented research, "Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire: Author of Stratagems, Advisor to Emperors, Governor of Britain, Pacifier of Wales" is an extraordinary, seminal, and deftly written contribution personal, professional, community, and academic library Roman Empire History/Biography collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. Of special note for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Sextus Julius Frontinus and the Roman Empire: Author of Stratagems, Advisor to Emperors, Governor of Britain, Pacifier of Wales" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $29.99).
Editorial Note: John D Grainger is an historian with a particular interest in Classical Roman and Hellenistic Greek history. His many previous works include the following for Pen & Sword: Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars (2011); The Wars of the Maccabees (2012); Roman Conquests: Egypt and Judaea (2013); a three-part history of the Seleukid Empire (2014-16), King's and Kingship in the Hellenistic World 350-30 BC (2017), Antipater's Dynasty (2018), Ancient Dynasties (2019), The Roman Imperial Succession (March 2020) and The Galatians (August 2020). (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/John-D-Grainger/a/1657)
Fighting Emperors of Byzantium
John Carr
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781783831166, $39.95, HC, 288pp
https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Emperors-Byzantium-John-Carr/dp/1783831162
Synopsis: The Eastern Roman or 'Byzantine' Empire had to fight for survival throughout its long history so military ability was a prime requisite for a successful Emperor. With the publicaton of "Fighting Emperors of Byzantium", journalist and historian John Carr concentrates on the personal and military histories of the more capable war fighters to occupy the imperial throne at Constantinople. They include men like it's founder Constantine I, Julian, Theodosius, Justinian, Heraclius, Leo I, Leo III, Basil I, Basil II (the Bulgar-slayer), Romanus IV Diogenes, Isaac Angelus, and Constantine XI.
Byzantium's emperors, and the military establishment they created and maintained, can be credited with preserving Rome's cultural legacy and, from the seventh century, forming a bulwark of Christendom against aggressive Islamic expansion. For this the empire's military organization had to be of a high order, a continuation of Roman discipline and skill adapted to new methods of warfare. Thus was the Empire, under the leadership of its fighting emperors, able to endure for almost a thousand years after the fall of Rome.
Critique: Informative, fascinating, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Fighting Emperors of Byzantium" will be of special interest and value to students of Roman History in general, and the history of Byzantium in particular. Enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of one page bibliography of Sources and Further Reading, a one page listing of Notes & References, a two page listing of Byzantine Emperors 313-1453, and a seven page Index, "Fighting Emperors of Byzantium" is a welcome and recommended addition to personal, community, and academic library Roman/Byzantine Military History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Fighting Emperors of Byzantium" is also available from Pen & Sword Books in a paperback edition (9781399024839, $32.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $22.99).
Editorial Note: John Carr (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/John-Carr/a/1941) has enjoyed a career as a journalist, correspondent and broadcaster (The Times, Wall Street Journal Europe, Vatican Radio), mainly in the Mediterranean and particularly Greece, where he now resides.
The Knights Templar at War 1120-1312
Paul Hill
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781473874923, $32.95, HC, 264pp
https://www.amazon.com/Knights-Templar-War-1120-1312/dp/1473874920
Synopsis: There are many books about the Knights Templar, the medieval military order which played a key role in the crusades against the Muslims in the Holy Land, the Iberian peninsula and elsewhere in Europe. But what is seldom explored is the military context in which they operated, and that is why, with the publication of "The Knights Templar at War 1120-1312" by historian Paul Hill's the emphasis in this study is on how this military order prosecuted its wars.
The order was founded as a response to attacks on pilgrims in the Holy Land, and it was involved in countless battles and sieges, always at the forefront of crusading warfare. "The Knights Templar at War 1120-1312" is absorbing study examines why they were such an important aspect of medieval warfare on the frontiers of Christendom for nearly two hundred years.
"The Knights Templar at War 1120-1312" shows how they were funded and supplied, how they organized their forces on campaign and on the battlefield and the strategies and tactics they employed in the various theaters of warfare in which they fought. Templar leadership, command and control are examined, and sections cover their battles and campaigns, fortifications and castles.
Critique: Originally published in March 2018 in a hard cover edition, Pen & Sword Books now offers "The Knights Templar at War 1120-1312" in both a paperback edition (9781399030885, $28.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.95). Enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of photographs, illustrations, maps, and tables, also featured is a ten page Bibliography and a twelve page Index. An enduringly valued, unique, and informative study on one of the most influential of religious military orders, "The Knights Templar at War 1120-1312" will have immense appeal for scholars and non-professional readers alike and is an essential part of any personal, professional, community, or academic library Mediaeval Warfare History collection and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Paul Hill (https://historicalwriters.org/writer/paul-hill), formerly curator of Kingston Upon Thames Museum in Surrey, is well known as a lecturer, author and expert on Anglo-Saxon and Norman history and military archaeology, and he has written several books on these subjects, among them The Age of Athelstan: Britain's Forgotten History, The Viking Wars of Alfred the Great and The Anglo-Saxons at War 800-1066.
The Civil War Shelf
Without Concealment, Without Compromise
Jill L. Newmark
Southern Illinois University Press
www.siupress.com
9780809339044, $29.95, PB, 312pp
https://www.amazon.com/Without-Concealment-Compromise-Courageous-Surgeons/dp/0809339048
Synopsis: Of some twelve thousand Union Civil War surgeons, only fourteen were Black men.
With the publication of "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" historian Jill Newmark provides the first-ever comprehensive exploration of their lives and service. Newmark's outstanding research uncovers stories hidden for more than 150 years, illuminating the unique experiences of proud, patriotic men who fought racism and discrimination to attend medical school and serve with the U.S. military. Their efforts and actions influenced societal change and forged new pathways for African Americans.
The individual biographies featured in "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" highlight Alexander T. Augusta, who challenged discriminatory laws; William P. Powell Jr., who pursued a military pension for twenty-five years; Anderson R. Abbott, a friend of Elizabeth Keckley's; John van Surly DeGrasse, the only Black surgeon to serve on the battlefield; John H. Rapier Jr., an international traveler; Richard H. Greene, the only Black surgeon known to have served in the Navy; Willis R. Revels, a preacher; Benjamin A. Boseman, a politician and postmaster; and Charles B. Purvis, who taught at Howard University. Information was limited for five other men, all of whom broke educational barriers by attending medical schools in the United States: Cortlandt Van Rensselaer Creed, William B. Ellis, Alpheus W. Tucker, Joseph Dennis Harris, and Charles H. Taylor.
"Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" presents all available information about the surgeons' early lives, influences, education, Civil War service, and post-war experiences. Many of the stories overlap, as did the lives of the men. Each man, through his service as a surgeon during the war and his lifelong activism for freedom, justice, and equality, became a catalyst of change and a symbol of an emancipated future.
Critique: A unique, informative, and invaluable contribution to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Civil War History/Biography collections, "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" is enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a number of illustrations, as well as thirty-four pages of Notes, a fourteen page Bibliography, a two page Index of Regiments, and a twelve page Index. "Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons" is especially recommended for supplemental American Civil War and 19th Century African American History curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Jill L. Newmark (www.blackcivilwarsurgeons.com) is an independent historian, as well as a former curator and exhibition specialist at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Her exhibits include "Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine," "Within These Walls: Contraband Hospital and the African Americans Who Served There," and "Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons." She has published articles in Prologue and Traces, as well as online in Circulating Now and www.blackpast.org
Detour to Disaster
Noel Carpenter
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611216714, $19.95, PB, 216pp
https://www.amazon.com/Detour-Disaster-Demonstration-Unraveling-Tennessee/dp/1611216710
Synopsis: In October of 1864, Confederate General John Bell Hood set out through Alabama on what would be the final campaign of the Army of Tennessee. One event in particular, overlooked and misunderstood for generations, portended what was to follow and is the subject of Noel Carpenter's new American Civil War history -- "Detour to Disaster: General John Bell Hood's "Slight Demonstration" at Decatur and the Unravelling of the Tennessee Campaign".
A simply fascinating, meticulously detailed, and expertly documented account, "Detour to Disaster" is the first book-length study of the weighty decision to march to Decatur and the combat that followed there. Carpenter also investigated the circumstances surrounding these matters and how they overwhelmed the controversial young army commander and potentially doomed his daring invasion.
Critique: An impressively informative and exceptionally insightful history, "Detour to Disaster: General John Bell Hood's "Slight Demonstration" at Decatur and the Unraveling of the Tennessee Campaign" by American Civil War historian should be required reading for American Civil War history buffs interested in the Western Theater, and especially the doomed Tennessee Campaign. A fascinating and impressively well organized and presented study, "Detour to Disaster" is an especially recommended and worthwhile pick for personal, community, and academic library American Civil War history collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Detour to Disaster" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.49).
Editorial Note: As a boy growing up in Decatur in the 1920s, author Noel Carpenter played on the sites described in "Detour to Disaster". After graduating from the University of Alabama and earning a master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carpenter spent 30 years as a command pilot and Air Force officer. Later in life he combined a lifelong interest in Civil War history with his military experience and examined the episode that had unfolded in his hometown more than a century earlier. He spent 12 years researching and writing his account.
The Science Shelf
Inside Science: Revolution in Biology and Its Impact
Benjamin Lewin
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
500 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury NY 11797-2924
www.cshlpress.com
9781621825012, $29.50, HC, 340pp
https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Science-Revolution-Biology-Impact/dp/1621825019
Synopsis: Looking behind widely held beliefs about the myth of the scientific enterprise, with the publication of "Inside Science: Revolution in Biology and Its Impact", Benjamin Lewin provides a rare examination of how science really functions.
Drawing on his 25 years of experience as the founding editor of Cell, the worlds leading journal in biology, Lewin questions the dogma that scientific papers describe how research was actually done, describes the distortions caused by pressure to publish, and considers the effects of changes in the way science is communicated as we move ever further into the digital era.
The view that science protects itself by identifying and excluding work that is not reproducible is rigorously examined, as is the prevalence of fraud in science. Furthermore, Lewin argues that the move from research done in small teams to the much larger scale of big science has the potential to change the nature of science itself. He asks if science can continue in its present form or if new methods of evaluation will be needed for science to function in the future.
Lewin brings these general principles to life by considering the history of the genetics revolution, from the discovery of the double helical structure of DNA to the sequencing of the human genome and the possibilities of gene editing today.
The history of science shows us that each period of progress in science relied on dogmas that often advanced but sometimes retarded progress, and that views of reality often changed suddenly and dramatically. One example is the current critical reassessment of epigenetics that is raising the possibility that there may be factors in inheritance extraneous to DNA.
"Inside Science: Revolution in Biology and Its Impact" concludes by asking if the reductionist manifesto that has dominated biology for the past half century can continue to hold, and revisits the much-debated question: What is science?
Critique: Fascinating, informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking, "Inside Science: Revolution in Biology and Its Impact" is an extraordinary study that will have immense appeal to academia and the scientific community. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Inside Science: Revolution in Biology and Its Impact" is further informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a five page Glossary, thirty pages of Notes & References, a two page listing of Illustration Sources, and a sixteen page Index. "Inside Science: Revolution in Biology and Its Impact" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Biology & History of Science collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Benjamin Lewin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lewin) obtained his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Cambridge, England. He became the first Editor of Nature New Biology in 1971, and then worked at the National Cancer Institute from 1972 to 1973. He founded Cell journal in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1974 and remained Editor of Cell until 1999. Cell became the top-ranked journal in the life sciences. Dr. Lewin is also the author of the best-selling Genes textbook and a series of books on wine.
The Parenting Shelf
UNPLUGGED!
Oreste J. DAversa, CPC
Cutting Edge Technology Publishing
http://cuttingedgetechnologypublishing.com
9781952294204, $14.97, PB, 130pp
https://www.amazon.com/UNPLUGGED-Practical-Managing-Teenage-Digital/dp/1952294207
Synopsis: Are you a parent, guardian, or educator concerned about the growing impact of digital technology and social media on the well-being of teenagers? Then you need to give a careful reading to "UNPLUGGED! A Practical Guide to Managing Teenage Stress in the Digital Age" by Oreste DAversa.
This is an empowering resource that offers a comprehensive toolkit for helping teenagers navigate the challenges of the modern world while fostering emotional wellness, healthy habits, and resilience.
Simply stated, "UNPLUGGED! A Practical Guide to Managing Teenage Stress in the Digital Age" is an indispensable and practical resource for teenagers, parents, and educators seeking effective strategies to navigate the challenges of the modern world. Packed with proven techniques, practical advice, and empowering insights, "UNPLUGGED" equips teenagers with the tools they need to promote emotional wellness, achieve healthy habits, and build resilience in the digital age -- to unplug from the digital world and embrace a balanced and fulfilling life amidst the real world complexities of modern life.
Critique: Timely, realistic, informative, insightful, effective, inspiring, "UNPLUGGED! A Practical Guide to Managing Teenage Stress in the Digital Age" is impressively reader friendly in commentary, organization and presentation. While available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $2.99), "UNPLUGGED!" is a critically important and unreservedly recommended addition to family, middle school, highschool, and community library Social Media/Digital Technology and Adolescence/Young Adult Mental Health collections.
Editorial Note: Oreste J. DAversa, (http://orestedaversa.com) is a Certified Professional Coach, Life Coach, Career/Job Search Coach, and College Major Coach. The owner of Metropolitan Small Business Coaching LLC as a Business Coach, Consultant, and Trainer, he is also an Adjunct Faculty member as a University Lecturer at CUNY - Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City. He is an Inter-Faith (All-Faiths) Minister and appears on podcasts, radio, and television discussing his expertise in business-related and personal growth subjects.
Raising Good Humans Every Day
Hunter Clarke-Fields, MSAE
New Harbinger Press
5674 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609
www.newharbinger.com
9781648481420, $18.95, PB, 216pp
https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Good-Humans-Every-Day/dp/1648481426
Synopsis: As a parent, it's the little things you do each and every day that can help your kids grow up to be kind, confident, and conscientious human beings. But if you're like many parents, you are probably feeling overwhelmed by the daily rush of getting to school on time, helping your kid finish their homework, planning meals, and all the seemingly endless tasks that pile up and steal the fun out of just being with your child. That's why you need quick, effective tools to stay present and manage emotions -- both your child's and your own!
With the publication of "Raising Good Humans Every Day: 50 Simple Ways to Press Pause, Stay Present, and Connect with Your Kids", Hunter Clarke-Fields provides a "go-to" daily guide that offers 50 simple ways to press pause, stop reacting, and start parenting with intention. You will also find mindfulness skills for calming your own stress when difficult emotions arise; and tips for cultivating respectful communication, effective conflict resolution, and reflective listening.
Most importantly, by following these daily techniques, you'll learn to break the unhelpful patterns and ingrained reactions that reflect the generational habits shaped by your parents, so you can respond to your children in more skillful ways.
As a busy parents you will discover: Self-compassion practices for those days when you feel like a "terrible parent"; Breathing and meditation exercises for calming emotions in the moment; Tips for "unhooking" from negative thoughts and self-criticism; Mindfulness skills for staying present with your kids.
You will also learn how to develop a "teaching mindset" when faced with difficult behavior, and find tons of creative and playful activities to increase cooperation in your child. Being a parent is a lot of work, but it can also be joyful and fun. But this daily guide can help you create and enjoy those little moments!
Critique: A compact (5 x 0.48 x 7 inches, 5.6 ounces) little volume that is thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "Raising Good Humans Every Day: 50 Simple Ways to Press Pause, Stay Present, and Connect with Your Kids" is a combination self-help instruction guide and practical 'how to' parenting manual that is especially recommended reading for anyone new to parenthood -- and has considerable and applicable ideas for even the more experienced parent or caregiver. Inspired and inspiring, "Raising Good Humans Every Day" is unreservedly recommended pick for personal, professional, and community library Parenting collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Raising Good Humans Every Day" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note: Hunter Clarke-Fields (https://mindfulmamamentor.com) is the creator of Mindful Parenting course and the host of the Mindful Mama podcast. She coaches parents on how to cultivate mindfulness in their daily lives and cooperation in their families. Hunter has more than twenty years of experience in meditation practices, and has taught thousands worldwide.
The Cookbook Shelf
Taste of Home Cool Kitchen Cookbook
Taste of Home, editor
Trusted Media Brands
https://www.trustedmediabrands.com
9781621459293, $19.99, PB, 320pp
https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Home-Cool-Kitchen-Cookbook/dp/1621459292
Synopsis: "The Cool Kitchen Cookbook" from Taste of Home lets you set satisfying, crowd-pleasing meals on the table without breaking a sweat. Summer salads make the most of the fresh bounty of seasonal vegetables. No-bake cookies and cheesecakes, homemade ice cream and frozen desserts satisfy the sweet tooth. When you do turn on the stovetop, ultra-quick recipes and one-pot dishes keep the heat to a minimum. Refreshing smoothies, shakes and summer drinks let you kick back and enjoy when it's time to relax.
There's even a chapter on backyard grilling -- right where the heat belongs in the summer! At-a-Glance icons, expert tips from our Test Kitchen pros, serving suggestions and more.
"The Cool Kitchen Cookbook" features 392 Recipes that take the heat out of summer cooking. Leave comforting stews and cozy suppers for the colder months. At-a-Glance Icons. Look for handy icons that spotlight which recipes are freezer-friendly, take advantage of the air fryer, Instant Pot, or slow cooker, or are done in record time. Recipes for today's convenient gadgets. Slow cookers, air fryers, Instant Pots and other appliances—these ultra-helpful devices let you create full meals any night of the week and still keep your kitchen cool. Dozens of Tips & Hints. Expert advice from the pros in the Taste of Home Test Kitchen keep you on track and guarantee the recipes deliver -- the first time and every time after. Complete Nutrition Facts and Diabetic Exchanges. Nutrition information with every recipe help you plan meals that make sense for your family.
Critique: An especially recommended compendium of 'kitchen cook friendly' recipes in light of our Climate Change driven and rapidly increasing heat waves, "Taste of Home Cool Kitchen Cookbook: When temperatures soar, serve 392 crowd-pleasing favorites without turning on your oven!" is not just for preparing meals in the heat of summer, but all year rounnd whenever the temperature rises.
From Veggie Brown Rice Wraps, Microwave Rice Pilaf, and Air-Fryer Pizza Puffs, to Ice Cream Balls, Blueberry Cream Pops; and Watermelon Fruit Pizza, "The Cool Kitchen Cookbook" will prove a welcome addition to personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections. It should be noted that "The Cool Kitchen Cookbook" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).
Editorial Note: For more than 25 years, Taste of Home has been one of the world's most popular cooking publications. Through the pages of the flagship magazine, popular cookbooks and online community, Taste of Home offers a friendly exchange of family-favorite recipes, cooking tips and personal stories from genuine home cooks. Because professional food staff test and evaluate every recipe in the Taste of Home Test Kitchen, readers are guaranteed success every time. (https://www.tasteofhome.com)
Taste of Home Cook it Quick
Taste of Home, editor
Trusted Media Brands
https://www.trustedmediabrands.com
9781621459316, $19.99, PB, 448pp
https://www.amazon.com/Taste-Home-Cook-Quick-All-time/dp/1621459314
Synopsis: Today's family cooks know how to set a homemade meal on the table even on their busiest nights. Now with the publication of "Taste of Home Cook it Quick: All-time family classics in 10, 20 & 30 Minutes" they are sharing their time-saving snacks, entrees, sides and desserts with you in this invaluable culinary collection.
Just choose the menu that fits your schedule. Ten minutes to dinner? Turn to the "10-Minute Mains" area for dozens of ultra-easy ideas. Want to eat in a half-hour? Flip to the "30-Minutes" section and you'll find more than 50 favorites to choose from. What could be easier or faster?
Comprised of 488 Recipes, with "Taste of Home Cook it Quick" anyone can make every recipe with confidence, knowing that each was tested and approved by the Taste of Home Test Kitchen.
Of special note are: 3 At-A-Glance icons (Save when you stock your freezer with pre-made meals.); The "Freeze It" icon (showing you which recipes freeze best -- storage and reheating direction included); A "5-Ingredient" icon (to save time and money); and an "Eat Smart" icon (for when you want healthy foods that come together quick); Nutrition Facts (every recipe offers a complete set of nutrition facts).
Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout with full color photos of finished dishes, "Taste of Home Cook it Quick: All-time family classics in 10, 20 & 30 Minutes" is particularly ideal as a low-budget menu resource for time-stressed, time-limited family cooks wanting to serve palate-pleasing, appetite-satisfying, and on the table in 30 minutes or less meals. While a popular pick for personal, professional, family, and community library cookbook collections, it should be noted that "Taste of Home Cook it Quick" is also readily available in a Spiral Bound edition (9781617658334, $24.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).
Editorial Note: Taste of Home (https://www.tasteofhome.com) is the leading multi-platform producer of information on food, cooking and entertaining, serving home cooks engaging media that capture the joy and comfort received from food made with love. Taste of Home magazine has a circulation of 2.25 million, 4.6 million newsletter subscribers, and publishes Simple & Delicious magazine six times a year; top-selling bookazines, newsstand specials, and popular cookbooks. The Taste of Home brand reaches 27.3 million people every month.
Fix-It and Forget-It Everyday Instant Pot Favorites
Hope Comerford
Good Books
www.goodbooks.com
c/o Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018
www.skyhorsepublishing.com
9781680998610, $19.99, PB, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Fix-Forget-Everyday-Instant-Favorites/dp/1680998617
Synopsis: Featuring recipes of 100 dinners, sides and desserts, "Fix-It and Forget-It Everyday Instant Pot Favorites" by Hope Comerford is the perfect culinary resource to answer that eternal question -- "What's for dinner?"
This is a beautifully illustrated compendium of DIY recipes that are easy to prepare, don't require a lot of hard-to-find ingredients, and will appeal to the whole family.
In addition to great recipes, you'll also find tips on how to set up and use your Instant Pot, how to know when your food is perfectly done, and more. As to the recipes, the range from: Beef with Broccoli; Mediterranean Lentil Soup; Tender Tasty Ribs; and Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole; to Salsa Lime Chicken; Lasagna the Instant Pot Way; Family Favorite Chicken Fajita Soup; Barbecued Brisket; and Cilantro Lime Rice.
Of special note are the recipes for scrumptious desserts ranging from Lemon Pudding Cake to Cookies & Cream Cheesecake.
Critique: A cornucopia of palate-pleasing, appetite-satisfying, kitchen cook friendly recipes that will turn the most novice of cooks into truly seasoned family chefs, "Fix-It and Forget-It Everyday Instant Pot Favorites: 100 Dinners, Sides & Desserts" will prove to be an immediately welcome and enduringly prized addition to personal, professional, family, and community library cookbook collections. It should be noted that "Fix-It and Forget-It Everyday Instant Pot Favorites: 100 Dinners, Sides & Desserts" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Hope Comerford is the food blogger behind A Busy Mom's Slow Cooker Adventures and is the author of The Gluten-Free Slow Cooker and editor or author of several Fix-It and Forget-It books including Fix-It and Forget-It Freezer to Instant Pot, Fix-It and Forget-It Instant Pot Light & Healthy Cookbook, and the Welcome Home Cookbook series. There is a listing of her books at: https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/hope-comerford/1972708
Jeremy Pang's School of Wok: Simple Family Feasts
Jeremy Pang
Hamlyn
c/o Octopus Books
236 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
www.octopusbooksusa.com
9780600637776, $26.99, HC, 208pp
https://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-Pangs-School-Wok-Simple/dp/0600637778
Synopsis: Bringing together the best Asian flavors from across the continent, "Jeremy Pang's School of Wok: Simple Family Feasts" makes Asian cooking quick and accessible so you can spend less time fussing over dinner and more time together.
Each individual dish comprising "Jeremy Pang's School of Wok: Simple Family Feasts" can be enjoyed on its own for a simple supper or grouped together for larger feasts with something for everyone to enjoy. Family cooks will learn how to group dishes together with rice and noodles and other accompaniments as per traditional Asian cuisine.
Most of the 80 recipes showcased in "Jeremy Pang's School of Wok: Simple Family Feasts" utilize the 'wok clock' technique, where the ingredients are laid out in a clock formation in the order they will be cooked for complete simplicity. You will also find handy feast planners with the order and cooking times of each dish to make life as easy as possible.
Fast, fresh and flavorsome, Simple Family Feasts will help you discover exciting family favorites that you will return to again and again.
Critique: The recipes reflect Chines, Thai, Singaporean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Pinoy, Korean, and Japanese cuisines. Of special note is the section on Desserts. Gorgeously and profusely illustrated with full page, full color photographs of finished dishes, "Jeremy Pang's School of Wok: Simple Family Feasts" is an extraordinary and truly 'kitchen cook friendly' compendium of wonderful Asian dishes that are guaranteed to be palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, and truly memorable! While also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99), "Jeremy Pang's School of Wok: Simple Family Feasts" is a strongly recommended pick for personal, professional, and community library Asian Wok Cuisine cookbook collections.
Editorial Note: Jeremy Pang (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Pang) won both Rising Young Star and Best Specialist Cookery School at the British Cookery School Awards 2015. Since then, his recipes and work have been featured in a wide variety of publications including: The Guardian, Independent, The Sunday Times, Delicious & BBC Good Food. Along with regular appearances on UK TV shows including: Channel 4's Sunday Brunch and ITV's Ainsley's Food We Love and Nadiya's Family Favourites. Jeremy's refreshing laid-back, straightforward approach has helped him build an ever-growing and thriving specialist cookery school in London called School of Wok. He can be followed on: Instagram.com/jeremypang_official; Twitter.com/ChefJeremyPang; Twitter.com/schoolofwok; Instagram.com/schoolofwok; YouTube.com/SchoolofWok
The Library Science Shelf
Information Literacy and the Digitalization of the Workplace
Gunilla Widen, editor
Jose Teixeira, editor
Facet Publishing
www.facetpublishing.co.uk
9781783305797, $126.95, HC, 222pp
https://www.amazon.com/Information-Literacy-Digitalization-Workplace-Gunilla/dp/1783305797
Synopsis: Digitalization has had an overwhelming impact on the workplace in recent years, making it more associable, editable, interactive, programmable, traceable, communicable and distributable. But this change comes with substantial changes to ways of working.
New technologies almost always translate into new work processes, work arrangements, collaborative engagements and thus disrupt the information environment and consolidate equilibra at work. With the publication of "Information Literacy and the Digitalization of the Workplace", co-editors Gunilla Widen and Jose Teixeira aims to bring forward the role of workplace information literacy as a key condition for successful digitalization or digital transformation in today's workplace.
Featuring contributions from leading scholars, "Information Literacy and the Digitalization of the Workplace" examines the multifaceted role of workplace information literacy in organizational operations and its role in the digitalization process, taking into account the role and perspectives of employer and employee.
Critique: Comprised of seminal and ground-breaking contributions from a roster of experience experts in the field of information science and the technology of information, "Information Literacy and the Digitalization of the Workplace" is exceptionally well organized and presented, making it an essential and core addition to personal, professional, community, corporate, college, and university library Information & Library Science collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, librarians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Information Literacy and the Digitalization of the Workplace" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781783305810, $17.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $54.49).
Editorial Note #1: Gunilla Widen is Professor of Information Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Business and Economics, Åbo Akademi University where she researches in the areas of information behaviour, information literacy, and knowledge management.
Editorial Note #2: Jose Teixeira works at the Department of Information Systems at Åbo Akademi. His main research interests include open-source software, open-hardware, open-competition, open-innovation, and platform ecosystems.
The General Fiction Shelf
Mending What Is Broken
Robert McKean
Livingston Press
University of West Alabama, Station 22, Livingston, AL 35470
https://livingstonpress.uwa.edu
9781604893410, $21.95, PB, 338pp
https://www.amazon.com/Mending-What-Broken-Robert-McKean/dp/1604893419
Synopsis: At mid-life, Peter Sanguedolce has learned that having a big heart and good intentions are not enough. Divorced (again), he's slowly losing everything he cares about, including his family's sewer pipe business and, possibly, shared custody of his young daughter, Jeannette.
His ex-wife, Avis, and her new husband, Elliot, are poised to remove Jeanette from Peter's unraveling life.
Then Peter begins to pay closer attention to everything: a comment from Jeannette, Elliot's odd behavior toward her, and Avis's determination to send their daughter away to boarding school.
In the midst of the search for a new school, Peter is drawn into a foolhardy plan to reconnect his elderly former neighbor and friend, Jacob, with his estranged daughter, whom Peter had, in his youth, admired from afar. But just when everything could spin out of control, Peter focuses on his daughter above all else, and once again sets out on a journey, this time to protect Jeanette.
"Mending What Is Broken" is a bittersweet story about the families we make and that we lose, about working class towns and fading dreams -- and creating second chances in life.
Critique: Original, exceptional, memorable, "Mending What Is Broken" showcases author Robert McKean's genuine flair as a novelist for the kind of narrative driven storytelling style that fully engages his readers from first page to last. Skillfully written and an inherently interested read, "Mending What Is Broken" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Contemporary General Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Robert McKean (https://www.robmckean.com) is the author of the short story collection "I'll Be Here For You: Diary of a Town" which was awarded first-prize in the Tartts First Fiction competition (Livingston Press). His novel "The Catalog of Crooked Thoughts" was awarded first-prize in the Methodist University Longleaf Press Novel Contest. The novel was also named a Finalist for the 2018 Eric Hoffer Award. Recipient of a Massachusetts Artist's Grant for his fiction, McKean has had six stories nominated for Pushcart Prizes and one story for Best of the Net. He has also published extensively in journals such as The Kenyon Review, The Chicago Review, and others.
The Historical Fiction Shelf
Half-Life of a Stolen Sister
Rachel Cantor
Soho Press
853 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
www.sohopress.com
9781641294645, $27.00, HC, 384pp
https://www.amazon.com/Half-Life-Stolen-Sister-Rachel-Cantor/dp/1641294647
Synopsis: How did the Bronte sisters (Emily, Charlotte, and Anne) write literary the landmarks Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey? What in their lives and circumstances, in the choices they made, and in their close but complex relationships with one another made such greatness possible?
In her new novel, "Half-Life of a Stolen Sister", author Rachel Cantor melds biographical fact with unruly invention to illuminate the siblings' genius, their bonds of love and duty, periods of furious creativity, and the ongoing tolls of illness, isolation, and loss.
As this biographical novel tells the story of the Brontes, "Half-Life of a Stolen Sister" perpetually transforms and renews its own style and methods, sometimes hewing close to the facts of the Bronte lives as we know them (or think we know them), and at others radically reimagining the siblings, moving them into new time periods and possibilities.
Chapter by chapter, "Half-Life of a Stolen Sister" brings together diaries, letters, home movies, television and radio interviews, deathbed monologues, and fragments from the sprawling invented worlds of the siblings' childhood. As it does so, a kaleidoscopic portrait emerges, giving us with startling intensity and invention new ways of seeing (and reading!) the sisters who would create some of the supreme works of literature of all time.
Critique: Original and deftly crafted, "Half-Life of a Stolen Sister" by Rachel Cantor is a fun and entertaining work of fiction that is true to historical facts. The result is an unreserved recommendation as a high value pick for personal, community, and academic library Biographical Fiction collections. It should be noted fans of the Brontes and their classic novels that "Half-Life of a Stolen Sister" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: Rachel Cantor (https://www.rachelcantor.com) is also the author of the novels "Good on Paper" and "A Highly Unlikely Scenario". Her stories have been published in The Paris Review, One Story, Ninth Letter, Kenyon Review, New England Review, and elsewhere, and she has written about fiction for National Public Radio, The Guardian, Publishers Weekly, and other publications.
The Literary Fiction Shelf
Suleiman's Ring
Sherif Meleka, author
Raymond Stock, translator
Hoopoe Books
www.hoopoebooks.com
c/o American University in Cairo Press
200 Park Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, NY 10166
www.aucpress.com
9781649032058, $49.95, HC, 308pp
https://www.amazon.com/Suleimans-Ring-Novel-Hoopoe-Fiction/dp/1649032056
Synopsis: In Alexandria, Egypt, and on the eve of the 1952 Free Officers revolution, Dawud (who is a struggling musician), is summoned with his best friend Sheikh Hassanein to a meeting with Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser, who seeks their help as he mobilizes for the revolution.
Dawud lends Nasser an enchanted silver ring for its powers to bring good luck. The revolution succeeds but Dawud soon grows estranged from his friend Hassanein, who has joined the Muslim Brotherhood, after he suggests that Dawud leave Egypt since as a Jew he is no longer welcome.
When Hassanein is arrested, however, destiny draws Dawud into a complex web of sexual intrigue and betrayal that threatens to upend his already precarious existence.
Set against the backdrop of the simmering political tensions of mid-twentieth-century Egypt and the Arab-Israeli wars, Sherif Meleka's story of fate and fortune transports us to another time and place while peeling back the curtain on events that still haunt the country to this day.
Can one man or a mere ring alter the events of one's life and the history of a country? Combining elements of magical realism with momentous history, Suleiman's Ring poses these questions and more in a gripping tale of friendship, identity, and the fate of a nation.
Critique: Impressively translated into English for an American readership by Raymond Stock, "Suleiman's Ring" by Sherif Meleka will have a very special appeal to readers with an interest in contemporary Jewish/Islamic fiction. Original, carefully crafted, memorable, "Suleiman's Ring" is a prized and recommended addition to community, college, and university library Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Suleiman's Ring" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781649032041, $18.57, www.amazon.com) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.64).
Editorial Note #1: Sherif Meleka was born in 1958 into a Coptic Christian family in Alexandria, Egypt. A trained medical doctor, he emigrated to the United States in 1984. He is the author of numerous novels, poetry and short story collections in Arabic. Suleiman's Ring is his English-language debut. He currently lives in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Editorial Note #2: Raymond Stock is senior instructor of Arabic at Louisiana State University with a PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Pennsylvania (2008). A former resident of Cairo (1990-2010), he has translated seven books and many short stories by Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006), including Before the Throne, Khufu's Wisdom, The Coffeehouse (all AUC Press).
The Romantic Fiction Shelf
Adam's Emporium
Sarah Swatridge
Linford Romance Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444851168, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 264pp
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/adams-emporium-sarah-swatridge/1143546941
Synopsis: Ester Sharp once dreamed of becoming a doctor or dressmaker. But then her husband spent her small fortune and died young, leaving her penniless and pregnant. Now she lives in the slums, providing for her beloved daughter Polly by taking in mending and running errands. One such task is visiting Adam Boniface, the handsome pawnbroker, on behalf of her poor but proud neighbors. The two enjoy each other's company, and a warm relationship of mutual respect develops. But then a valuable gift gone missing sees Ester arrested on suspicion of theft!
Critique: An original and impressively well crafted novel that will have a special resonance with readers interested in true romance stories where there are seemingly insurmountable odds against a happy ending, this large print paperback edition "Adam's Emporium" by novelist Sarah Swatridge from the Linford Romance Library series is especially recommended for personal reading lists and community library Romance Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: The stories by Sarah Swatridge (https://sarahswatridge.co.uk) have a romantic element, but she's also had stories published which deal with coming to terms with a miscarriage, depression, bullying in the workplace, adult literacy. As a novelist, she aims to pull at her reader's emotions, ideally to make them laugh and cry -- but leaving them feeling good at the end.
The Western Fiction Shelf
Adios, Bandido
E. Jefferson Clay
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850246, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 234pp
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/adios-bandido-e-jefferson-clay/1136785767
Synopsis: In "Aidos, Bandido" by Jefferson Clay, both Brazos and Benedict are still searching for Bo Rangle, the outlaw who'd killed most of their comrades in the war and stolen a fortune in gold. But the West is a big place, and Rangle could be anywhere. Then they chance upon the best lead they've had in months. The only trouble is that Race Sackett, the man who can take them right to their quarry, is behind bars and facing the noose. There's only one thing to do - bust out the outlaw and force him to lead them to Rangle's lair!
Critique: The third volume in author E. Jefferson Clay's western series starring two unlikely and seemingly mismatched partners in a quest for vengeance and looted gold from the Civil War, this large print paperback edition of "Aidos Bandido" from the Linford Western Library series is a 'must' for the dedicated fans of Brazos and Benedict. A fun read from cover to cover, "Aidos Bandido" is especially recommended for community library Western Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: E. Jefferson Clay (https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/e-jefferson-clay) is one of the many pseudonyms for legendary Australian author, comic book writer and illustrator, Paul Wheelahan.
The Man With No Past
Pete B. Jenkins
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850345, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 246pp
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-with-no-past-pete-b-jenkins/1136785768
Synopsis: In the wilds of Arizona, a man wakes up with a nasty head wound and amnesia. Unaware of who or where he is, all he has to go on is the name inscribed in a bible, found in the saddlebags of a lame horse grazing nearby: Zachariah Thompson. Believing this to be him, Zach carries on his way, eventually collapsing and being found unconscious by Jeff Fawcett and his daughter Emily, who nurse him back to health. When their ranch is attacked by Apaches, Jeff is killed, leaving Zach and Emily to flee for their lives. But Zach begins to question his identity when he is mistaken for a notorious outlaw.
Critique: Original, entertaining, memorable, "The Man With No Past" by western novelist Pete B. Jenkins is a riveting read from cover to cover and this large print paperback edition (part of the 'Linford Western Library' series) will prove to be a welcome addition to both the personal reading lists of dedicated western buffs and community library Western Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: There is a lengthy listing of the western and other novels of Pete B. Jenkins at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10911451.Pete_B_Jenkins
Gun Law At Lost Bucket
Colin Bainbridge
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850109, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 228pp
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gun-law-at-lost-bucket-colin-bainbridge/1136775910
Synopsis: A quiet life is the only thing Dane Cleadon wants, but it seems he can't escape his past reputation as a gunfighter and town-tamer. When he is called out by young Tim Ryland, he does his best to avoid trouble, but to no avail. After Ryland dies accidentally by his own gun, his father, local rancher Cass Ryland, wants revenge. Hoping to avert further bloodshed, Cleadon leaves town, accompanied by his friend Cayuse. They are pursued by Ryland and his gang into the hills, where they stumble upon a ghost town by the name of Lost Bucket. And things just keep getting more and more dangerous!
Critique: A riveting and fun read with more unexpected plot twists and turns than an Oklahoma tornado, this large print paperback edition of author Colin Bainbridge's "Gun Law At Lost Bucket" from the 'Linford Western Library' series is a 'must' for any and all dedicated western fans, and a very highly recommended pick for community library Western Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: For fans of western novelist Colin Bainbridge, it should be noted that there is an extensive listing of his books at https://www.fictiondb.com/author/colin-bainbridge~72205.htm
Greenville Raiders
Alex Frew
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print, Inc.
www.ulverscroft.com
9781444850222, $24.50, PB, Large Print, 252pp
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greenville-raiders-alex-frew/1136785789
Synopsis: While Sheriff Flint is out of town, bandits strike Greenville Bank. Only they have come at the wrong time and do not get the haul they expected, instead leaving behind a trail of destruction. On Flint's return, he is faced with a deadly situation. When a beautiful woman and her elderly father get involved, Flint thinks at first that they are a liability, especially when he discovers that he has to lead a posse into the dangerous borderlands between Greenville and Mexico. And then, to make matters even more complicated (and dangerous!) his deputy becomes embroiled in a fight to save a gold consignment on its way to town.
Critique: The stuff of which movies were made with the likes of John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Randolph Scott, and Jimmy Stewart, "Greenville Raiders" by Alex Frew, this large print paperback edition is a compulsive page turner of a read from cover to cover and guaranteed welcome addition to the personal reading lists of western fans and community library Western Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: An extensive listing of the western novels by Alex Frew is readily available at https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/8103933.Alex_Frew
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf
Read to Death at the Lakeside Library
Holy Danvers
Crooked Lane Books
2 Park Avenue, 10th floor, New York, NY 10016
www.crookedlanebooks.com
Dreamscape Media
https://www.dreamscapepublishing.com
9781639103317, $29.99, HC, 288pp
https://www.amazon.com/Read-Death-Lakeside-Library-Mystery/dp/1639103317
Synopsis: Summer is in full swing as tourists flock back to the Northwoods and travel to Lofty Pines, Wisconsin. For Rain Wilmot, owner of the Lakeside Library, this is the perfect opportunity to bring back her mother's summer book club. But the summer sun starts to really heat up when one of the club's members, Lily Redlin, is found dead in her own home not long after the first meeting.
Alongside her sidekick and neighbor Julia Reynolds and the charming Jace Lowe, Rain discovers that the murder is seemingly inspired by the book the club recently discussed Agatha Christie's classic mystery novel Sparkling Cyanide. But who would kill Lily, and more importantly, why?
The deeper Rain dives into the story, the more confusing and complicated the plot becomes. Was Lily murdered to cover up a tragic accident that occurred years ago involving an old classmate? Or were the rumors true -- did Lily really possess a priceless original Laura Ingles Wilder manuscript and someone killed her for it? And what about the mysterious letter Lily received just before her death from a supposed long-lost relative? Was it a hoax?
With a long list of suspects and motives, Rain realizes that all leads come back to people involved in the book club. Rain and her friends take a page from Agatha Christie's book by hosting a reenactment of the club's first meeting to flush out the killer. Will Rain's plan succeed -- or will this librarian's book be checked out for good?
Critique: Amateur female sleuth and friend trying to solve a too close to home murder mystery, "Read to Death at the Lakeside Library" has all the elements of a great cozy mystery. An original and fun read from cover to cover, The third in author Holly Danvers' 'Lakeside Library Mystery' series, "Read to Death at the Lakeside Library" is especially and unreservedly recommended as a welcome and popular pick for community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of the growing legions of Holly Danvers fans that "Read to Death at the Lakeside Library" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781666642797, $22.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Holly Danvers grew up devouring every mystery novel on the shelf of her local library. A successful and accomplished author in her own right now, she maintains a website at https://www.authorhollyquinn.com
The Body in the Back Garden
Mark Waddell
Crooked Lane Books
2 Park Avenue, 10th floor, New York, NY 10016
www.crookedlanebooks.com
9781639104406, $29.99, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/Body-Back-Garden-Crescent-Mystery/dp/1639104402
Synopsis: Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt's sudden death, he's inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can -- but Crescent Cove isn't done with him just yet.
When a stranger starts making wild claims about Luke's aunt, Luke sends him packing. The next morning, though, Luke discovers that the stranger has returned, and now he's lying dead in the back garden. To make matters worse, the officer leading the investigation is a handsome Mountie with a chip on his shoulder who seems convinced that Luke is the culprit. If he wants to prove his innocence and leave this town once and for all, Luke will have to use all his skills as a journalist to investigate the colorful locals while coming to terms with his own painful past.
There are secrets buried in Crescent Cove, and the more Luke digs, the more he fears they might change the town forever.
Critique: The first novel launching author Mark Wadell's new 'Crescent Cover Mystery' series, "The Body in the Back Garden" will hold a special appeal to readers with an interest in LGBTQ amateur sleuths trying to clear themselves of as a murder suspect. An original, exceptionally well written and simply fun read from first page to last, "The Body in the Back Garden" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community library Contemporary Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of dedicated 'whodunnit' mystery buffs that "The Body in the Back Garden" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99).
Editorial Note: Mark Waddell (https://markwaddellbooks.com) is a recovering academic with a PhD in the history of science, medicine, and technology from Johns Hopkins University. After publishing two books and grading countless student essays, he left the exciting life of a humanities professor in search of greener pastures. He now lives on Vancouver Island with his husband and their two dogs and spends most of his time writing stories about murderous Canadians.
A Clue in the Crumbs
Lucy Burdette
Crooked Lane Books
2 Park Avenue, 10th floor, New York, NY 10016
www.crookedlanebooks.com
Dreamscape Media
9781639104307, $28.99, HC, 304pp
https://www.amazon.com/Clue-Crumbs-West-Critic-Mystery/dp/1639104305
Synopsis: Food critic Hayley Snow and her pal Miss Gloria are overjoyed to welcome Violet and Bettina Booth, aka the Scottish Scone Sisters, to Key West. The sisters will host The UK Bakes! -- Key West Edition. But the same day they arrive, the bed-and-breakfast the sisters are staying in gets torched.
The contest begins the next morning featuring three local bakers. One is the inn owner's wife, Rayna, who is not only the most talented chef of the group but now a person of interest in the fire. The next night, a dogwalker discovers a body near the bed-and-breakfast. The victim appears to be Rayna's husband, and the murder weapon points directly to the Scottish Scone Sisters.
But the show must go on. In between filming sessions, the three elderly ladies and Hayley must search for clues to the brutal murder in order to find out who wants to force them out of the kitchen. But as they draw closer to the answer, the threats from a murderer grow closer too. Are they now in danger of getting baked off?
Critique: An amateur female sleuth and friends, a puzzling murder mystery, a wealth of unexpected plot twists and turns, and featuring everything else a dedicated cozy mystery fan could want, "A Clue in the Crumbs" is that newest and highly recommended addition to the highly popular 'Key West Food Critic Mystery' series by novelist Lucy Burdette. While a welcome pick for community library Mystery/Suspense & Cozy Mystery collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "A Clue in the Crumbs" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99) and as a complete an unabridged audio book (Dreamscape Media, 9781666642780, $22.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Lucy Burdette (https://lucyburdette.com) is the author of twenty-two mysteries, Her books and stories have been short-listed for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She is also a past president of Sisters in Crime and currently serving as president of the Friends of the Key West Library.
Fire Scars
John B. Wright
University of Nevada Press
Mail Stop 0166, Reno, NV, 89557-0166
www.unpress.nevada.edu
9781647790967, $22.00, PB, 360pp
https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Scars-John-B-Wright/dp/1647790964
Synopsis: Matt Solberg is charged with discovering who is lighting fires in the forests that surround Missoula, Montana. A geographer with a deep personal need to bring people out of danger, Matt leads a search and rescue team whose job is to head directly into the mouth of hell, hiking into blazing backcountry to find missing residents. Matt and his team not only rely on their hard-won knowledge of Montana's wild landscape, but also on Matt's mentor, Dr. Bill Knight, a fire ecologist who understands the burning beast better than anyone.
When a suspicious fire destroys the mansion of a movie star, Matt must hike in to find his missing daughter and save her from the chaos. Then fires begin to explode everywhere as climate change drives temperatures over 100 degrees and rain refuses to fall, threatening thousands of homes.
Who is setting these fires? Is it the Montana Tree Monkeys, an eco-radical group determined to scare off the newcomers? Or is it a retired smokejumper with an axe to grind about the encroaching mansions? Could it be Paladin, a shadowy figure leaving strange clues around the state? It's Matt's mission to find answers to these questions during a summer of heat, smoke, and unimaginable loss.
Critique: All the more impressive when realizing that his environmental mystery, "Fire Scars", is John B. Wright's debut as a novelist, his ability to deftly weave together elements of a compelling drama with accurate and intriguing elements of fire science, "Fire Scars" reveals the physical and psychological wounds that we inevitably will acquire experiencing the realities of our lives -- and yet, the power we have to overcome them given time, courage, and character. Original, entertaining, memorable, "Fire Scars" will prove a welcome pick for personal reading lists and community library Contemporary General Fiction collections. It should be noted that "Fire Scars" is also available from the University of Nevada Press in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.99).
Editorial Note: John B. Wright is a geographer, conservationist, and author. He earned his PhD in geography from UC-Berkeley. His work focuses on lessening the collisions between culture and nature. (https://unpress.nevada.edu/9781647790967/fire-scars)
Golden Age Bibliomysteries
Otto Penzler, editor
American Mystery Classics
c/o Penzler Publishers
https://penzlerpublishers.com
c/o W.W. Norton (distribution)
https://wwnorton.com
9781613164204, $27.95, HC, 480pp
https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Age-Bibliomysteries-Otto-Penzler/dp/1613164203
Synopsis: Of crime fiction's many sub-genres, none is so reflexive and so intriguing as the "bibliomystery" -- stories that involve crimes set, somehow, in the world of books.
For example, in Vincent Starrett's "A Volume of Poe," a bookseller is murdered; in Ellery Queen's "The Adventure of the Three R's," the detective tracks the disappearance of a local Missouri author; and a killer stalks the stacks of the New York Public Library in Robert L. Blochman's "Death Walks in Marble Halls."
With fourteen tales of bibliophilic transgression from the Golden Age of the mystery genre (the decades between the two World Wars), "Golden Age Bibliomysteries" is a uniquely specialized volume that presents stories guaranteed to entertain, featuring work from well-remembered authors such as Cornell Woolrich and Anthony Boucher and from those that are lesser-known today, such as Carolyn Wells and James Gould Cozzens.
Critique: With the publication of "Golden Age Bibliomysteries", Edgar Award-winning anthologist, editor, bookseller, and mystery scholar Otto Penzler has focused extensively on the history of the bibliomystery, and his expertise shines in this thoroughly enjoyable collection, not only in the selection of stories he has compiled and edited, but also in the informative and illuminating introductions that accompany each individual story. Bringing to the attention of a new general of mystery buffs some truly 'time lost treasures', "Golden Age Bibliomysteries" is a praiseworthy and absolutely recommended pick for community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of the legions of amateur sleuth and traditional detective fans that "Golden Age Bibliomysteries" is also available in a paperback edition (9781613164211, $17.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.49).
Editorial Note: Otto Penzler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Penzler) is the creator of American Mystery Classics. He is also the founder of The Mysterious Press (1975); MysteriousPress.com (2011), an electronic-book publishing company; and New York City's Mysterious Bookshop (1979). He has won a Raven, the Ellery Queen Award, two Edgars (for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, 1977, and The Lineup, 2010), and lifetime achievement awards from NoirCon and The Strand Magazine. He has edited more than 70 anthologies and written extensively about mystery fiction.
The Birthday Murder
Lange Lewis
American Mystery Classics
c/o Penzler Publishers
https://penzlerpublishers.com
c/o W.W. Norton (distribution)
https://wwnorton.com
9781613164310, $25.95, HC, 264pp
https://www.amazon.com/Birthday-Murder-Lange-Lewis/dp/1613164319
Synopsis: A successful writer and a B-movie director seem like the perfect match in the Hollywood hills, and with him working to produce her novel for an upcoming film, the pair's recent marriage isn't the only way that they're connected. But when the husband is found murdered on the wife's birthday, using a method of poisoning that was described in one of her books, Victoria suddenly becomes the main suspect as her new happy life comes crashing down around her.
The case appears straightforward from the outside, but the LAPD investigator on the scene finds the truth to be anything but. Though all the signs point to Victoria, there's no motive to be found. Now, to solve the mystery of this 'whodunnit', he will have to dig beneath the veneer of the household and reveal its inner workings, and to understand the deadly drama that unfolded just beneath the surface.
Critique: A time lost treasure now reprinted for the first time in over half a century, "The Birthday Murder" by the late novelist Lange Lewis is a beautifully written and psychologically astute Golden Age mystery set in old Los Angeles. Especially recommended for readers with an interest in traditional police procedural detective mysteries featuring amateur sleuths teaming up with professional investigators, "The Birthday Murder" is a fun read from cover to cover. While highly recommended for personal and community library Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted that "The Birthday Murder" is also available in a paperback edition (9781613164327, $15.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).
Editorial Note: Lange Lewis was the pseudonym of Los Angeles-based writer Jane Lewis Brandt (1915-2003). She also wrote as Jane Beynon and under her own name.
A Troubling Tail
Laurie Cass
Berkley Books
c/o Penguin/Random House
https://www.penguin.com
9780593547427, $8.99, PB, 368pp
https://www.amazon.com/Troubling-Tail-Bookmobile-Cat-Mystery/dp/059354742X
Synopsis: The charming town of Chilson, Michigan, is beautiful in the spring, and the bookmobile is delivering great reads far and wide on one of the first warm days of the year. But a chill sweeps through when they discover that one of their favorite patrons, the owner of Henika's Candy Emporium, has been found murdered. Although Minnie can't understand who could have had a motive to murder such a kind man, she decides that the sticky problem isn't hers to solve.
However, when rumors start flying around town and the police have no leads, Minnie decides to throw her investigative hat into the ring. The more Minnie investigates, the less certain she is that the victim's past is as wholesome as his reputation. But Minnie has plenty of experience unearthing inconvenient truths, and she and Eddie won't rest until they determine how the victim met his bitter end.
Critique: A master of the cozy mystery genre, "Laurie Cass" has a published a new 'Bookmobile Cat Mystery' for her legions of fans. "A Troubling Tail" features all the elements of a cozy animal murder mystery to be (hopefully!) solved by an amateur female sleuth and friends. A carefully crafted and thoroughly fun read, "A Troubling Tail" is also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99) and enthusiastically recommended for community library Mystery/Suspense collections.
Editorial Note: Laurie Cass (https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/laurie-cass) grew up in Michigan and graduated from college in the 80's with a (mostly unused) degree in geology. She turned to writing in the late nineties. After a number of years in management, she felt the need to move on and took a job with fewer responsibilities. A month later, she was dead bored and began to consider writing as a way to wake up her brain. She started reading a lot of books on writing and happened across a particular sentence: "What's it going to be, reasons or results?"
The phrase practically stuck her in the eye. She printed it out, framed it, and put it next to her computer. "Reasons or results?" At the end of her life, was she going to have a pile of reasons for not having done anything? Or was she going to sit down and write a book? Once she started looking at it that way, the decision was easy. A short 13 years later, her first book was published. She also write the PTA Mysteries under the name Laura Alden.
The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
The Ravening Deep
Tim Pratt
Aconyte Books
https://aconytebooks.com
c/o Simon & Schuster
https://www.simonandschuster.com
9781839082412, $16.95, PB, 336pp
https://www.amazon.com/Ravening-Deep-Arkham-Horror-Novel/dp/1839082410
Synopsis: When dissolute fisherman Abel Davenport discovers an ancient temple in the deep ocean, he comes under the influence of a long dead god. In his attempts to restore the god's cult, Davenport unleashes a plague of twisted doppelgangers on Arkham.
Horrified by the consequences, Davenport realizes that he alone cannot stop the monsters from resurrecting the Ancient One. Sometimes the only way to end one cult is to start another... Teaming up with redeemed cultist Diana Stanley and notorious thief Ruby Standish is the first step.
The second is convincing Carl Sanford, the powerful leader of Arkham's Silver Twilight Lodge, to join their cause. Together they might be the only hope of averting a cataclysmic eldritch invasion.
Critique: Original and fascinating, "The Ravening Deep" by talented and award winning novelist Tim Pratt is an Arkham horror novel published by Aconyte Books. It is the type of Ancient Lost Gods themed horror story that fully measures up to the kind of tale that would be published in the Golden Age of science fiction & fantasy pulp magazines. While also available for the personal reading lists of dedicated action/adventure fantasy fans in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95), it is a highly recommended pick for community library Science Fiction & Fantasy collections.
Editorial Note: Tim Pratt (http://www.timpratt.org) is a Hugo Award-winning SF and fantasy author, and finalist for the World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Stoker, Mythopoeic, and Nebula Awards, among others. He is the author of over twenty novels, and scores of short stories. Since 2001 he has worked for Locus, the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field, where he currently serves as senior editor.
The Pets/Wildlife Shelf
Discovering Moths
John Himmelman
Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6921
www.stackpolebooks.com
9780811772112, $24.95, PB, 296pp
https://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Moths-Nighttime-Backyard-American/dp/081177211X
Synopsis: Lepidopterology is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three super-families of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist.
With the publication of "Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard, Eastern North American Species", and featuring a lively, accessible prose, author John Himmelman explains the intricacy of moths' life cycle, their importance in nature, and how just a tiny handful of the many moth species are truly pests to humans.
"Discovering Moths" also tells the reader how to attract moths with lights and bait, when and where to observe them, and how best to photograph these tiny subjects. Entertaining personal anecdotes and short profiles of some of the country's foremost moth-ers add human interest.
This new second edition of "Discovering Moths" from Stackpole Books includes updates, photos and information while focusing on moths populated in states east of the Mississippi.
Critique: Now in a newly updated and expanded second edition, of by John Himmelman's "Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard, Eastern North American Species" with its focus on Eastern North America specifies, includes a six page Glossary, a two page Bibliography, and a seventeen page Index. While illustrated throughout with black/white illustrations, there is also a section of full color photos of moths. "Discover Moths" is a welcome and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Entomology collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, lepidopterists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Discovering Moths" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).
Editorial Note: John Himmelman (www.johnhimmelman.com) is an author/illustrator of over eighty books for children and books (for grown up kids) on various nature topics. He graduated from School of Visual Arts in 1981, with his first book, Talester the Lizard, published later that year. He is a naturalist and author of Cricket Radio, Tuning In the Night-Singing Insects, and Guide to the Night-Singing Insects of the Northeast (Stackpole). He lectures on a variety of natural history topics and leads trips in search of exciting flora and fauna.
The Journalism Shelf
Provoking the Press
Kevin M. Lerner
University of Missouri Press
113 Heinkel Bldg., 201 S. 7th Street, Columbia, MO 65211
https://upress.missouri.edu
9780826221865, $51.15, HC, 290pp
https://www.amazon.com/Provoking-Press-Confidence-Journalism-Perspective/dp/0826221866
Synopsis: At the beginning of the 1970s, broadcast news and a few newspapers such as The New York Times wielded national influence in shaping public discourse, to a degree never before enjoyed by the news media. At the same time, however, attacks from political conservatives such as Vice President Spiro Agnew began to erode public trust in news institutions, even as a new breed of college-educated reporters were hitting their stride.
This new wave of journalists, doing their best to cover the roiling culture wars of the day, grew increasingly frustrated by the limitations of traditional notions of objectivity in news writing and began to push back against convention, turning their eyes on the press itself.
Two of these new journalists (a Pulitzer Prize winning, Harvard-educated New York Times reporter named J. Anthony Lukas, and a former Newsweek media writer named Richard Pollak), founded a journalism review called (MORE) in 1971, with its pilot issue appearing the same month that the Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers.
(MORE) covered the press with a critical attitude that blended seriousness and satire -- part New York Review of Books, part underground press. In the eight years that it published, (MORE) brought together nearly every important American journalist of the 1970s, either as a writer, a subject of its critical eye, or as a participant in its series of raucous "A.J. Liebling Counter-Conventions" (meetings named after the outspoken press critic) the first of which convened in 1974.
In issue after issue the magazine considered and questioned the mainstream press's coverage of explosive stories of the decade, including the Watergate scandal; the "seven dirty words" obscenity trial; the debate over a reporter's constitutional privilege; the rise of public broadcasting; the struggle for women and minorities to find a voice in mainstream newsrooms; and the U.S. debut of press baron Rupert Murdoch.
With the publication of "Provoking the Press: (MORE) Magazine and the Crisis of Confidence in American Journalism", author and professor of journalism Kevin Lerner explores the power of criticism to reform and guide the institutions of the press and, in turn, influence public discourse.
Critique: A timely and valued contribution to our current political and culture polarization and increasing attacks on journalism and journalists by those with an extremist agenda or a criminal enterprise such as currently exemplified by Donald A. Trump and his continuing attempts to overthrow a freely and fairly elected American government, "Provoking the Press" should be considered essential reading by all aspiring and active journalists whether in print, digital, or broadcast medias. While available for personal reading lists in a paperback edition (9780826222886, $26.00) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $24.70), "Provoking the Press" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library History of American Journalism collections and supplemental curriculum Censorship & Politics studies lists.
Editorial Note: Kevin M. Lerner (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gJ-kc4sAAAAJ) is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and edits the Journal of Magazine Media.
The Theatre/Cinema Shelf
Cinematic Storytelling
Jennifer Van Sijll
Michael Wiese Productions
12400 Ventura Blvd., #1111, Studio City, CA 91604
www.mwp.com
9781932907056, $30.95, PB, 257pp
https://www.amazon.com/Cinematic-Storytelling-Powerful-Conventions-Filmmaker/dp/193290705X
Synopsis: What the film industry's most successful writers and directors have in common is that each of them have mastered the cinematic storytelling conventions specific to the medium. With the publication of "Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know", professional screenwriter Jennifer Van Sijll covers (as relates to cinematic storytelling) the role and responsibilities of the screenwriter and the director. She then goes on to cover such cinematic storytelling facets as space/screen direction, frame composition, writing within the frame, editing, and timing.
Critique: Expertly organized, presented, and illustrated with instructive and illustrative black/white illustrations throughout, "Cinematic Storytelling: The 100 Most Powerful Film Conventions Every Filmmaker Must Know" is a comprehensive course of instruction and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, film school, and academic library Cinematic Studies collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for film school students, aspiring screenwriters, and novice directors that "Cinematic Storytelling" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).
Editorial Note: Jennifer Van Sijll (https://ces.sdsu.edu/jennifer-van-sijll) is a scriptwriter, instructor, consultant, and speaker based out of Los Angeles. She is a master teacher having taught at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University as well as internationally. She is also an accomplished scriptwriter who most recently scripted the independent film, Ballerina: A One Woman Show which won multiple international awards as well as the Hollywood Independent Film Festival Awards, and the Gold Award at the International Independent Film Awards.
Jennifer has scripted nearly 100 documentaries for clients like China Central Television, the Computer History Museum and independent producers. She has written for shows like China Insight, the 4th most popular show in mainland China with viewership of nearly 1 billion. She has an MFA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. A prolific speaker having delivered presentations on Cinematic Storytelling to Pixar, Nestle, Google, China Central TV (CCTV) as well as at the Los Angeles Screenwriters Expo, her seminars have been featured on TV, radio and two documentaries.
Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years
Stephen Bourne
BearManor Media
www.bearmanormedia.com
9798887712376, $32.00, HC, 120pp
https://www.amazon.com/Lena-Horne-M-G-M-Years-Hollywoods/dp/B0CBSKYD18
Synopsis: "With the publication of "Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years", cinema historian Stephen Burne begins in 1942 when Lena Horne became the first black actress and movie star to sign a long-term contract with M-G-M, one of Hollywood's top studios. M-G-M then transformed Lena into a movie goddess after initial uncertainties of how to employ her talents on screen at a time when African Americans were greatly discriminated against with whole chains of movie theaters in the South refusing to run any films with black actors in a too prominent a role.
Critique: Succinct, fascinating, detailed, and featuring a section of b/w historic photos, "Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years" is a 'must' for the legions of Lena Horne fans, for Hollywood cinema historians, and anyone with an interest in the evolution of black actors in the 20th Century movie business. While a very strongly recommended pick for community and academic library Theatre/Cinema/History and African American Biography collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Lena Horne: The M-G-M Years" is also readily available from BearManor Media in a digital book format (Kindle, $32.00).
Editorial Note: Stephen Bourne (https://stephenbourne.co.uk/books) is a writer, film and social historian specializing in black heritage and gay culture. He graduated from the London College of Printing with a bachelor's degree in film and television in 1988, and in 2006 received a Master of Philosophy degree at De Montfort University for his dissertation on the subject of the representation of gay men in British television drama. In 2017 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by London South Bank University for his contribution to diversity.
The Genealogy Shelf
The People of Perth and Kinross, 1800-1850
David Dobson
Clearfield Company
c/o Genealogical Publishing Company
3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211
www.genealogical.com
9780806359359, $25.00, PB, 150pp
https://www.amazon.com/People-Perth-Kinross-1800-1850/dp/0806359358
Synopsis: With the publication of "The People of Perth and Kinross, 1800-1850", David Dobson identifies people resident in the adjacent counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire, Scotland, as well as people abroad who originated there, between 1800 and 1850.
The two counties now form a unitary administrative unit, known as Perth and Kinross, centered on the city of Perth. The information found in this volume is derived from a wide range of archival sources such as court records, contemporary newspapers and journals, monumental inscriptions, and other documents. The entries connect emigrants, their destinations--especially in North America, the West Indies, and Australasia--with their kin who remained in Scotland.
Following is one such entry: "ANDERSON, ALEXANDER, born 1772, a labourer from Fortingall, with his wife Isobel born 1776, son John born 1798, daughter Ann born 1800, daughter Christian born 1802, and daughter Isabel born 1804, emigrated aboard the Clarendon of Hull bound for Prince Edward Island in August 1808. [NSARM] [TNA.CO226.23]"
The period covered in "The People of Perth and Kinross, 1800-1850" was one of rapid change in Scottish society brought about by the agricultural revolution and Industrial revolution, The former led to the formation of larger farms causing the surplus rural population to drift to the rapidly expanding factory towns.
For example, in Perthshire the land-loom weavers who produced textiles in their home were replaced by textile mills, in towns like Stanley. The population of the city of Perth grew by 19,000 between 1755 and 1821, while that of Blairgowrie increased almost tenfold in the same period.
Genealogists possessing ancestors from this era are encouraged to consult the Statistical Report of Scotland (the O.S.A.) compiled between 1791 and 1799; and the New Statistical Report, researched between 1832 and 1845, to put their ancestors into historical context. Both sources are available on the website of the National Library of Scotland.
Critique: An invaluable and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Genealogy reference collections, "The People of Perth and Kinross, 1800-1850" is impressively well organized, detailed and presented.
Critique: David Dobson (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/David_Dobson) is a recognized authority on the Scottish origins of American colonists. His list of publications exceeds 100 books. Many focus on connections between Scots who went abroad and their motherland. In addition to the immigrants themselves, he has also prepared books on the ships, shipmasters, merchants, whalers, and mariners involved in maritime trades. He has also compiled a large number of books designed to help researchers identify people who lived in Scotland in the 1600s and 1700s. He uses many sources that supplement more commonly-used parochial records and testaments providing a broader picture of those living there at the time many emigrants boarded ships to the American colonies.
The Art Shelf
The Art of Fantasy
S. Elizabeth
Francis Lincoln
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
100 Cummings Center, Suite 265D, Beverly, MA 01915
www.quartoknows.com
9780711279957, $30.00, HC, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fantasy-visual-sourcebook-Margins/dp/0711279950
Synopsis: Throughout history, artists have explored imaginary worlds and fantastical creatures for centuries, expressing the unreal and impossible, the mystical and mythical, via the medium of paint.
But what draws them to the imaginary, the uncharted and the unknown? Is it merely an escape from reality? Or are they seeking a greater understanding of the human experience, or perhaps the very meaning of life itself? With myriad styles and methods of expression, what links artists through the ages? And how have these visual flights of fancy and imagination changed over the course of time?
"The Art of Fantasy: A Visual Sourcebook of All That is Unreal" by S. Elisabeth is a visual sourcebook of all that is fantastical, ranging from fine art to illustration, and from surrealists and symbolists. to the creatives working in undefined territories. While the artists in our history books (such as Blake, Goya, Dali, Magritte, Ernst) first brought fantasy art to the galleries, it was the twentieth century artists who brought it to the masses.
It is in "The Art of Fantasy" from the British publishing company of Francis Lincoln, that, for the first time, they are united and equally weighted, presenting a mesmerising and thoughtful curation of the best fantasy artwork out there.
Critique: Profusely illustrated with museum quality, full color artwork, "The Art of Fantasy: A Visual Sourcebook of All That is Unreal" is an impressively informative, and truly inspiring collection that is specifically and unreserved recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Art History collections and supplemental Pop Culture Art curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for dedicated fans of myth, magic, fantasy and art history, that "The Art of Fantasy" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).
Editorial Note: S. Elizabeth (aka Mlle Ghoul) is a Florida-based writer specialising in art, the macabre and the supernatural. She is a staff writer at Haute Macabre and has written for Coilhouse, Dirge and the blog Death & the Maiden. S. Elizabeth was also the co-creator of The Occult Activity Book (vol 1 and 2) and runs two successful blogs: Ghoul Next Door (ghoulnextdoor.tumblr.com) and These Unquiet Things (www.unquietthings.com).
The History of Western Art
Janetta Rebold Benton
Thames & Hudson, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110-0017
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
9780500296653, $16.95, PB, 176pp
https://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Art-Essentials/dp/0500296650
Synopsis: Acknowledging how architecture, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts reflect the culture and society of their time, "The History of Western Art" by Professor Janetta Rebold Benton is latest addition to the Art Essentials series and invites the reader to experience and appreciate the entirety of Western art from prehistory to today.
Focusing on the history in art history, each of "The History of Western Art" is comprised of twelve chapters, opening with a question to ponder, and followed by a summary of the major historical developments of the period, touching on social structure, political organization, migration, race, beliefs, scientific advances, and customs.
An exploration of these themes in the visual arts reveals how art and architecture from the Great Pyramids and Hagia Sophia, as well as pieces by artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Andy Goldsworthy, Guerrilla Girls, and Faith Ringgold simultaneously shape, reflect, and document the culture of the time and place they were created. A secondary focus explores the constantly evolving aesthetic preferences that swing between naturalism and abstraction, with each era and style either rebelling against the previous or seeking to improve it.
Richly illustrated with 117 color illustrations, "The History of Western Art" is an introductory survey by expert art historian and museum lecturer who offers a succinct and engaging introduction to some of the most important works of architecture, sculpture, and painting in the Western tradition, reinterpreted for a twenty-first-century audience.
Critique: A brilliant course of instruction for academic and non-specialist general readers to the legacy and diversity of Western Art, "The History of Western Art" by art history professor Janetta Rebold Benton is impressively informative, exceptionally well written, very nicely organized, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation. This edition of "The History of Western Art" from Thames & Hudson is particularly and especially recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Art History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Janetta Rebold Benton (http://janettareboldbenton.com) is the Distinguished Professor of Art History at Pace University, New York, and the author of several books and articles on art including How to Understand Art in the Art Essentials series. She is the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar Awards as visiting professor to China and Russia, respectively, and lectures at the Smithsonian Institution, 92nd Street Y, and previously at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The Biography Shelf
Sacajawea: Mystery, Myth, and Legend
Candy Moulton
South Dakota Historical Society Press
900 Governors Drive, Pierre, SC 57501-2217
https://www.sdhspress.com
9781941813386, $14.95, PB, 216pp
https://www.amazon.com/sacajawea-mystery-legend-Candy-Moulton/dp/B0C7S9NLX5
Synopsis: Many myths, mysteries, and legends surround Sacajawea (May c. 1788 - December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884). She is one of the very few Native American women whose name and singular significance have not been lost to the historical record of American history. Without Sacajawea's knowledge and assistance, the Corps of Discovery venture (better known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition) to explore the furthest reaches of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase could very well have failed.
Critique: Featuring a section of black/white historical images, eighteen pages of Notes, a six page Bibliography, and an eleven page Index, and published by the South Dakota Historical Society Press, "Sacajawea: Mystery, Myth, and Legend" by Candy Moulton is a compact but definitive combination of biography and history that is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, college, and university library Native American Biography and American History collections and curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Candy Moulton (https://candymoulton.com) is the co-owner of Wood Mountain Productions, has written fifteen Western history books, co-edited a collection of short fiction and an encyclopedia and written, produced, and been a reenactor in several documentary films.
King John's Right Hand Lady
Sharon Bennett Connolly
Pen & Sword Books
https://www.penandswordbooks.com
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781526756060, $49.95, HC, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/King-Johns-Right-Hand-Lady/dp/1526756064
Synopsis: In a time when it was the men who fought the wars and the women were to stay home, the Lady Nicholaa de la Haye (born c. 1150; d. 1230) held Lincoln Castle against all-comers. Not once, but three times, earning herself the ironic praise that she acted 'manfully'.
Nicholaa gained prominence in the First Baron's War, the civil war that followed the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215. Although recently widowed, and in her 60s, in 1217 Nicholaa endured a siege that lasted over three months, resisting the English rebel barons and their French allies. The siege ended in the battle known as the Lincoln Fair, when 70-year-old William Marshal, the Greatest Knight in Christendom, spurred on by the chivalrous need to rescue a lady in distress, came to Nicholaa's aid.
Nicholaa de la Haye was a staunch supporter of King John, remaining loyal to the very end, even after most of his knights and barons had deserted him. A truly remarkable lady, Nicholaa was also the first woman to be appointed sheriff in her own right. It was her strength and tenacity that saved England at one of the lowest points in its history.
Critique: With the publication of "King John's Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye", academician and historian Sharon Bennett Connolly eloquently and with great attention to historical detail, demonstrates that the Lady Nicholaa de la Haye is one woman in English history whose story needs to be told. Featuring a section of full color photos, three Appendices (The 1215 Magna Carta; Enforcers of Manga Cart - The Twenty-Five; The Charter of the Forest 1217), eighteen pages of Notes, a ten page Bibliography, and a four page Index, "King John's Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye" is readily available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $22.49) and will prove an enduringly valued and highly prized addition to community, college, and university library Women's History/Biography collections and supplemental curriculum British Royal Biography studies lists.
Editorial Note: Sharon Bennett Connolly has been fascinated by history her whole life. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Sharon has studied history academically and just for fun - and even worked as a tour guide at historical sites. Sharon writes her own blog, www.historytheinterestingbits.com, researching and writing about the stories that have always fascinated, concentrating on medieval women. Her latest book, Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey, released in May 2021, is her fourth non-fiction book. It tells the story of the Warenne earls over 300 years and 8 generations. She is also the author of Heroines of the Medieval World, Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest and Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England. Sharon regularly gives talks on women's history; she is a feature writer for All About History magazine and her TV work includes Australian Television's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' (https://historytheinterestingbits.com/about)
An Atomic Love Story
Shirley Streshinsky, author
Patricia Klaus, author
Turner Publishing Company
200 - 4th Avenue North, Suite 950, Ashville, TN 37219
https://turnerbookstore.com
9781618580191, $27.95, HC, 400pp
https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Love-Story-Shirley-Streshinsky/dp/1618580191
Synopsis: Julius Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904 - February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often credited as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in organizing the Manhattan Project, the research and development undertaking that created the first nuclear weapons. (Wikipedia)
Set against a dramatic backdrop of war, spies, and nuclear bombs, with the publication of "An Atomic Love Story: The Extraordinary Women in Robert Oppenheimer's Life" co-authors Shirley Streshinsky and Patricia Klaus reveal a vivid new view of a tumultuous era and one of its most important figures.
In the early decades of the 20th century, three highly ambitious women found their way to the West Coast, where each was destined to collide with the young Robert Oppenheimer, the enigmatic physicist whose work in creating the atomic bomb would forever impact modern history.
His first and most intense love was for Jean Tatlock, though he married the tempestuous Kitty Harrison (both were members of the Communist Party) and was rumored to have had a scandalous affair with the brilliant Ruth Sherman Tolman, ten years his senior and the wife of another celebrated physicist. Although each were connected through their relationship to Oppenheimer, their experiences reflect important changes in the lives of American women in the 20th century: the conflict between career and marriage; the need for a woman to define herself independently; experimentation with sexuality; and the growth of career opportunities.
Critique: "An Atomic Love Story: The Extraordinary Women in Robert Oppenheimer's Life" is eloquent, detailed, documented, and draws upon a rich collection of firsthand accounts. The result is an intimate, informative, and simply fascinating portrait of shared tragedies, betrayals, and romances on the part of an gifted man and three bold women -- revealing how they pushed to the very forefront of social and cultural changes in a dangerous and volatile era. Enhanced for the reader with photos, a bibliography, footnotes, and an index, "An Atomic Love Story" is highly recommended for personal, community, and academic library American Biography, World War II History, and Nuclear Weapons Development collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "An Atomic Love Story" is also readily available from the Turner Publishing Company in a paperback edition (9798887980058, $17.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).
Editorial Note #1: Shirley Streshinsky is the author of three works of nonfiction and four historical novels. As a journalist and travel essayist, she has written extensively for Redbook, Glamour, Preservation, American Heritage, The American Scholar, and Conde Nast Traveler and has been featured on NPR. She is the recipient of the Society of Magazine Writers' Award for Excellence and the National Council for the Advancement of Education Writing Award.
Editorial Note #2: Patricia Klaus received her PhD in Modern British History from Stanford where she specialized in women's studies, the history of marriage, and the study of war and literature. She has taught at Yale, Stanford, and the University of Virginia and has published scholarly papers on the subject of women.
The Architecture Shelf
Environmental Activism by Design
Coleman Coker, author
Sarah Gamble, author
Applied Research & Design
c/o ORO Editions
31 Commerical Blvd., Suite F, Novato, CA 94949
www.oroeditions.com
9781954081796, $35.00, PB, 200pp
https://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Activism-Design-Coleman-Coker/dp/1954081790
Synopsis: "Environmental Activism by Design" is a monograph by architects and educators Coleman Coker and Sarah Gamble. They seek to challenges designers to actively engage the environmental crisis through their work, while articulating an optimistic, tangible means to pursue community good and environmental justice through design activism and engagement.
"Environmental Activism by Design" advocates that in addition to greener buildings, cheaper housing, and technological fixes, in this era of Climate Change and its challenges, architects must rethink pedagogy and praxis so that every single architecture graduate can define equity and transform the profession.
"Environmental Activism by Design" centers on the award-winning Gulf Coast DesignLab at the University of Texas, which works directly with clients and stakeholders to produce spaces for the public to learn and researchers to undertake their environmental work. "Environmental Activism by Design" asks environmentally aware architects and designers to challenge themselves, as agents of social equity, environmental justice, and climate action, to pursue operative practices and transformation rather than mere keywords and consensus.
Critique: This large format (7.75 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches, 1.83 pounds) hardcover edition of "Environmental Activism by Design" is expertly illustrated with numerous full color illustrations and features an informative three page Foreword (An Architecture of Sentient Beings), a ten page Introduction, a fourteen page Conclusion, and three page Afterword (Why Do We Do What We Do?). "Environmental Activism by Design" is an inherently fascinating, insightful, thoughtful and thought-provoking read and an especially recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Sustainability/Green Design collections and supplemental Architectural Criticism curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: Coleman Coker (https://soa.utexas.edu/faculty/coleman-coker) is the Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture and director of the Gulf Coast DesignLab there. He is also a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Rome Prize recipient from the American Academy in Rome. Coker is an Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) 2019 Architectural Education Award Winner for his community-outreach work with the Gulf Coast DesignLab. He is past director of the Memphis Center of Architecture, a design program focused on urban ecologies through the art of building.
Editorial Note #2: Sarah Gamble (https://dcp.ufl.edu/faculties/sarah-gamble) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida School of Architecture, following teaching at the University of Texas at Austin from 2011 to 2018. Gamble's academic research focuses on context and how the design process is catalyzed by the surrounding environment and designers' understanding of it. Gamble previously served as Architect for the Texas Historical Commission's Main Street Program, Principal at GO collaborative, and Architect at the Austin Community Design and Development Center.
Oak-Framed Buildings
Rupert Newman
The GMC Group
www.gmcbooks.com
9781784946616, $35.00, PB, 192pp
https://www.amazon.com/Oak-Framed-Buildings-Rupert-Newman/dp/1784946613
Synopsis: When it comes to architecture, it is well known that oak-framed projects stand the test of time. The longevity of the mighty oak trees that grow for centuries is echoed in oak-framed buildings
Now in a newly updated edition from The GMC Group, "Oak-Framed Buildings" by Rupert Newman is the 'go-to' resource for carpenters, builders, aspiring DIYers, and anyone who appreciates beautiful, durable, and environmentally friendly structures.
Revised and fully up-to-date. "Oak-Framed Buildings" has been substantially revised to bring it completely up-to-date and in compliance with current building technology and standards. It combines traditional building techniques with modern materials and installation methods, resulting in solid buildings with a high standard of energy efficiency.
"Oak-Framed Buildings" covers: Practical information about the history of timber framing; The structural qualities of oak; How-to get started; Techniques of timber-frame construction; Designing frames; Making and raising frames; The building envelope; Finishing details -- and much more!
Critique: Informatively enhanced with the inclusion of 180 stunning full-color photographs of structures in various stages of construction and some 90 three-dimensional illustrations, "Oak-Framed Buildings" is an effective melding of centuries-old techniques with 21st century environmental and energy-saving standards -- an essential resource for professional and non-professionals alike. Exceptionally well written, impressively organized, and thoroughly 'user friendly' in presentation, this newly updated and expanded edition of "Oak-Framed Buildings" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Architectural Studies collections and supplemental curriculum reading lists.
Editorial Note: Rupert Newman has been actively involved in carpentry since the age of 12. He has a degree in Naval Architecture and has worked as a shipwright, but is now the owner of a company employing a number of highly skilled craftsmen and apprentices, building modern structures with green oak in the traditional way.
The Egyptology Shelf
The Oldest Book in the World
Bill Manley
Thames & Hudson, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110-0017
www.thamesandhudsonusa.com
9780500252321, $39.95, HC, 272pp
https://www.amazon.com/Oldest-Book-World-Philosophy-Pyramids/dp/0500252327
Synopsis: With the publication of "The Oldest Book in the World: Philosophy in the Age of the Pyramids", archaeologist and Egyptologist Bill Manley offers a new translation of a philosophical and practical advice classic of the ancient world, 'The Teaching of Ptahhatp', written in Egypt four thousand years ago and still relevant for modern readers today.
Bill Manley renders into approachable modern English for the first time the oldest surviving statement of philosophy from the ancient world: the thirty-seven teachings and twelve conclusions of The Teaching of Ptahhatp, -- who was the vizier, or chief minister, to the Old Kingdom pharaoh Izezi (2390-2350 BCE). Manley's expert commentary elucidates Ptahhatp's profound yet practical philosophy, which covers such topics as ambition, fame, confrontation, sex, and wisdom, and offers a unique window onto ancient Egyptian life and society.
The Teaching of Ptahhatp ought to begin the list of the world's classics of philosophy, yet it has been largely forgotten since its rediscovery in the nineteenth century. Manley's new translation corrects this oversight, making accessible for the first time the Old Kingdom vizier Ptahhatp's concise, helpful insights into the human condition.
New translations of two further texts ('The Dialogue Between a Man and His Soul', in which a man asks himself, "What is the point of living?," and 'Why Things Happen', the oldest surviving account of creation from anywhere in the world), demonstrate how Ptahhatp's philosophy was founded in ancient Egyptian beliefs about truth and reality.
Manley also introduces the vizier and the world within which he operated, as well as the significance of the "oldest book of the world," preserved in a scroll now known as the Papyrus Prisse in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Together these works by Ptahhatp provide a new perspective on the Pyramid Age and overturn traditional stereotypes about the origins of Western philosophy.
Critique: Enhanced for the reader with 74 B/W and 25 full color illustrations, an eight page Bibliography, eight pages of Notes, and an eight page Index, "The Oldest Book in the World: Philosophy in the Age of the Pyramids" is an extraordinary and exemplary work of seminal scholarship and a core addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Egyptology collections and supplemental History of Philosophy curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Bill Manley (https://learnforpleasure.com/tutors/bill-manley) has been working with archaeological projects in Egypt for three decades. He taught the ancient Egyptian and Coptic languages for more than thirty years at the Universities of London, Glasgow, and Liverpool, and was senior curator for ancient Egypt at National Museums Scotland. His books include Egyptian Art in the World of Art series and Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners.
The Military Shelf
The Winter War 1939-40
Philip Jowett
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636242385, $28.95, PB, 128pp
https://www.amazon.com/Winter-War-1939-40-Casemate-Illustrated/dp/1636242383
Synopsis: When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in late 1939, what transpired was a true "David and Goliath" conflict. When Finland refused a number of Soviet demands, including the ceding of substantial border territories ostensibly to enable the Soviets to protect Leningrad, the Soviets responded by launching an invasion. The invasion involved a large Soviet army, with several thousand tanks, and a large air force.
But to the world's surprise the Finnish Army (many of them reservists without proper uniforms and limited ammunition) and Air Force battled overwhelming odds, and managed to resist Russian attacks for over two months, inflicting serious losses.
Geography played its part as much of the Finnish-Soviet border was impassable, meaning that Soviet numerical superiority was of less import. Operating in the winter, with temperatures ranging as low as -43F, the Finns' determined resistance won them international reputation.
Although hostilities finally ended in a peace treaty that saw Finland cede 9% of its territory, Soviet losses had been heavy, and Finland retained its sovereignty.
Critique: "The Winter War 1939-40" by Philip Jowett is a fully illustrated text that covers all the forces involved and all stages of what is now known to military historians as the Winter War. A part of the simply outstanding Casemate Illustrated series, "The Winter War 1939-40" is an invaluable and highly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and acdemic library 20th Century European Military History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, historians, and military history buffs that "The Winter War 1939-40" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.95).
Editorial Note: Philip Jowett (https://www.usni.org/people/philip-jowett) has been interested in military history from an early age, published many books over the last twenty-five years, specializing in the armies of Asia in the first half of the twentieth century, the Russo-Japanese War, and the armies of the Second World War.
The First Bridge Too Far
Mark Saliger
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636243757, $24.95, PB, 256pp
https://www.amazon.com/First-Bridge-Too-Far-Primosole/dp/1636243754
Synopsis: Originally published by Casemate in August 2018, and now released in a paperback edition, the World War II conflict known as the Battle of Primosole Bridge is brought to life in Mark Saliger's "The First Bridge Too Far: The Battle of Primosole Bridge 1943", a well-researched narrative solely dedicated to one of the bloodiest and hardest fought battles for British airborne troops of World War Two.
Primosole Bridge in Sicily (13-16 July 1943) provided the stage for the first instance of opposing elite paratroopers parachuting into battle and then fighting each other in a see-saw battle raging under the blazing Mediterranean sky. It's a story of courage and determination. A story of legendary military units and their commanders. A story that now, on the eve of its 75th Anniversary, finally needs to be told.
The British paratroopers of the famed Parachute Regiment's 1st Parachute Brigade, known as the 'Red Devils,' fought their equally esteemed German paratrooper opponents, known as the 'Green Devils,' in a battle of attrition central to the entire success of the Allies' first invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe. These two sets of elite Devils fought each other to a standstill in Hellish conditions.
The paratroopers found themselves cut off behind enemy lines with dwindling ammunition and ever-growing enemy forces encircling. Their courage and determination in standing up to overwhelming odds allowed the ground forces to arrive and capture the bridge in the nick of time before it was destroyed.
The hard-won experience gained by the 1st Parachute Brigade was again tested only a year later at the Battle of Arnhem, the battle christened "a bridge too far." It was in fact an almost identical battle, but on a larger scale, to the ferocious fight that the British paratroopers had faced only months previously.
The Battle of Arnhem is well documented. The Battle of Primosole Bridge, which provided the foundations for the men and planning for the legendary events at Arnhem, is virtually unheard of and needs to be told at last in order to honor the sacrifice of the Britain's unsung war heroes.
Critique: Also available for in a digital book format (Kindle, $2.99), with the publication of "The First Bridge Too Far: The Battle of Primosole Bridge 1943", author and veteran Mark Saliger rescues from an undeserved obscurity the World War II story that will prove to be an enduringly appreciated acquisition for the personal reading lists of World War II military history buffs, as well as professional, community, college, and university library World War II history collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note: Mark Saliger served in the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment for over six years including tours of duty in global theatres of operations such as Iraq, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan where he experienced combat situations on a regular basis. He has experienced first-hand both the planning of operations and then being part of those same operations behind enemy lines and is uniquely qualified to paint a soldier's eye view of the battle.
Retreat through the Rhone Valley
Jorg Staiger, author
Matthais Strohn, editor
Linden Lyons, translator
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781636242309, $32.95, HC, 168pp
https://www.amazon.com/Retreat-through-Rhone-Valley-August-September/dp/1636242308
Synopsis: The Dragoon offensive in August 1944 was preceded by bombings and sabotage that hit hard at the German forces located in the South of France -- damaging communications, railroads and bridges. The landings were then overwhelmingly successful, despite localized German resistance.
The following morning a German force the size of around four infantry battalions was able to launch a counterattack, but by the end of the day von Schwerin ordered a retreat under cover of night. What ensued was a race to retreat to the Burgundian Gate, or Belfort Gap, before they were cut off by the advancing Allied troops.
The Allies had all the means for a successful pursuit, while most of the German troops, with the notable exception of the 11th Panzer Division, were largely incapable of undertaking an orderly retreat. Some units, including the LXII Corps headquarters, were surrounded and captured.
With the publication of "Retreat through the Rhone Valley: Defensive battles of the Nineteenth Army, August-September 1944", Jorg Staiger, recounts the German retreat and explains how the 19th Army sacrificed divisions to enable its retreat through the Rhone Valley.
Critique: Ably written by Jorg Staiger, deftly edited by Matthais Strohn, occasionally illustrated with line drawn maps, and professionally translated into English by Linden Lyons, "Retreat through the Rhone Valley: Defensive battles of the Nineteenth Army, August-September 1944" is an eyewitness German account of the German army's retreat following the Allied Dragoon landings of World War II. Also available for personal reading lists of students, academia, military buffs in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99) "Retreat through the Rhone Valley" a singular and key addition to community, college, and university library World War II History/Biography/Memoir collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: There is a listing of military histories by German author Jorg Staiger on the www.Bookshop.org website at https://bookshop.org/contributors/jorg-staiger
Editorial Note #2: Matthias Strohn (https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/research/hri/fellows/strohn) is head of historical analysis at the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research and the British Army's strategic think tank, visiting professor of military studies at the University of Buckingham, and a member of the academic faculty at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He holds a commission in the German Army and is a member of the military attache reserve. He was awarded the highest German military decoration, the 'Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr in Gold,' and has published widely on 20th-century German and European military history. He has authored and edited over 20 books and numerous articles.
Editorial Note #3: Linden Lyons holds a master's degree in history from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He studied German at the University of Freiburg and librarianship at the University of Canberra. He is the translator of several titles in the Die Wehrmacht im Kampf series, most recently Counter-Strike Operations, Normandy, and Rome to the Po River.
Headhunter
Peter C. Svoboda
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
Blackstone Audiobooks
https://www.blackstonelibrary.com
9781636243214, $24.95, PB, 228pp
https://www.amazon.com/Headhunter-Their-Fight-Diyala-Valley/dp/1636243215
Synopsis: Selected in 2005 by the Army to be the first airborne reconnaissance squadron, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, better known as 5-73 CAV, was formed from 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The members of the squadron were hand-selected by the squadron command team, Lieutenant Colonel Poppas and Command Sergeant Major Edgar. With just more than 400 paratroopers, they were half the size of a full-strength battalion and the smallest unit in the Panther Brigade.
The squadron deployed to eastern Diyala in August, 2006. Despite their size, they were tasked with an enormous mission and were given the largest area of operations within the brigade. Appropriately for a unit known by the call sign of its CO - Headhunter - 5-73 would go on to pursue various terrorist factions including Al Qaeda in Iraq. They got results, and 5-73 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for launching the Turki Bowl campaign from November 2006 to January 2007 against insurgent groups in Diyala Province. However the toll would be heavy -- the squadron lost twenty-two paratroopers during the deployment.
With the publication of "Headhunter: 5-73 CAV and Their Fight for Iraq's Diyala River Valley", military historian Peter C. Svoboda provides a unique account of the war against Al Qaed in Iraq.
This is also a soldier's story, told by those very paratroopers who gallantly fought to tame Diyala. Based on dozens of interviews conducted by the author, the narrative describes the danger of combat, the loss of comrades and the struggles of returning from a deployment. The voice of the families left behind are also included, describing the challenges they faced, including the ultimate challenge -- grappling with the death of a loved one.
This military history of the war in Iraq explores the human dimensions of loss and struggle and illustrates the sacrifices our service members and their loved ones make.
Critique: Originally published in hardcover in October 2020, "Headhunter: 5-73 CAV and Their Fight for Iraq's Diyala River Valley", (and featuring an informative Foreword by Lt. General William B. Caldwell (Ret.), former commander, 82nd Airborne Division ) by Peter C. Svoboda is now available for personal reading lists and community/academic library 21st Century American Military History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists in a paperback edition (9781636243214, $24.95), in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9798200153589, $39.99, CD).
Editorial Note: Peter C. Svoboda (https://petercsvoboda.com) divides his time between writing and working as a healthcare emergency management planner. He was previously a firefighter for twenty-five years. He volunteers as a museum docent at the National Museum of the United States Army. Pete Svoboda's dad is the reason he wrote Headhunter. He was inspired by his dad's World War II service in the airborne forces along with a desire to tell the story of this current generation of paratroopers.
Storm Clouds Over the Pacific, 1931-1941
Peter Harmsen
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
Blackstone Audiobooks
https://www.blackstonelibrary.com
9781636243016, $24.95, PB, 234pp
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Clouds-Over-Pacific-1931-1941/dp/1636243010
Synopsis: 'War in the Far East' is a trilogy of books by Peter Harmsen and comprise a general history of the war against Japan. Unlike other histories this three volume series expands the narrative beginning long before Pearl Harbor and encompasses a much wider group of actors to produce the most complete narrative yet written and the first truly international treatment of the epic conflict.
Author and military historian Peter Harmsen uses his impressive ability to weave together complex events into an entertaining and revealing narrative, including facets of the war that may be unknown to many readers of WWII history, such as the war in Subarctic conditions on the Aleutians, or the mass starvations that cost the lives of millions in China, Indochina, and India, and offering a range of perspectives to reflect what war was like both at the top and at the bottom, from the Oval Office to the blistering sands of Peleliu.
"Storm Clouds Over the Pacific: 1931-1941" begins the story long before Pearl Harbor, showing how the war can only be understood if ancient hatreds and long-standing geopolitics are taken into account. Peter Harmsen demonstrates how Japan and China's ancient enmity grew in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries leading to increased tensions in the 1930s which exploded into conflict in 1937.
The battles of Shanghai and Nanjing were followed by the battle of Taierzhuang in 1938, China's only major victory. A war of attrition continued up to 1941, the year when Japan made the momentous decision for all-out war; the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into the war, and the Japanese also overran British and Dutch territories throughout the western Pacific.
Critique: Originally published in December 2018 and now newly available from Casemate Publishers in a paperback edition (9781636243016, $24.95), in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99), and as a complete and unabridged audio book from Blackstone Audio (9798200842094, $41.99), "Storm Clouds Over the Pacific, 1931-1941" is enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a fourteen page Bibliography, thirty pages of Notes, and an eleven page Index. Exceptionally well written for both academia and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in World War II history, "Storm Clouds Over the Pacific, 1931-1941" is a welcome and highly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community/academic library collections.
Editorial Note: Peter Harmsen, PhD, is the author of "Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze" and "Nanjing 1937: Battle for a Doomed City", as well as the War in the Far East trilogy. He studied history at National Taiwan University and has been a foreign correspondent in East Asia for more than two decades. He has focused mainly on the Chinese-speaking societies but has reported from nearly every corner of the region, including Mongolia and North Korea. His books have been translated into Chinese, Danish and Romanian.
The Interior Design Shelf
How to Redecorate, second edition
Joa Studholme, author
Charlotte Cosby, author
Farrow & Ball, author
Mitchell Beazley
c/o Octopus Books
236 Park Avenue, New York NY 10017
www.octopusbooksusa.com
9781784728991, $44.99, HC, 268pp
https://www.amazon.com/Farrow-Ball-How-Redecorate-Transform/dp/1784728993
Synopsis: Now in an updated and expanded second edition, "How to Redecorate: Transform Your Home with Paint & Paper" by co-authors Joa Studholme and Charlotte Cosby (as well as the firm of Farrow & Ball) brings the invaluable advice from the first edition right up to date in line with current trends, including catering for the home-working age. This new addition of "How to Redecorate" reflects the seismic shift in the way we decorate our homes that has taken place over the last decade, showcasing a wide range of living spaces, featuring everything from compact city apartments to roomier country residences.
Packed from cover to cover with stylish and easy-to-follow decorating advice, "How to Redecorate" answers common questions, including which white to use with which color, how to select a neutral group and what exactly are the three different ways to decorate? Accompanied by a wealth of inspirational new images, the book also features an expanded section on color names and inspirations, as well as guidance on how to create a beautiful working space within the home.
With more than 80% new material, this new edition of "How to Redecorate" takes decorating to a whole new level, demystifying the process with ease and equipping you to transform your home.
Critique: Formally titled "Farrow & Ball: How to Decorate" (October 2020), this new and impressively expanded/updated edition of "How to Redecorate" is an ideal instructional guide, how-to manual, and inspirational resource for home owners and professional interior designers wanting to update and improve the appearance and style of a home. Profusely illustrated throughout with full color photography, "How to Redecorate" is exceptionally well written, impressively organized, and thoroughly 'user friendly' in presentation. While strongly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Interior Design collections, it should be noted that the large format hard cover edition of "How to Redecorate" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.99).
Editorial Note #1: Joa Studholme Having joined Farrow & Ball more than 25 years ago, Joa Studholme has amassed a vast wealth of experience. From developing new colors to consulting on design projects, Joa works with the paints and papers every day on both residential and commercial projects and chooses colors for more than 4,500 rooms a year. (https://www.farrow-ball.com/en-us/colour-consultancy/meet-joa-studholme)
Editorial Note #2: Charlotte Cosby is the head of creative and has been working with Farrow & Ball for the past sixteen years. Charlotte began her career in finance, but she soon realized that her heart was in the creative world and she moved to Farrow & Ball in 2006. She has full responsibility for creative direction, including product development, brand identity, photography, showroom design and much more.
Editorial Note #3: Paint pioneers John Farrow and Richard Ball founded their company in 1946. They met while working at a local clay pit and later went on to build their first factory in Dorset, southern England, where the company is still based. Farrow & Ball is now one of the world's leading home decorating brands, manufacturing decorative paint and wallpaper that transform homes around the globe. Farrow & Ball (https://www.farrow-ball.com/en-us) distributes its paints and papers to 70 countries worldwide, and there are more than 50 Farrow & Ball showrooms in the UK, Europe and North America, as well as over 1,500 independent retailers who support the brand.
The Photography Shelf
Oceano: An Elegy for the Earth
David Ulrich
George F Thompson Publishing
c/o Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781938086922, $45.00, HC, 156pp
https://www.amazon.com/Oceano-Elegy-Earth-David-Ulrich/dp/1938086929
Synopsis: Climate change is the great existential reality of our time. How we approach this crisis will affect life on Earth for present and future generations. In spite of our collective ideals, irreversible damage to the environment is imminent and represents urgent local and global concern. Through artfully rendered photographs of an acutely endangered landscape, With the publication of "Oceano: An Elegy for the Earth", photographer David Ulrich visually explores the deep paradox between the devout, powerful presence of nature and environmental loss and damage.
Extending eighteen miles along Central California's famed coastline and divided into both a natural preserve and a state vehicular recreation area, the Oceano Dune complex has long fascinated photographers such as Ansel Adams and Edward and Brett Weston. The ephemeral, ever-changing landscape here expresses a sublime order and reflects many correlations between land and the dynamics of human society. Using metaphors that inspire hope and explore impermanence and darkness contrasted with the purity of suffusing light, Ulrich's photographs have been likened to Mark Rothko's "silence and solitude" that express the resonance and subtle dimensions of consciousness.
The coastal environment of the Oceano Dunes is tempered by multiple threats such as incessant motorized activity, the toxicity of surrounding industrial-scale agriculture, and some of the worst air quality in the nation. Thus, for the book's sequence of images, the photographer employs the literary form of an elegy, an extended reflection and lamentation on Earth during the early twenty-first century.
An elegy refers to a poetic reflection of sorrow and love, often for a transient, mortal entity. As Ulrich writes: "Sorrow and love for Earth, indeed. No better articulation exists for my regard for our dying planet and common mother."
Critique: This large format (10.2 x 1 x 7.9 inches, 2.85 pounds) hardcover volume of "Oceano: An Elegy for the Earth" by David Ulrich is published by George F. Thompson Publishing and distributed by Casemate/IPM. An impressive and compelling compendium of un-captioned, full page photos (four in full color, the rest in black/white), "Oceano: An Elegy for Earth" is a particularly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library collections -- and will be of special interest to students of photography and climate change driven environmental impacts.
Editorial Note: David Ulrich (https://creativeguide.com) is an active photographer and writer whose work has been published in numerous books and journals, including Aperture, MANOA, Parabola, and Sierra Club publications. Ulrich's photographs have been exhibited internationally in more than seventy-five one-person and group exhibitions in museums, galleries, and universities. He is currently a professor and co-director of Pacific New Media Foundation in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
The Interior Landscape
Guy Tai
Rocky Nook
1010 B Street, Ste 350, San Rafael, CA 94901
https://rockynook.com
9781681988917, $40.00, HC, 264pp
https://www.amazon.com/Interior-Landscape-Reflections-Creativity-Photography/dp/1681988917
Synopsis: Photographer, teacher, and author Guy Tal has been photographing the landscape for more than 30 years, and in that time he has also been consistently contributing to the literature of photography, writing not about the technical aspects of the photograph (the gear, the exposure details, the "secrets to getting a great shot") but about the deeper topics of visual expression, creativity, art, and life.
Building on the legacy of his previous books "More Than a Rock" and "Another Day Not Wasted", as well as his work as a regular contributor to LensWork and On Landscape magazines, With the publication of "The Interior Landscape: The Landscape on Both Sides of the Camera: Reflections on Art, Creativity, Expression, and a Life in Photography", Guy offers a collection of more than 60 brief essays, and illustrated throughout with Guy's stunning photography.
Of special note is Guy discussion of: Creativity and expression as the most significant aspects of making art; The controversial and tenuous relationship between photography (by design a medium for objective representation) and art (by definition the subjective expressions of the imagination of artists); How he has formed a relationship with, and found meaning in, the natural landscape, and how he expresses these meanings in his photographs; Lessons learned from more than three decades of practicing expressive landscape photography.
Critique: An inherently fascinating, thoughtful and thought-provoking read that will be of particular value to photography students, professional photographers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in art appreciation, "The Interior Landscape: The Landscape on Both Sides of the Camera: Reflections on Art, Creativity, Expression, and a Life in Photography" is an ideal pick for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Contemporary Photography collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "The Interior Landscape" is also readily available in digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).
Editorial Note: Guy Tal (https://guytal.com) is a lifelong learner and explorer whose interest in art, science, and philosophy converged with his intense love of wild places, which he expresses through his photography and writing. He is a public speaker, educator, and frequent contributor to several photographic publications. Guy's first book, "More Than A Rock", was published by Rocky Nook in 2015.
Park Place: Out West
David Heberlein
George F Thompson Publishing
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
9781938086946, $40.00, HC, 112pp
https://www.amazon.com/Park-Place-West-David-Heberlein/dp/1938086945
Synopsis: The National Park Service was established by an act of Congress in 1916 to "preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations." This directive to protect wilderness yet provide accessibility to it without somehow compromising the integrity of the natural resources seems to be a self-fulfilling contradiction and an arena for conflicting priorities.
With the publication of "Park Place: Out West", photographer David Heberlein explores the tension between access and enjoyment and preservation of America's public lands.
From 1992 to 2019, he traveled throughout the American West and visited thirty-five national parks, monuments, and recreation areas. His stunning photographs, made in the course of his many journeys, document the human presence within the national parks and monuments of the American West. They allude to human influence both through the marks we make on the land (whether temporary or permanent) and through the presence of visitors who appear in numerous shapes and sizes performing a variety of familiar sightseeing activities.
These shifting scenarios provide compelling photographic documentation of the multiple roles that national parks and monuments play and the ongoing need to balance the human impact on nature with the preservation of wild places.
"Park Place: Out West" is comprised of sixty-four tritone photographs by David Heberlein along with an introductory essay by the photographer and an informative afterword.
Critique: Especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library American Photography collections, this large format (12.25 x 0.52 x 10 inches, 2.4 pounds) hard cover edition of "Park Place: Out West" from George F. Thompson Publishing will prove to be a welcome addition to a longstanding tradition of artists, writers -- as well as amateur and professional photographers heading out West to see and explore and interpret America's national treasures.
Editorial Note: David Heberlein (https://www.davidheberlein.com) retired as professor emeritus from the University of Wisconsin System at River Falls. His teaching career spanned thirty years and upwards of a thousand photography students.
The Graphic Novel Shelf
Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood
Sam & Cynthia Machado, authors
Steven M. Wise, author
Island Press
2000 M St NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036
www.islandpress.org
9781642830859, $30.00, PB, 240pp
https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Inside-Struggle-Animal-Personhood/dp/1642830852
Synopsis: Happy has lived at the Bronx Zoo for most of her 48 years, and for more than a decade has remained largely isolated and lonely. Like all elephants, Happy has a complex mind and a deep social, intellectual, and emotional life; she desires to make choices and has a sense of self-recognition. But like all nonhuman animals, Happy is considered a thing in the eye of the law, with no fundamental rights. Due to a series of groundbreaking legal cases, however, this is beginning to change - and Happy's liberation is at the forefront. A vibrant and personal graphic novel, "Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood" traces this moving story and makes the legal and scientific case for animal personhood.
Led by lawyer Steven M. Wise and aided by some of the world's most respected animal behavior and cognition scientists, the Nonhuman Rights Project has filed cases on behalf of nonhuman animals like Happy since 2013. Through this work, they have forced courts to consider the evidence of their clients' cognitive abilities and their legal arguments for personhood, opening the door for similar cases worldwide.
In "Thing", comic artists Sam Machado and Cynthia Sousa Machado bring together Wise's groundbreaking work and their powerful illustrations in the first graphic nonfiction book about the animal personhood movement. Beginning with Happy's story and the central ideas behind animal rights, Thing then turns to the scientists that are revolutionizing our understanding of the minds of nonhuman animals such as great apes, elephants, dolphins, and whales. As we learn more about these creatures' inner lives and autonomy, the need for the greater protections provided by legal rights becomes ever more urgent.
With cases like Happy's growing in number and spanning from Argentina to India, nations around the world are beginning to recognize the rights of animals. Combining legal and social history, innovative science, and illustrated storytelling, "Thing" presents a visionary new way of relating to the nonhuman world.
Critique: Presented in a graphic novel illustrated storytelling format and style, "Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood" is a fun, informative, educative, and thought-provoking read that will be of particular and special interest those with concerns regarding Animal Rights, Animal Behavior/Communications. While this unique and inherently fascinating story is available in a digital book format (Kindle, $28.50), "Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood" is an exceptionally recommended pick for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Animal Rights collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.
Editorial Note #1: Cynthia Sousa Machado and Sam Machado are the-husband-and-wife team behind the cartoons "I Got This" and "If I Don't Get Pants." Their work together involves identity, politics and social justice issues. Their editorial cartoons have been found in the Guardian, The New Republic and Redbook. Their webcomic Cyberbunk is on LINE Webtoon. (https://www.booksandbooks.com/event/in-person-an-evening-with-cynthia-sam-machado
Editorial Note #2: Steven M. Wise (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_M._Wise) is founder and president of the Nonhuman Rights Project. He has practiced animal protection law for 30 years throughout the US and is the author of four books: Rattling the Cage: Toward Legal Rights for Animals; Drawing the Line: Science and the Case for Animal Rights; Though the Heavens May Fall: The Landmark Trial That Led to the End of Human Slavery; and An American Trilogy: Death, Slavery, and Dominion Along the Banks of the Cape Fear River. Wise has taught Animal Rights Law at Harvard, Stanford, and seven other law schools.
The Audiobook Shelf
The Library of Broken Worlds
Alaya Dawn Johnson, author
JD Jackson, narrator
Bahni Turpin, narrator
Brilliance Audio
9798400148101, $24.99, MP3-CD (17 Hours 39 Minutes)
https://www.amazon.com/Library-Broken-Worlds-Alaya-Johnson/dp/B0C58Q7JGL
Synopsis: In the winding underground tunnels of the Library, the great peacekeeper of the three systems, a heinous secret lies buried -- and Freida is the only one who can uncover it. As the daughter of a Library god, Freida has spent her whole life exploring the Library's ever-changing tunnels and communing with the gods. Her unparalleled access makes her unique -- and dangerous.
When Freida meets Joshua, a Tierran boy desperate to save his people, and Nergui, a disciple from a persecuted religious minority, Freida is compelled to help them. But in order to do so, she will have to venture deeper into the Library than she has ever known. There she will discover the atrocities of the past, the truth of her origins, and the impossibility of her future.
With the world at the brink of war, Freida embarks on a journey to fulfill her destiny, one that pits her against an ancient war god. Her mission is straightforward: Destroy the god before he can rain hellfire upon thousands of innocent lives -- if he doesn't destroy her first.
Critique: Original, deftly crafted, and a riveting fantasy adventure, "The Library of Broken Worlds" by Alaya Dawn Johnson is now available as a complete and unabridged audio book that is impressively narrated by the vocal acting skills of JD Jackson and Bahni Turpin. Of special and particular interest to dedicated fantasy fans, this Brilliance Audio edition will prove to be an immediately welcome and enduringly popular pick for both personal and community library Science Fiction & Fantasy audio book collections.
Editorial Note #1: Alaya Dawn Johnson (https://alayadawnjohnson.com) is also the author of The Summer Prince (which received three starred reviews, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and was named a 2013 Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year) and Love Is the Drug (the 2014 Nebula Award winner for best young adult novel). Her short stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, most notably the title story in The Memory Librarian, in collaboration with Janelle Monae. She lives in Mexico.
Editorial Note #2: JD Jackson {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JD_Jackson_(actor)} is an American audiobook narrator, actor, and theater professor. For his audiobook narrations he has won 26 Earphone Awards and 1 Audie Award. In 2020, AudioFile named him a Golden Voice Narrator. In 2022, Booklist named him a Voice of Choice Narrator.
Editorial Note #3: Bahni Turpin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahni_Turpin) is an American audiobook narrator and stage and screen actor based out of Los Angeles. She has won 9 Audie Awards, including Audiobook of the Year for Children of Blood and Bone; 14 Earphone Awards; and 2 Odyssey Awards. Turpin has also earned a place on AudioFile magazine's list of Golden Voice Narrators, and in 2016, she was named Audible's Narrator of the Year. In 2018, Audible inducted her into the Narrator Hall of Fame.
Death Message
Damien Boyd, author
Simon Mattacks, narrator
Brilliance Audio
9798400132629, $19.99, MP3-CD (8 Hours 40 Minutes)
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Message-Nick-Dixon-Crime/dp/B0BNQCG28C
Synopsis: A routine missing person enquiry takes a grisly turn when a young couple drag a box containing human remains out of a Somerset river. The victim was a surveillance expert investigating an exaggerated injury claim -- a murder with an obvious motive, until a police officer is implicated and suspended.
Still brooding after his recent brush with police Professional Standards, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Dixon is on extended leave, helping his pregnant fiancee, Detective Sergeant Jane Winter, fight for her place on the major investigation team.
Convinced that the death of an art student is connected, Dixon returns to duty, and when graffiti depicting the murders starts to appear, the race is on to find the artist and the murderer. But, why the paintings? Could an infamous street artist be involved?
With colleagues questioning his every move, Dixon must stop a sadistic killer before another life is taken. Then a second art student is reported missing...
Critique: The thirteen volume in author Damien Boyd's 'DI Nixon Crime' series, "Death Message" is brought to life in a true 'theatre of the mind' experience by the narrative storytelling talents and expertise of vocal actor Simon Mattacks. Complete and unabridged, this audio book edition of "Death Message" from Brilliance Audio will have a special appeal to fans of police procedural crime novels and murder mysteries -- and is unreservedly recommended for personal and community library Mystery/Suspense audio book collections.
Editorial Note #1: Damien Boyd (https://www.damienboyd.com) is a solicitor by training and draws on his extensive experience of criminal law, along with a spell in the Crown Prosecution Service, to write fast-paced crime thrillers featuring Detective Inspector Nick Dixon.
Editorial Note #2: Simon Mattacks (https://www.simonmattacks.com) has been a prominent voiceover expert doing adverts, cartoons, corporate videos, and video games for more than 30 years.
A Thousand Recipes for Revenge
Beth Cato, author
Elizabeth Knowelden, narrator
Brilliance Audio
9798400110535, $19.99, MP3-CD (13 Hours 33 Minutes)
https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Recipes-Revenge-Beth-Cato/dp/B0BCQ419CN
Synopsis: Adamantine "Ada" Garland has an empathic connection to food and wine, a magical perception of aromas, flavors, and ingredients. Invaluable property of the royal court, Ada was in service to the Five Gods and to the Gods-ordained rulers of Verdania -- until she had enough of injustice and bloodshed and deserted, seeking to chart her own destiny. When mysterious assassins ferret her out after sixteen years in hiding, Ada, now a rogue Chef, and her beloved Grand-mere run for their lives, only to find themselves on a path toward an unexpected ally.
A foreign princess in a strange court, Solenn unknowingly shares more with Ada than an epicurean gift. They share blood. With her newfound magical perception, she becomes aware of a plot to kill her fiance, the prince. It's part of a ploy by adversarial forces in the rival country of Albion to sow conflict, and Solenn is set up to take the blame.
As Ada's and Solenn's paths converge, a mother and her long-lost daughter reunite toward a common goal, and against a shadowy enemy from Ada's past who is out for revenge. But what sacrifices must be made? What hope is there when powerful Gods pick sides in a war simmering to eruption?
Critique: The complete and unabridged audio book edition of an original story that will have a special appeal for historical and sword/sorcery fantasy fans, Beth Cato's "A Thousand Recipes for Revenge" novel is brought vividly to life by the narrative storytelling performance of voice actor Elizabeth Knowelden. A solidly entertaining tale of magic and danger, "A Thousand Recipes for Revenge" is a fun and recommended pick for the personal collections of dedicated fantasy fans and for community library Science Fiction & Fantasy audio book collections.
Editorial Note #1: Beth Cato (www.bethcato.com) is the author of the Clockwork Dagger series and the Blood of Earth trilogy. Her short stories and poetry can be found in hundreds of publications, including Fantasy Magazine, Escape Pod, Uncanny Magazine, and the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Beth hails from Hanford, California, but currently writes and bakes cookies in a lair west of Phoenix, Arizona, that she shares with her husband, son, and two feline overlords.
Editorial Note #2: Elizabeth Knowelden (https://www.elizabethknowelden.com/about) is an actress, singer, director and creative artist who trained in London at the Webber Douglas Academy.
A Killer's Game
Isabella Maldonado, author
Almarie Guerra, narrator
Feodor Chin, narrator
Brilliance Audio
9781978699908, $19.99, MP3-CD (11 Hours 17 Minutes)
https://www.amazon.com/Killers-Game-Daniela-Vega/dp/1978699905
Synopsis: FBI agent and former military codebreaker Daniela "Dani" Vega witnesses a murder on a Manhattan sidewalk. The victim is chief of staff for a powerful New York senator. The assassin turned informant is Gustavo Toro. His code: hit the target and don't ask questions.
When Dani suspects a complex conspiracy, the only way to take down the mastermind is from the inside, forcing her to partner with Toro. Together they must infiltrate the inner circle at a remote facility. -- Except it's a trap. For all of them.
Locked in a subterranean labyrinth and held captive by an unseen host, Dani, Toro, and others must fight for their lives. Now Dani must stay undercover, unravel a bizarre conspiracy, and survive lethal puzzles. But will Toro be friend or foe? Because in this killer's game, everything is real: the paranoia, the desperation, and the body count. And only one person can make it out alive.
Critique: This complete and unabridged audio book edition of Isabella Maldonado's suspense thriller "A Killer's Game" is virtually brought to life by the truly exceptional narrative storytelling skills of Almarie Guerra and Feodor Chin -- making it an unreservedly recommended pick for both personal and community library Mystery/Suspense audio book collections.
Editorial Note #1: Isabella Maldonado (www.isabellamaldonado.com) wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and the first Latina to attain the rank of captain in the Fairfax County Police Department just outside DC, she retired as the commander of special investigations and forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and district station commander. She uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing, which includes the popular FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera series (optioned by Netflix for a feature film starring Jennifer Lopez) and the Detective Veranda Cruz series.
Editorial Note #2: Almarie Guerra (https://almarieguerra.com) is fully bilingual (English and Spanish) and fluent in basic French. Almarie is also part of an LA/NY based improv group, The Story Pirates.
Editorial Note #3: Feodor Chin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodor_Chin) is an LA-based actor, writer, and comedian from San Francisco, CA. As an actor, he was classically trained at UCLA, the American Conservatory Theater.
The Library CD Shelf
Let All Who Will
Chris Pierce
https://www.chrispierce.com
Calabama Recordings
$TBA
Los Angeles singer/songwriter Chris Pierce dares to create country music about the harsh realities of being black in America, including the hardships of discrimination, injustice, and the increased risk of being murdered. Pierces' newest album is Let All Who Will, a music CD of original compositions that shine a light on the specter of racial violence, and emphasize that justice and compassion are the only hope for America as a nation. Most songs are co-created by Chris Pierce; other co-creators include Sam Hollander, Mark Malone, Sunny War, Kaveh Rastegar, Siddhartha Khosla, and Adrianne Gonzalez ("Drive" is written solely by Ric Ocasek). One of the most standout songs is the unforgettable "Tulsa Town" about the notorious Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre of 1921, during which white rioters conducted a systematic pogrom of murder and destruction against black people. Let All Who Will is soulful, deeply principled, and worthy of the highest recommendation for country music connoisseurs and public library music CD collections. The tracks are Batten Down the Hatches, 45 Jukebox, Overdue, Meet Me at the Bottom, Tulsa Town, Mr. McMartin, American Silence (Revisited), Sidney Poitier, Time Bomb, Home, Magic and Light, Get Yourself Right, We Can Always Come Back To This, Drive, and Ain't No Better Time.
High Hopes
Kane Kalas
Centerpoint Records
$TBA CD / $9.49 MP3
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1JGGH9V
High Hopes is the debut album of Kane Kalas, a classically trained crooner. Named after the timeless Sinatra song, High Hopes features 18 original arrangements of beloved songs from the American Standards genre. Over fifty musicians were commissioned for the orchestra and chorus; High Hopes does not use any computer-generated instrumentation. High Hopes is a silky smooth dulcet performance, highly recommended for personal and public library collections, and also makes an excellent gift. The tracks are Take Me Out to the Ballgame, All of Me, I've Never Been in Love Before, On the Way to Cape May, Luck Be a Lady, French Foreign Legion, This Is the Moment, Guys and Dolls, On the Street Where You Live, High Hopes, You Make Me Feel So Young, If Ever I Would Leave You, The Way You Look Tonight, Fugue for Tinhorns, Eagles' Victory Song, Edelweiss, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Goodnight My Someone.
The Library DVD Shelf
The Lost King
Starring Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan
IFC Flims
c/o RLJ Entertainment
www.us.RLJEntertainment.com
$27.97 DVD
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-King-Sally-Hawkins/dp/B0BWPPQHJY
The Lost King is a movie based on the true story of the extraordinary archaeological discovery of the remains of King Richard III, presumed scattered and lost over 500 years ago. Amateur historian Philippa Langley led the effort to solve the mystery of the missing king. The academic establishment was skeptical of her research, yet she persevered against the pushback of Britain's most prominent historians. Starring two-time Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins as Langley, The Lost King is an extraordinarily captivating saga about one of the most controversial rulers in English history. Highly recommended! 108 min.
The Judicial Studies Shelf
Justice at Trial
James J. Brosnahan
Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.rowman.com
9781538174432, $36.00, HC, 286pp
https://www.amazon.com/Justice-Trial-Courtroom-Battles-Groundbreaking/dp/153817443X
Synopsis: With the publication of "Justice at Trial: Courtroom Battles and Groundbreaking Cases", readers can follow trial lawyer James J. Brosnahan's career through the demanding, often controversial, and suspenseful world of jury trials, tension-filled appeals and the different worlds of courtrooms, jail cells, corporate boardrooms, and law firms.
Each of the cases in the nineteen chapters were selected from a total of his 150 jury trials to reflect issues of current importance, including refugees on the Mexican border, gargantuan gender battles inside one of the largest corporations in the world, sexual taboos on national television, accusations of terrorism, government agents who cheat, innocent prisoners in our jails, the constitutional right to speak and print the truth, bringing law to a war zone, poverty and murder on Native American Reservations, current problems of hunger in America, and more.
Critique: A combination of trial lawyer memoir and the contemporary justice system, "Justice at Trial: Courtroom Battles and Groundbreaking Cases" is an extraordinary, informative, insightful, professional, and personal story of life in the law. While very highly recommended, especially for community, college, and university library Contemporary American Biography/Memoir collections and supplemental Judicial Studies curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for law students, academia, political law reform advocates, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Justice at Trial" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $34.00).
Editorial Note: As a federal prosecutor and a defense lawyer, James J. Brosnahan has tried 150 jury trials and is a member of the California Trial Lawyer's Hall of Fame. He was a senior partner at Morrison Foerster, a preeminent thousand-lawyer international law firm based in San Francisco. For 46 years he has lectured internationally for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA). He has authored articles for the American Constitutional Blog, Law 360, The California Historical Society, The Daily Journal (California's legal paper), the New York Times, Bloomberg Law, and the Los Angeles Times. He has also appeared many times on national radio and television where he has been interviewed by ABC, CNN, Fox News, Larry King, National Public Radio, and PBS. (https://www.mofo.com/people/james-brosnahan)
Justice for Sale
Gary Stein
The Lyons Press
www.lyonspress.com
c/o The Globe Pequot Press
www.globepequot.com
Blackstone Audiobooks
https://www.blackstonelibrary.com
9781493072569, $35.00, HC, 448pp
https://www.amazon.com/Justice-Sale-Crooked-Federal-Gotham/dp/1493072560
Synopsis: Martin T. Manton was a corrupt federal appeals court judge in New York who was convicted in 1939 and sent to prison.
At the time, this was a hugely important story: Manton was considered the highest-ranking judge in the United States after the nine Justices of the Supreme Court, and was nearly appointed to that august body in 1922. Yet his story has never been told in book-length form before, and never with the benefit of such exhaustive research.
More than just a biography, with the publication of "Justice for Sale: Graft, Greed, and a Crooked Federal Judge in 1930s Gotham", attorney Gary Stein examines Manton's misconduct in the context of the culture of corruption and organized crime that permeated New York City in the first part of the twentieth century. Dozens of others (prominent business executives, leading Wall Street lawyers, accountants, bankers, fixers, con men, another federal judge) participated in Manton's crimes.
"Justice for Sale" profiles these unscrupulous and often colorful characters as well. It wasn't until Manhattan D.A. and future presidential candidate Thomas Dewey's successful pursuit of Manton, a federal grand jury investigation, and a sensational prosecution and trial in federal court that shocked the nation that Manton and his corrupt schemes were finally brought down.
Critique: Given the growing contemporary awareness of corruption and surreptitious bribery of two Supreme Court justices, and the rapidly growing suspensions of the judicial system given the pressing and divisive political/social/cultural divides of today, "Justice for Sale: Graft, Greed, and a Crooked Federal Judge in 1930s Gotham" is a definitively researched, expertly written, impressively informative account of how a major American judicial figure became corrupt and how he was brought to a justice he could not buy his way out of in a similar time to what we see happening in various elements of the justice system today. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, university, and law school Judicial History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for law students, academia, judicial reform activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Justice for Sale" is also available in a digital book formatl (Kindle, $24.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Blackstone Audio, 9798212378475, $31.95, CD).
Editorial Note: Gary Stein has been a practicing lawyer in New York for 35 years since graduating from NYU School of Law. For nearly nine years, he was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan and served as Chief of Appeals of that Office, appearing regularly before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that Manton once headed. He is now a lawyer in private practice in New York City. Gary has published numerous articles and book reviews on law and legal history in, among other publications, the Washington Post, Just Security, Morning Consult, the Jewish Review of Books, Constitutional Commentary, the NYU Law Review, the NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy, the New York Law Journal, and the Business Crimes Bulletin. He has twice received the Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing.
The Political Science Shelf
Baby Ninth Amendments
Anthony B. Sanders
University of Michigan Press
839 Greene Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-3209
www.press.umich.edu
9780472076154, $49.95, HC, 214pp
https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Ninth-Amendments-Americans-Unenumerated/dp/0472076159
Synopsis: Listing every right that a constitution should protect is difficult. American constitution drafters often list a few famous rights such as freedom of speech, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and free exercise of religion, plus a handful of others. But there are an infinite number of rights a constitution could protect. However many rights are put in a constitution, others are going to be left out.
So what is a constitution drafter to do? Luckily, early in American history a few drafters found an easier way: an "etcetera clause". It states that there are other rights beyond those specifically listed.
The most famous etcetera clause is the Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
Yet scholars are divided on whether the Ninth Amendment itself actually does protect unenumerated rights, and the Supreme Court has almost entirely ignored it. Regardless of what the Ninth Amendment means, however, things are much clearer when it comes to state constitutions. Two-thirds of state constitutions have equivalent provisions, or "Baby Ninth Amendments," worded similarly to the Ninth Amendment.
With the publication of "Baby Ninth Amendments: How Americans Embraced Unenumerated Rights and Why It Matters", Anthony B. Sanders tells the story of how the "Baby Ninths" came to be, what they mean, and what they tell us about unenumerated rights more generally.
Unlike the controversy surrounding the Ninth Amendment, the meaning of the Baby Ninths is straightforward: they protect individual rights that are not otherwise enumerated. They are an "etcetera, etcetera" at the end of a bill of rights. Sanders eloquently argues that state judges should do their duty and live up to their own constitutions to protect the rights "retained by the people" that these "etcetera clauses" are designed to guarantee. The fact that Americans have adopted these provisions so many times in so many states demonstrates that unenumerated rights are not only protected by state constitutions, but that they are popular.
Unenumerated rights are not a weird exception to American constitutional law. They are at the center of it. We should start treating constitutions accordingly.
Critique: Skillfully addressing an otherwise obscure or neglected part of the American Constitution, "Baby Ninth Amendments: How Americans Embraced Unenumerated Rights and Why It Matters" is also features a twelve page Appendix (Baby Ninth Amendments in State Constitutions), thirty pages of Notes, and an eight page Index. Exceptionally well organized and presented, "Baby Ninth Amendments" is an invaluable, timely, and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Political Science collections and supplemental Constitutional Law curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for law students, academia, members of the Judiciary, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Baby Ninth Amendments" is also available in a paperback edition (9780472056156, $24.95).
Editorial Note: Anthony B. Sanders (https://ij.org/staff/asanders) is the Director of the Center for Judicial Engagement at the Institute for Justice. He has written articles on state constitutional law, unenumerated rights, judicial review, and other subjects for law journals across the country. Anthony has litigated in various state courts in cases involving state constitutional protections, as well as in federal courts on matters such as economic liberty, free speech, administrative law, and fines and fees abuse.
The Literary Studies Shelf
The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature
Kelcey Ervick, editor
Tom Hart, editor
Rose Metal Pres
PO Box 1956, Brookline, MA 02446
https://rosemetalpress.com
9781941628294,$24.95, 296pp
https://www.amazon.com/Metal-Press-Field-Graphic-Literature/dp/194162829X
Synopsis: The fourth volume in the immensely popular Field Guide series and collabortively compiled and co-edited by Tom Hart and Kelcey Ervick, "The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature: Artists and Writers on Creating Graphic Narratives, Poetry Comics, and Literary Collage" gives readers unprecedented insight into the techniques of 28 of today's most innovative creators of poetry comics, graphic narratives, and image-text hybrids.
With original craft essays, corresponding exercises, and full-color examples of their work, each contributor offers reflection and instruction informed by their own methods and processes. From mark-making and page composition to deeper renderings of place, character, and voice, this much-needed guide to the field illuminates and demystifies the process of creating image+text work.
Co-editors Kelcey Ervick and Tom Hart also provide a historical introduction that links today's graphic literature to visual storytelling of the past and helpful pedagogical resources to round out the volume. "The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature" is a book for writers who want to make graphic narratives and literary collage, illustrators and comics artists exploring new approaches to storytelling, teachers encouraging their students to work with image and text, and anyone curious about what one contributor calls "comics magic."
"The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature" features contributions by: Justine Mara Andersen, Oliver Baez Bendorf, Leonie Brialey, Thi Bui, Sharon Lee De La Cruz, David Dodd, Lee, Arwen Donahue, Trinidad Escobar, Naoko Fujimoto, Marnie Galloway, Lauren Haldeman, Tom Hart, Mira Jacob, Keith Knight, Aidan Koch, Matt Madden, Mita Mahato, Deborah A. Miranda, Josh Neufeld, Dustin Parsons, Zeke Pena, Nick Francis Potter, Kristen Radtke, Scott Roberts, Alexander Rothman, Eleni Sikelianos, Bianca Stone, and Lawrence Sutin.
Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, "The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature: Artists and Writers on Creating Graphic Narratives, Poetry Comics, and Literary Collage" will be of particular interest to readers studying the art of the essay, literary criticism, and graphic art storytelling. "The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Graphic Literary Studies collections and supplemental Visual Arts curriculum lists.
Editorial Note #1: Kelcey Ervick (https://kelceyervick.com) is the author of the graphic memoir, The Keeper (Avery, 2022). Her previous award- winning books are The Bitter Life of Bozena Nemcova, a text and image biographical collage, and two works of fiction, Liliane's Balcony (Rose Metal Press, 2013) and For Sale by Owner (Kore Press, 2011). Her comics have been published widely, including in The Washington Post, The Believer, and Lit Hub, and two featured comics series of hers have appeared in The Rumpus. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and is a professor of English at Indiana University South Bend, where she teaches creative writing, comics, and literary collage.
Editorial Note: Tom Hart (https://www.tomhart.net) is the author/artist of The New York Times #1 bestselling graphic memoir Rosalie Lightning (St. Martin's Press, 2016) and of The Art of the Graphic Memoir (St. Martin's Griffin, 2018). He is the executive director of The Sequential Artists Workshop, an organization and school for comics and graphic novels in Gainesville, Florida, which also offers extensive online courses. Before founding SAW, Tom was a core instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City for 10 years.
The Native American Studies Shelf
God is Red: A Native View of Religion, new edition
Vine Deloria Jr.
Fulcrum Publishing
3970 Youngfield Street, Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033
www.fulcrumbooks.com
9781682753149, $25.95, PB, 360 pp
https://www.amazon.com/God-Red-Native-View-Religion/dp/168275314X
Synopsis: Originally published in 1973, Vine Deloria, Jr.'s "God Is Red" remains the seminal work on Native American religious views, asking the reader to think about our species and our ultimate fate in novel ways. Celebrating five decades of publication with this new edition, Deloria's classic work reminds us to understand "that we are a part of nature, not a transcendent species with no responsibilities to the natural world."
Given the social, cultural, economic, and political issues facing Native Americans today, it is time once again to listen to Vine Deloria, Jr.'s powerful voice, informing us about a spiritual life that is independent of Western religion and that reveres the interconnectedness of all living things.
This new edition of "God Is Red: A Native View Of Religion" includes critical essays engaging with the original material by well-known Indigenous thinkers that include Philip Deloria, Suzan Shown Harjo, Daniel Wildcat, and David E. Wilkins. Inside, "God Is Read" covers a wide variety of topics including: the problem of creation, the origin of religion, the certainty of death, and the complexities of human personality.
Critique: Timely and timeless, this new edition of "God Is Red: A Native View Of Religion" from Fulcrum Publishing (2023) is an essential and core addition to personal, community, college, and university library Native American Sociology, Religion, Philosophy, and Religion collections, as well as supplemental Native American History curriculum studies lists.. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "God Is Red" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.24).
Editorial Note: Vine Deloria Jr. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vine_Deloria_Jr.) was named by TIME magazine as one of the greatest religious thinkers of the twentieth century. He was a leading Native American scholar whose research, writings, and teachings on history, law, religion, and political science have not only changed the face of Indian country, but stand to influence future generations of Native and non-Native Americans alike. He has authored many acclaimed books, including Evolution, Creationism, and Other Modern Myths; Red Earth, White Lies; God is Red; Spirit and Reason; and Custer Died for Your Sins. Vine Deloria Jr. passed away on November 13, 2005.
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