Social Sciences Reviews, June 15, 2011
Jun 15, 2011BIOGRAPHY
Blair, Jane. Hesitation Kills: A Female Marine Officer’s Combat Experience in Iraq. Rowman & Littlefield. 2011. c.296p. ISBN 9781442208766. $24.95. AUTOBIOG
In this military memoir, Marine lieutenant Blair, who served in an aerial reconnaissance unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003), ably depicts the chaotic and often disillusioning experiences of modern warfare. Laced with observations on the challenges facing women in the Marines, Blair’s account provides a compelling behind-the-scenes description of how unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, were used to gather crucial intelligence during the first weeks of the invasion of Iraq. Tracing the emotional roller coaster of her own challenges during the conflict, Blair’s narrative is especially effective at depicting how the intensity and deprivations of war permanently changed her and her fellow marines. VERDICT Blair’s derogatory remarks about American civilians may grate with some readers, and she occasionally lapses into dense military jargon or seemingly petty complaints. However, her eloquence in examining the grim emotional costs of military service makes this a timely, moving, and eye-opening work. Best suited to readers interested in women in the military, UAVs, the Marine Corp, or Operation Iraqi Freedom who are not offended by gritty content. Readers may also consider Kayla Williams’s Love My Rifle More Than You.—Ingrid Levin, Salve Regina Univ. Lib., Newport, RI
Bose, Sugata. His Majesty’s Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India’s Struggle Against Empire. Belknap: Harvard Univ. 2011. c.412p. photogs. maps. index. ISBN 9780674047549. $35. BIOG
Using extensive archival sources, Bose (Gardiner Professor of History, Harvard), grand nephew of Subhas Chandra, known as Netaji (respected leader), has written an enthralling account of Netaji’s life, detailing his lifelong struggle against British rule (he was imprisoned without a trial at a young age), exile in Europe, and political successes. Following a daring escape from house arrest in his native Calcutta, he arrived in Hitler’s Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, with plans to raise a military force of Indian soldiers in German and Japanese POW camps and turn them against their British rulers. Privately, he said about Hitler, “a logical discussion with him on any topic even for a few minutes was practically impossible.” From Germany he traveled by submarine to Japan to set up the 50,000-strong Indian Nationalist Army recruited from Indian soldiers and civilians. Netaji was killed in a plane crash in Taipei in 1945 and therefore did not live to see his country’s freedom two years later. VERDICT This biography of a nationalist leader of the same stature as Mohandas Gandhi should be read, along with Joseph Lelyveld’s Gandhi biography, Great Soul, by all who seek a complete picture of India’s freedom struggle.—Ravi Shenoy, Naperville P.L., IL
Farrell, John A. Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned. Doubleday. Jun. 2011. c.400p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780385522588. $32.50. BIOG
A brilliant legal strategist and dynamic courtroom attorney, Clarence Darrow is best remembered for his defense of union leader Eugene Debs in the 1894 Pullman Strike case, the 1924 Leopold-Loeb murder case, and the Scopes “monkey trial” a year later. In this new biography, Farrell (senior writer, Ctr. for Public Integrity in Washington; Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century) claims to be a “loving revisionist” and the first to use recently released, previously unpublished Darrow correspondence to create a more accurate portrait of this complex individual. While there has been no shortage of Darrow biographies over the years, most either focus on his trials or paint him as a folk hero, glossing over or omitting his divorce, numerous affairs, and financial woes, all of which are covered in Farrell’s well-researched and compelling book. VERDICT Like Andrew E. Kersten’s Clarence Darrow: American Iconoclast, published in April and also boasting access to new primary materials, this book succeeds in presenting Darrow in the fuller context of his life. Here is an American legal icon who deserves two new definitive biographies. Highly recommended.—Leslie Lewis, Duquesne Univ. Lib., Pittsburgh
Fradkin, Philip L. Everett Ruess: His Short Life, Mysterious Death, and Astonishing Afterlife. Univ. of California. Sept. 2011. c.332p. photogs. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780520265424. $24.95. BIOG
An acclaimed scholar of American Western history, Fradkin (Wallace Stegner and the American West) tackles Everett Ruess, a young vagabond artist and poet who wandered in isolation throughout the West and disappeared in the southern Utah desert at age 20 in 1934. In this thorough work, Fradkin focuses on Ruess himself, including, e.g., his possible undiagnosed bipolar disorder, which led to exhilarating highs and outpourings of creativity as well as risk-taking behavior and thoughts of suicide. Questions about Ruess remain to this day—was he attacked and killed, did an accident befall him, or did he take his own life? The book follows the search for Ruess, including the 2009 incident in which a project overseen by National Geographic Adventure obtained erroneous DNA positives. Weaving in excerpts from Ruess’s letters and diaries, Fradkin paints a rich portrait of a young man who was both brilliant and troubled, and whose family still deals with his loss. The author’s research shines through without bogging down the narrative, making it accessible and eminently readable. VERDICT Highly recommended not just to those interested in Ruess but to a wide variety of readers from academics to armchair historians.—Crystal Goldman, San Jose St. Univ. Lib., CA
COMMUNICATIONS
Muller, Judy. Emus Loose in Egnar: Big Stories from Small Towns. Univ. of Nebraska. Jul. 2011. c.264p. photogs. bibliog. ISBN 9780803230163. $24.95. COMM
Unlike in larger metropolitan areas, newspapers in small towns and rural America remain robust, quirky, central resources of information. With solid reporting and an engaging and humorous writing style, Emmy and Peabody Award–winning journalist Muller (communication & journalism, Univ. of Southern California; Now This: Radio, Television…and the Real World) presents perspectives from publishers and editors of weekly newspapers from small towns across America, including Norwood, CO, where she currently resides. The interviews reveal how these hardworking editors provide a voice for the community, while at the same time often dealing with the isolation and social ostracism that come with covering news about their neighbors and friends. Muller also spent time with the townspeople to find out what their paper meant to them and their community. VERDICT These accounts of small-town journalism and small-town life will delight armchair travelers and give hope to journalism students and newspaper aficionados alike.—Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL
ECONOMICS
Cortese, Amy. Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How To Profit from It. Wiley. Jun. 2011. c.244p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780470911389. $22.95. BUS
With the recent crash of the financial markets, many investors are looking for new places to put their money. At the same time, many small businesses are finding it ever more difficult to get credit. Cortese, a former BusinessWeek editor, covers this current confluence, providing examples of how investing in local small businesses can be beneficial to all parties. Her examples include a brewpub in Austin, TX, with a multitude of “owners,” an organic dairy farm in upstate New York that found “angel” investors through a sign they posted at their farmers market stand (almost getting themselves in trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission along the way), and a former Iraq War veteran struggling to get funding to open a day-care center. Various types of funding methods are discussed, including cooperatives, credit unions, local stock exchanges, community development funds, public venture capital, and raising money through social networking. VERDICT Timely and easy to read, this is a nice introduction to something many of us have never considered. A good choice for public libraries and fruitful reading for small businesses and investors.—Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH
Ferrara, Peter. America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb: How the Looming Debt Crisis Threatens the American Dream—and How We Can Turn the Tide Before It’s Too Late. Broadside. Jun. 2011. c.448p. ISBN 9780062025777. $25.99. ECON
Beyond an economic warning, this is an ambitious roadmap to economic reform and recovery for America. Voluminous statistics, numerous sources, and substantive issues make the book extremely credible. Readers will find explanations of the 2008 financial crisis and proposals to improve the situation. They will also be disabused of media distortions and inconsistencies that mislead the public’s economic understanding. Ferrara (President Obama’s Tax Piracy)—director of the Institute for Policy Innovation, former Reagan White House Office of Policy Development member, and former associate deputy attorney general under the first President Bush—outlines the calamitous path America has traveled and proposes multiple reforms that need both liberals’ and conservatives’ attention to avoid detonating the bankruptcy bomb. The reforms repeatedly demonstrate how present policies hurt poor and low-income Americans; restrain economic growth; endanger health care, education, Social Security, pensions, and states; and create disincentives that cause increased welfare enrollment, crime, and counterproductive activities. A comparison with Chilean Social Security, for example, shows U.S. ineptitude. Ferrara’s plea: “Can we talk?” VERDICT Enlightening for serious readers, politicians, and those concerned about America’s future.—Joanne B. Conrad, Geneseo, NY
Klein, Maury. Union Pacific: The Reconfiguration; America’s Greatest Railroad from 1969 to the Present. Oxford Univ. Jun. 2011. c.528p. maps. index. ISBN 9780195369892. $34.95. BUS
This final volume of Klein’s three-volume chronicle of the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad (Union Pacific 1862–1893; Union Pacific 1894–1969) traces the evolution of the company and the American railroad industry from 1969 to the present. Klein (history, Univ. of Rhode Island), a Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Life and Legend of Jay Gould, describes the 1969 railroad environment as being overbuilt, highly regulated, increasingly competitive, and hamstrung by intractable labor agreements. He explains that the financially strong but tradition-bound UP then began an ongoing effort to modernize management methods, incorporate technological advances, streamline work, and grow its business. By 1980, with government deregulation in full swing, the UP began strengthening its business through mergers, diversification, corporate restructuring, and emphasizing quality and service. Klein skillfully weaves together personalities and anecdotes with management successes and missteps to show how the UP made it through these often turbulent decades to thrive as a vital transportation link and as one of only four surviving major American railroads. VERDICT Klein’s lively yet comprehensive business history is highly recommended for all readers interested in business or railroads.—Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA
Martin, Chuck. The Third Screen: Marketing to Your Customers in a World Gone Mobile. Nicholas Brealey. 2011. c.207p. index. ISBN 9781857885644. $28.95. BUS
In the progression of entertainment and information technologies from large to small, some authors call mobile the “fourth screen” after movies, television, and computers. Martin (director, Ctr. for Media Research, MediaPost) omits movies from the evolution and dubs mobile the third. Mobile technologies continue to proliferate, but there are few books about using them for marketing; books on social media marketing typically allocate a chapter to this topic. Martin fills a niche with this slim, information-packed volume. Readers will learn how to leverage a mobile device’s GPS information to tailor promotional offers to consumers via location-based marketing and how consumers’ information-seeking behavior changes on mobile technology; how to adjust their advertising to suit the mobile platform and the user’s behavior; how best to provide opt-in text messaging; and more. He takes care to accommodate readers of all awareness levels by including glossaries. Bulleted lists, statistical tables, and paragraph-length examples leaven the content. VERDICT This book will appeal to upper-division entrepreneurship students as well as practitioners.—Heidi Senior, Univ. of Portland Lib., OR
Opdyke, Jeff D. Protecting Your Parents’ Money: The Essential Guide to Helping Mom and Dad Navigate the Finances of Retirement. HarperBusiness: HarperCollins. Jul. 2011. c.320p. ISBN 9780061358203. pap. $15.99. ECON
This guide offers sound advice for handling the financial issues stemming from medical care and daily living situations for seniors. Opdyke has covered this area for the past two decades in his Wall Street Journal column and in his previous books on family financial planning, Piggybanking and Financially Ever After. He here discusses the essential aspects for adults who manage their parents’ finances. Opdyke begins with how to broach the subject and goes on to detail the practical matters of financial planning—from what documents to check to how to manage pensions, social security, and monthly budgets. The last two chapters focus on the myriad financial issues tied to medical care, including assisted care and supplemental insurance. The book also includes a glossary and work sheet. VERDICT This is one of the only books to provide clear instructions for adult children dealing with their parents’ financial needs. Recommended.—John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston
Solomon, Lewis D. America’s Water and Wastewater Crisis: The Role of Private Enterprise. Transaction. Jul. 2011. c.218p. index. ISBN 9781412818230. $39.95. BUS
Water is essential to human survival, yet most of us do not often think about the water we use. Water is perceived as a free public service rather than as a valuable commodity. In this distinctive book, Solomon (Van Vleck Research Professor of Law, George Washington Univ. Law Sch.) discusses the historical development and regulation of U.S. water resources and provides a comprehensive overview of current challenges, such as aging water infrastructures, conservation efforts, dwindling natural supplies, population growth, funding, security, technological advances, and wastewater treatment. Case studies of such cities as Atlanta and Indianapolis are provided. Solomon identifies future trends like project privatizations and increases in partnerships between private and public organizations and offers advice about how to fine-tune these partnerships so they are win-win situations. VERDICT Because the information here may be hard to find quickly by other means, the book will most benefit urban planners and policymakers. The content is illuminating and will appeal to readers with an interest in civic affairs.—Caroline Geck, MLS, Newark, NJ
Zweigenhaft, Richard L. & G. William Domhoff. The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies. Rowman & Littlefield. Jun. 2011. c.216p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781442207653. $32.95. BUS
According to Zweigenhaft (psychology, Guildford Coll.; Diversity in the Power Elite: How It Happened, Why It Matters) and Domhoff (sociology, Univ. of California; Who Rules America? Challenges to Corporate and Class Dominance), there are 74 women and people of color who have been at the helm of Fortune 500 companies. This book seeks not to analyze why, but rather to explore the individuals themselves—their backgrounds as well as their impact on the companies they lead. The first chapter is devoted to women CEOs, and subsequent chapters individually address each of the ethnicities (further divided by CEO and heritage).The book’s latter part is a comparison between traditional CEOs and companies led by the “new CEOs.” Zweigenhaft and Domhoff clearly and concisely profile the CEOs and companies using a combination of biographical and data-driven research. There are no comparable works available. VERDICT This book succeeds at showing the intersection of culture, politics, ethnicity, and feminism through the lens of business diversity studies. An excellent book for scholars interested in data-driven sociology, psychology, and cultural studies relating to business and for readers in the business world.—Poppy Johnson-Renvall, Central New Mexico Community Coll., Albuquerque
EDUCATION
The University: An Illustrated History. Overlook, dist. by Penguin. Jun. 2011. 448p. ed. by Fernando Tejerina. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781590206447. $60. ED
This oversized volume, arranged in roughly chronological order, examines the rise of a formalized structure for passing knowledge to future generations. Across thousands of years and around the world, there have been attempts to preserve knowledge, increase it, regulate it, share it, and pass it on. Over 30 academic writers here contribute essays on educational institutions, from early Mesopotamian cultures to the university’s role in an electronically connected, worldwide society. Tejerina, a former professor at the University of Valladolid in Spain, collects essays that examine the strengths of public vs. private institutions, the movement of education from castles and monasteries to today’s bustling cities, and how universities have changed from offering instruction in a narrow set of often religious and scientific topics to broad-based educational models and specialized research institutions. The numerous photographs from around the world are stunning and detailed. The final chapter focuses on the architecture of the university. VERDICT A coffee-table book of thoughtful essays for college-level historians and educators and anyone with an interest in the rise of the university system around the world.—Margaret Knapp, Trinity Valley Sch. Lib., Fort Worth, TX
HISTORY
Avey, Denis with Rob Broomby. The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz: A True Story of World War II. Da Capo. Jul. 2011. c.288p. photogs. ISBN 9780306819650. $25. HIST
Serving in the British army during World War II, Avey was captured and became one of thousands of Allied POWs used by the Germans for forced labor. While much of his memoir with BBC journalist Broomby recounts his combat experiences and postwar struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, Avey’s focus is on laboring at I.G. Farben’s Buna Works. Memoirs either tell only what the memoirist saw and heard firsthand or else relate details he or she could not have known at the time. This memoir seems more in the latter style, as historical context that Avey didn’t know at the time, such as strategic details of campaigns, appears in his story. By presenting a linear narrative, his memoir may perforce have lost some of the chaos of how things actually happened. It is at its most gripping in the section in which he claims to have interacted with Jewish prisoners and somehow switched places with one to see for himself the Auschwitz death camp, a central part of the book that has been disputed since its publication in the UK. VERDICT While valuable for those interested in the experiences of combat and being a POW, the content should be used with caution owing to the doubts raised about the author’s veracity.—Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll.
Greenblatt, Stephen. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern. Norton. Sept. 2011. c.320p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780393064476. $26.95. HIST
In this outstandingly constructed assessment of the birth of philosophical modernity, renowned Shakespeare scholar Greenblatt (Cogan University Professor of English & American Literature & Language, Harvard; Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare ) deftly transports readers to the dawn of the Renaissance, when in 1417 bibliophile Poggio Bracciolini uncovered the Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus’s Epicurean work, On the Nature of Things , in the dusty confines of a German monastery. After lying dormant for centuries, Lucretius’s “atomist” philosophy reemerged, promoting the joys of this world over the punishments and rewards of the next, gradually conquering humanist circles and influencing such luminaries as More, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Newton. At the heart of Lucretius’s Latin verse lies the core argument that by understanding the world around us, abandoning superstitious delusions, and coming to grips with humanity’s insignificance, we begin to take ownership of our lives and set out on the pursuit of happiness. VERDICT Greenblatt’s masterful account transcends Poggio’s significant discovery to encompass a diversity of topics including the Roman book trade, Renaissance Florence, and the Catholic Church’s attempts to deal with heresy and schism. Students and general readers from across the humanities will find this enthralling account irresistible. [See Prepub Alert, 3/21/11.] —Brian Odom Pelham P.L., AL
Hunt, Terry & Carl Lipo. The Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island. Free Pr: S. & S. Jun. 2011. c.288p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9781439150313. $26. ARCHAEOL
Hunt (anthropology, Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa) and Lipo (anthropology, California State Univ., Long Beach) reconsider the mysteries of Easter Island (Rapa Nui), with its monumental statues—moai—that have generated fascination since the island’s European discovery in 1722. Captain Cook in 1774 noted the island lacked wood and fresh water or signs of tools to have created the gigantic statues. The authors trace the oral histories that passed down the belief that the imprudence of islanders resulted in the island’s barren, impoverished state, and they trace the legend of competition between two groups, the “Long Ears” and “Short Ears.” Thor Heyerdahl, who studied and wrote about Easter Island, believed the two groups clashed in 1680, and that conflict resulted in demographic and environmental collapse. Jared Diamond, in Collapse, theorizes that cutting down the forests of giant palm trees for the creation and transportation of the huge statues led to the devastation of the island. Hunt and Lipo, writing about their fieldwork and that of others, are optimistic about the island’s future. VERDICT Readers of literature on Easter Island will delight in the authors’ insights on how the statues “walked” and the plentiful rat bone finds, but most of all, they’ll appreciate the book’s clarity. It should attract a wide readership among both adventure-loving lay readers and anthropologists/archaeologists.—Joan W. Gartland, Macomb Community Coll. Libs., Warren, MI
Kershaw, Ian. The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1944–1945. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2011. c.510p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781594203145. $35. HIST
Kershaw, famous for his Hitler biography, has spent his professional career exploring the complex world of Hitler, Nazism, and World War II, and becoming one of our foremost experts on the intertwined subjects. He now turns his considerable skills to an examination of the last year of the Third Reich as it struggled to survive the dual challenge of defeating the Soviets coming from the East and the Allies advancing from the West. That Germany was able to fight effectively and vigorously after the near assassination of Hitler in July 1944 is testimony to the efficiencies of the Nazi state under the charismatic leadership of the fanatical Hitler as well as the grim determination of Hitler’s underlings to maintain the struggle long after any hope of winning had passed. Kershaw explains in impressive detail the factors that enabled the Germans to keep fighting but assigns the most weight to Hitler’s single-minded refusal to give in and the willingness of those who surrounded him to continue the war at all cost. Hitler and his henchmen knew that defeat would be their certain death or, at best, lengthy incarceration. VERDICT This is an essential work by a distinguished historian; valuable for all collections. [See Prepub Alert, 3/21/11.]—Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames
O’Clery, Conor. Moscow, December 25, 1991: The Last Day of the Soviet Union. PublicAffairs: Perseus. Aug. 2011. c.384p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781586487966. $26.99. HIST
Writing with a journalist’s flair for detail, O’Clery ( The Billionaire Who Wasn’t ), Moscow correspondent for the Irish Times during the breakup of the Soviet Union, here offers a well-researched look at the last day of the Soviet Union and provides a balanced portrait of the characters involved. He is careful to consider the myriad factors that affected President Mikhail Gorbachev and his successor, Boris Yeltsin, in their struggle to bring their conflicting views of the future of their country into reality, including how international opinion and support reinforced their respective mindsets. O’Clery keeps his lens trained on the interaction and rivalry between these two personalities and discusses how their conflicts directed their decision making and how their tumultuous relationship drew others into action. Rather than stopping at that fateful Christmas day in 1991—the dissolution of the Soviet Union—O’Clery also provides a succinct history of the major events afterward, tracing Russia’s rocky conversion to a market economy and the reemergence of communist ideology in the period following Yeltsin’s election that year. VERDICT Academics and lay readers alike will find this book a revealing addition to the history of modern Russia, as well as an engrossing journalistic study of two of Russia’s most intriguing political leaders. —Elizabeth Zeitz, Otterbein Univ. Lib., Westerville, OH
Parker, Matthew. The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies. Walker. Aug. 2011. c.464p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780802717443. $30. HIST
Parker (Panama Fever) traces the social, political, and economic history of the sugar trade in the British West Indies from the 17th to the 19th centuries through the stories of several families who ran enormous plantations with indentured and slave labor and amassed great wealth. Along with harrowing tales of the extreme hazards of harvesting sugarcane, the author also conjures incongruous images of the conspicuous consumption by the landowners who insisted on wearing full European wardrobes (wool coats and wigs) in tropical climates. In this concise volume, Parker manages to cover disease, race relations, slave rebellions, imperial rivalry, and more, leaving the reader impressed by his command of the sources—many of which are letters and diaries of the plantation owners and their visitors—and the comprehensiveness of the treatment. VERDICT Successful both as a scholarly introduction to the topic and as an entertaining narrative, this is recommended for readers of any kind of history. (Illustrations not seen.)—Megan Hahn Fraser, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, Lib.
Rankin, Andrew. Seppuku: A History of Samurai Suicide. Kodansha, dist. by Oxford Univ. 2011. 255p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9784770031426. $24.95. HIST
A study of over 800 years of the Japanese practice of ritual suicide by disembowelment might seem grisly, but there’s far more here than blood and gore. British author Rankin, who lived in Japan for many years, provides an array of fictional and historical accounts from the practice’s earliest days to the beginning of the 20th century to examine seppuku’s history, its shift from a spontaneous martial deed performed in the heat of battle to a formalized ritual with elaborate protocol, and the act’s philosophical resonances that led it to become an intrinsic part of samurai culture. Interspersed are a selection of rules from seppuku manuals, a look at types of seppuku, and a chapter of quotes from plays, death poems, and other sources. Rankin also casts a critical eye on narratives that might have been embellished or romanticized; accounts of popular figures long admired in Japan and elsewhere as ideals of samurai loyalty come under particularly sharp scrutiny. VERDICT Rankin clearly intends this to be the definitive English work on seppuku. A fascinating book—well researched and extensively cited without being overly dry—it’s an excellent read for anyone intrigued by the subject or by Japanese history in general.—Kathleen McCallister, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia
Stein, Mark. How the States Got Their Shapes Too: The People Behind the Borderlines. Smithsonian. Jun. 2011. c.360p. illus. maps. index. ISBN 9781588343147. $24.95. HIST
In an evocative sequel to his popular How the States Got Their Shapes, Stein presents a plentitude of varied and compelling biographical sketches associated with the setting of our national boundaries. The personalities, both the notable (e.g., Thomas Jefferson, Daniel Webster, Ethan Allen, Charles Mason, and Jeremiah Dixon) and the more obscure (Zebulon Butler, Clara Nichols, John Meares) and their agendas are central to the book. Readers are reminded that under President James K. Polk, U.S. boundaries grew exponentially to include Texas and all lands between the Rockies and the Pacific, producing a colossal headache for Congress and a dilemma largely solved by such outsize local personalities as Sam Houston and Brigham Young. The author also treats lands we attempted to annex but lost: Canada, the remainder of Mexico, Cuba, and the persistent issue of Puerto Rico. Readers will be inspired by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s dogged campaign to win statehood for the District of Columbia. VERDICT Stein’s major and minor vignettes are well chosen from a wide array of primary and secondary sources. The book offers a perfect blend of optimism, tongue-in-cheek humor, and universal appeal. A winning effort.—John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Cleveland
Winch, Julie. The Clamorgans: One Family’s History of Race in America. Hill & Wang: Farrar. Jun. 2011. c.400p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780809095179. $35. HIST
Chronicling multiple generations descended from the French-born minor nobleman and fortune hunter Jacques Clamorgan and his free black wife, Ester, Winch (history, Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston; Philadelphia’s Black Elite) strips away the lines of race. In place of the commonly handed-down whole cloth featuring the stark, unbending black/white dichotomy that white supremacy imposed, Winch reveals race as a much-manipulated negotiation. In her deeply documented story of inheritance, she tracks the Clamorgans across contested terrain from Sieur Jacques’s coming up from New Orleans in 1781 to the still French town of St. Louis to his descendants as late as 1954. Winch shows the Clamorgans fighting in courts and marketplaces as enterprising and often grasping self-made men and women. At times they were black, at times they were white, more or less. VERDICT This delightful read transcends the Clamorgan lineage and simple tales of passing to open to general readers and scholars a refreshing vista of the fluid and variable construction and meaning of whiteness and race in America.—Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe
LAW & CRIME
Chesler, Phyllis. Mothers on Trial: The Battle for Children and Custody. 2d ed. Lawrence Hill: Chicago Review, dist. by IPG. Jul. 2011. c.512p. bibliog. ISBN 9781556529993. pap. $18.95. LAW
In this new edition of her 1986 groundbreaking book, Chesler, a psychotherapist and women’s studies scholar, retires dated material and adds eight new chapters. By supporting her original contentions with new cases, the author demonstrates again that despite commonly held notions, courtroom custody battles continue to victimize mothers and their children, too often favoring fathers who are abusive, neglectful, or otherwise unfit. Chesler presents a good review of present-day legal trends, including the current darling of family courts, the joint-custody agreement. She relies on studies and experts to call into question the effectiveness of joint custody in all but the most mature and cordial of splits. Also new is a well-presented discussion of the challenges and biases lesbians face in custody fights with former husbands and the sometimes onerous conditions under which these mothers are allowed to retain custody. VERDICT Heavily documenting her book with legal precedent, expert input, and studies, Chesler makes her case with all of her zeal intact. Fresh, timely content, extensive annotations, and a helpful listing of resources on women’s and children’s issues recommend this book for legal and women’s studies collections.—Joan Pedzich, Harris Beach PLLC, Rochester, NY
Collins, Paul. The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars. Crown. Jun. 2011. c.320p. illus. bibliog. ISBN 9780307592200. $26. CRIME
In the sticky summer of 1897, New York City was rocked by the discovery of a human torso wrapped in oilcloth floating in the river. A second bundle wrapped in the same fabric was found, then a third. Who was the dead man, and where had his head been dumped? The murder terrified the populace but galvanized the newspaper tabloids. Upstart New York Journal , run by a very young William Randolph Hearst, took on the champion New York World , under Joseph Pulitzer, in a circulation duel to the death. The rival papers sent out investigators, hounded the police, and offered substantial rewards, not in the service of justice but of circulation. The dogged search eventually produced suspects, but how do you get a conviction when you can’t even identify the body? Collins ( The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World ) utilizes newspaper accounts from more than a dozen dailies to bring this tale of sex, murder, and yellow journalism to life. VERDICT This intriguing case, sensational at the time but now long forgotten, will appeal to fans of early 20th-century social history and crime. —Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH
DeStefano, Anthony M. Mob Killer: The Bloody Rampage of Charlie Carneglia, Mafia Hit Man. Pinnacle: Kensington. Jun. 2011. c.352p. bibliog. ISBN 9780786024155. pap. $6.99. CRIME
La Cosa Nostra just isn’t what it used to be, as Charlie Carneglia could tell you. A made man of the old school, he joined up with John Gotti’s crew, and as the Dapper Don rose to the head of the Gambino family, Charlie rose with him. Professional killers aren’t difficult to find in the mob, but Charlie had a special talent that made him valuable: he was good at disposing of bodies, dissolving them in acid baths and then depositing what was left in various places around New York. He was said to keep a wall of jewelry from his victims as grisly trophies. This useful skill kept him safe in the Mafia despite his erratic behavior, but as the RICO statutes and the witness-protection program made the prosecution of organized crime easier and associates started flipping like dominos, his days were numbered. He is now serving a life sentence without possibility of parole. VERDICT This latest view into the history of the mob’s demise is bound to delight crime and Mafia buffs.—Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH
Magliocca, Gerard N. The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Backlash. Yale Univ. Jun. 2011. c.248p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780300153149. $40. LAW
Magliocca (law, Indiana Univ.) focuses on the failed career of three-time Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan to describe a pattern of Supreme Court obstructionism against the rising Populist movement of the late 19th century. The author theorizes that the high court, at any given moment in history, is more a reflection of the political, economic, and social values of a previous generation than a reflection of the prevailing thought of the current era. Thus, he concludes, the development of a contemporary constitutional theory lags behind political evolution and prevents the latter from maturing to the level that a progressive society demands. Magliocca argues that such judicial obstruction inhibited progressive political movement and, in the case of Bryan, fed the notion that the level of social change promoted by the Populist movement and its most outspoken advocate was unsupported by constitutional theory and therefore inherently undesirable. The author shows how the Republicans seized upon this flawed concept and used it to their advantage. VERDICT Aimed at an academic audience and well documented, this book is replete with analysis of the legal and political issues involved.—Philip Y. Blue, New York State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Lib., New York
Stokes, David R. The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial That Captivated America. Steerforth, dist. by Random. Jul. 2011. c.384p. illus. index. ISBN 9781586421861. $27. CRIME
Stokes, a minister himself, tells a long-forgotten story that captivated America in the 1920s. Today’s charismatic preachers have mastered the use of media; J. Frank Norris was a pioneer. Norris’s First Baptist Church in downtown Fort Worth, TX, drew 5000–6000 parishioners each week to his Sunday morning and evening services. He published the weekly Searchlight newspaper and broadcast his sermons on his radio station. He traveled around the country holding revival meetings and was poised to succeed William Jennings Bryan as a national fundamentalist leader, but then he killed someone. Most of the book relays Norris’s murder trial for killing a local businessman who was angry over Norris’s constant verbal attacks on city leaders. The trial was such a big news story that telegrams were sent constantly from the courthouse during the proceedings. VERDICT Readers will enjoy this oversize tale—a snapshot of a fascinating time in American and Texas history—that reads like fiction. It will appeal to those interested in true crime, the history of fundamentalism, and the early days of Texas.—Karen Sandlin Silverman, Ctr. for Applied Research, Philadelphia
PARAPSYCHOLOGY
Fontana, David. The Essential Guide to the Tarot: Understanding the Major and Minor Arcana—Using the Tarot To Find Self-Knowledge and Change Your Destiny. Watkins, dist. by Sterling. 2011. 288p. illus. index. ISBN 9781907486760. pap. $14.95. PARAPSYCH
To Fontana (The Secret Language of Symbols), the way we see and interpret tarot cards can, like an ink blot test, offer us better understanding of ourselves. He introduces this concept in a rather extensive 30-page introduction that also touches on other subjects like the history of the tarot. The majority of the book is devoted to sections on how to read and interpret the cards and conventional layouts for readings. Because using the cards to unlock one’s subconscious and the three stages one must work through to achieve full understanding of the tarot requires time, Fontana suggests memorizing each card of the major arcana until they can easily be recalled; the casual practitioner of the tarot may find this a bit overwhelming. Overall, the book is well researched, well written, and well organized; but it might be information overload. VERDICT For serious tarot practitioners only. Those who are strongly committed to learning more about the tarot and using it in a completely new way will find this book helpful.—Susan Flaherty, Portland P.L., ME
Hancock, Maureen. The Medium Next Door: Adventures of a Real-Life Ghost Whisperer. Health Communications. 2011. c.288p. ISBN 9780757315640. pap. $14.95. PARAPSYCH
Hancock says she would like to be remembered as the girl next door with a twist—the twist being that she’s a medium. As such, she has become famous enough for a possible Disney reality show (in the works for the fall 2011 season). Her narrative covers her personal life, her work as a medium, and self-help advice at the end of each chapter. Despite her own personal loss and Hancock’s exposure to the grief of others, her book is full of hope and reassurance. Her revelations about being a medium and talking to the dead are much the same as those found in books by other mediums, e.g., Concetta Bertoldi and John Edward. All share engaging personalities and a positive message about what happens to us after death. Hancock’s unusual background in holistic training (Reiki and Chinese medicine) and stand-up comedy gives her a slightly different outlook. VERDICT Hancock’s moving book will attract anyone captivated by mediums and life after death.—Mary E. Jones, Los Angeles P.L.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Brown, Michael D. & Ted Schwarz. Deadly Indifference: The Perfect (Political) Storm; Hurricane Katrina, the Bush White House, and Beyond. Taylor. Jun. 2011. c.224p. illus. index. ISBN 9781589794856. $24.95. POL SCI
Even when our government is successful, e.g., in the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, the truth of what actually occurred can be hard to come by. But when the government’s actions are widely considered to have been a failure, the truth can be even more difficult to uncover. Brown was the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, and he took most of the heat for the government’s poor response to the disaster. Here, he claims he was the scapegoat—and he makes a great case that there is plenty of blame to go around, with ample evidence that politicians at the local, state, and national levels were inept and concerned more about their image than the people in need. He also shows how the news media contributed to the mayhem that followed the hurricane. VERDICT Brown’s version of events will be of interest to politics junkies, journalists, and the millions of people whose lives were impacted by Katrina. In offering the other side of the story, Brown presents valuable information for historians who will eventually decide where to place the blame for the inadequate relief efforts.—Robert Bruce Slater, Stroudsburg, PA
Lehrer, Jim. Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to McCain-Obama. Random. Sept. 2011. c.224p. index. ISBN 9781400069170. $26. POL SCI
“Tension city” is the phrase George H.W. Bush applied to his presidential debates when he spoke years later to Lehrer, who has just retired from anchoring PBS NewsHour. Here, Lehrer recounts his experiences in front of the camera between 1988 and 2008 as moderator of 11 of these televised election-year spectacles. Although the subtitle takes in a longer chronology, Lehrer’s coverage of pre-1988 debates is somewhat cursory, and not every presidential election after Kennedy-Nixon included debates. Lehrer offers his own insights and opinions but doesn’t present much new information. George H.W. Bush disliked the debates, but Bill Clinton relished them. Nobody witnessed more of the moments that defined these contests than Lehrer. The manner in which he moderated the debates is also the manner of this evenhanded account of his successes and missteps as well as those of the contenders. VERDICT Much of the material here came from oral history interviews and a 2000 PBS documentary, giving the book a slightly warmed-over taste. Even so, it is an easy, agreeable read but those wanting a more substantial first-person account could try Newton N. Minow and Craig L. LaMay’s Inside the Presidential Debates.—Bob Nardini, Nashville
Nowotny, Thomas. Diplomacy and Global Governance: Service in an Age of Worldwide Interdependence. Transaction. 2011. c.295p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781412818445. $49.95. INT AFFAIRS
Former Austrian diplomat Nowotny (political science, Univ. of Vienna; Strawberries in Winter: On Global Trends and Global Governance) became convinced by his years of practical experience that the demands on government and its representatives now require a different type of diplomat than the generalists who have dominated the corps. He argues that a diplomat is no longer the sole channel of communication between one government and another; nation-states are no longer the primary actors on the world stage. Dominant issues like environmental protection, climate change, and terrorism are no respecters of borders. According to Nowotny, multilateral organizations like the World Bank, the UN, and nongovernmental relief agencies are at least as important as governments and often have better technical expertise on staff. To succeed in this more complex setting, Nowotny recommends recruiting technical experts to serve in a country’s diplomatic corps and establishing a “multilateral track” to allow some diplomats to specialize in working with other agencies. His other suggestions, e.g., shared embassy facilities and outsourcing some traditional functions, will be more controversial in the field. VERDICT By setting his real-world experience on an academic foundation, Nowotny has produced a thoughtful study that will interest those in the diplomatic services and those who hope to enter.—Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., NY
PSYCHOLOGY
Childhood Psychological Disorders: Current Controversies. Praeger. 2011. c.206p. ed. by Alberto M. Bursztyn. index. ISBN 9780313336966. $44.95. PSYCH
Children’s mental health issues differ from those of adults; within the medical field, there is disagreement over medication use and even whether common maladies like depression and bipolar disorder occur in children. Here, 11 contributors confront such issues thoughtfully and authoritatively. Editor Bursztyn (school psychology & special education, Brooklyn Coll., CUNY; Handbook of Special Education) and the contributors are colleagues from area institutions. The book begins with a discussion of disability from a global and historical perspective. Stand-alone chapters cover specific disorders including autism, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bipolar and emotional disturbances, gender identity disorder, and the less-often considered topic of food allergies. Contributors review each disorder with statistics on incidence, treatment trends, and current research. Alternative perspectives on the extent to which society and educational institutions should accommodate the special needs of such children are also presented. Bursztyn enlivens the text with case studies and practice notes and provides print and web resources. VERDICT A uniformly readable and useful survey for parents, counselors and special education teachers, and students. Recommended for large public libraries and special education collections.—Antoinette M. Brinkman, MLS, Evansville, IN
Dobrenski, Rob. Crazy: Notes On and Off the Couch. Lyons: Globe Pequot. Jun. 2011. c.224p. ISBN 9780762764839. $24.95. PSYCH
Clinical psychologist Dobrenski, author of the popular Shrink Talk blog (www.shrinktalk.net), wants us to understand that therapists can be crazy, too. To that effect, he tells us about a colleague who has panic attacks and describes his own obsession with a former girlfriend. But mostly he writes about what therapists do and describes the different kinds of patients he may see in a typical day—a couple with a troubled marriage, a teenage boy who’s trying to cope with his parents’ divorce, a woman mourning the death of her husband. He relates unusual encounters, including working with sex offenders and their partners and a blind man who “cured” his depression in a most hair-raising way. VERDICT Fun for anyone who’s wondered what it’s like to make a living by listening to other people’s troubles all day.—Mary Ann Hughes, Shelton, WA
Ghaemi, Nassir. A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness. Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Aug. 2011. c.320p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781594202957. $27.95. PSYCH
Ghaemi (psychiatry, Tufts Univ.) argues that the best leaders in times of crisis are not the most “normal” but those who’ve allegedly suffered from some sort of mental illness, such as Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill (depression), Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy (hyperthymia—a sort of slightly manic temperament), and Gen. William T. Sherman (bipolar disorder). While it has previously been noted by many historians that Churchill’s depressions and (paradoxically) Roosevelt’s upbeat demeanor both were instrumental in rallying their countries, Ghaemi also argues that leaders such as Tony Blair, George W. Bush, and Richard Nixon failed precisely because they were so well adjusted. While this book is an intriguing read, it does not satisfactorily answer the many questions it raises, such as “What is normality?” and “What is and isn’t a crisis?” VERDICT Readers who want to explore the relationship between mental illness and achievement would be better off with Kay Redfield Jamison’s Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament . —Mary Ann Hughes, Shelton, WA
Sugar in My Bowl: Real Women Write About Real Sex. Ecco: HarperCollins. Jun. 2011. c.256p. ed. by Erica Jong. illus. ISBN 9780061875762. $21.99. PSYCH
Best-selling author and poet Jong (Fear of Flying) compiles a powerful group of essays, stories, and monologs by women on their own sexual experiences. She chose the name of the anthology from traditional blues songs by women who focused on soulfully expressing the feminine sexual experience. The authors write in a variety of styles but are united by a common goal to express their truth and paint vivid pictures of the female experience with stark honesty, leaving out fairy tales and romance. As expected, explicit sexual language is present throughout, as women tackle their obsessions and kinks, lost innocence and enlightenment, and pain and yearnings. “The truth is,” Jong shares in her introduction, “sex is life…the part that continues it and makes it bloom.” VERDICT While this is not a comfortable collection, the passion, tragedy, and hope—offered by courageous women who express raw feelings that society tends to silence—will resonate.—Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta
Zayfert, Claudia & Jason C. DeViva. When Someone You Love Suffers from Posttraumatic Stress: What To Expect and What You Can Do. Guilford. Jul. 2011. c.276p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781609181963. $40; pap. ISBN 9781609180652. $16.95. PSYCH
Clinical psychologists Zayfert (psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical Sch.) and DeViva (Univ. of Connecticut Sch. of Medicine; Yale Univ. Sch. of Medicine) provide a family-focused book on dealing with post-traumatic stress. They present examples of and advice related to various types of trauma, including sexual assault, serious accidents, natural and human-made disasters, and combat, and provide family members with useful information, support, and pragmatic ideas. The emphasis is on friends and family of trauma survivors, who are indirectly but seriously affected by the trauma. The book explains the effects of trauma on survivors and the people surrounding them, what the latter can do to help themselves and the survivor, how to decide how much to invest to help the victim, and methods of communicating to bring families closer together as they struggle with the aftermath of the traumatic event. The authors explain the positive changes that can occur in trauma survivors and their loved ones. VERDICT Throughout, the authors include real-life stories, and the list of additional resources and references add value to this work, which nicely supplements Cheryl A. Roberts’s recent Coping With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX
SOCIAL SCIENCES
Jennings, Ken. Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks. Scribner. Sept. 2011. c.288p. illus. index. ISBN 9781439167175. $25. SOC SCI
In 2004 Jennings won $2.52 million on Jeopardy!, which he chronicled in Brainiac. Now, in this witty and fast-paced narrative, he reveals himself as a “maphead,” a cartophile who, as a child, took his atlas to bed with him. In exploring America’s relationship to maps and geography, he introduces us to the geography and map division of the Library of Congress. We enter the world of international antique map dealers by attending the Royal Geographic Society’s London Map Fair and meet younger mapheads at the annual National Geographic Bee. Next we encounter the world of the “roadgeeks,” who monitor every change in our roads and highways and their signage. Wildest of all are the thousands of people caught up in geocaching, stashing and locating little treasure troves via a website and GPS coordinates. The final visit is with Brian McClendon in his Google Geo office at Google Earth’s California headquarters and a discussion of “augmented reality,” the apotheosis of mapping. VERDICT This will be a delightful adventure for map mavens and those who enjoyed Mark Monmonier’s From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow and Mark Stein’s How the States Got Their Shapes. [Stein’s sequel, How the States Got Their Shapes Too, is reviewed on p. 101.—Ed.]—Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL
Owings, Alison. Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans. Rutgers Univ. 2011. c.376p. index. ISBN 9780813549651. $26.95. SOC SCI
Owings (Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich) presents a wide-ranging collection of personal stories as told by Native Americans from Maine to Hawaii. She conceived of collecting these oral histories when confronted with her own ignorance about both the historic and the modern lives of native peoples. Each chapter is devoted to an individual or group of individuals from a specific tribe, and Owings wisely lets the speakers tell their own stories, often in their own words. The sum is a rich collection that is poignant, funny, heartbreaking, and very real. The vast diversity in Native America is evident. Each interviewee comes across multidimensionally, strongly and openly identifying with his or her tribe or nation, while balancing tradition, language, heritage, politics, and identity with the day-to-day business of working, parenting, creating, traveling, and living. Similarities are evident, but so are rich differences in perspective, status, circumstance, and outlook. The book is engaging and thoughtfully conceived and effectively communicates Owings’s central thesis—that Native Americans are alive, well, and thriving and have much to teach and share with the rest of us. VERDICT Recommended for all readers of nonfiction, and highly recommended for anyone living in or near Native communities.—Julie Edwards, Univ. of Montana, Missoula, Lib.
TRAVEL & GEOGRAPHY
Stasiuk, Andrzej. On the Road to Babadag: Travels in the Other Europe. Houghton Harcourt. Jun. 2011. c.272p. tr. from Polish by Michael Kandel. maps. ISBN 9780151012718. $23. TRAV
Stasiuk, an award-winning Polish author of fiction, literary criticism, and poetry, has compiled a series of moody travel pieces on eastern Europe, which were originally published in Polish in 2004. Stasiuk is not interested in museums or quaint villages and admits he is “drawn to decline and decay.” His travels through Moldova, Albania, Slovenia, and Hungary are filled with the smell of cigarettes, sweat, and manure, and the landscapes, often flat and brown, with crumbling buildings, are only occasionally alight with a fiery sunset. Suspicious Gypsies, corrupt border guards, and elderly women he portrays exhibit the same decline and decay as the landscape. VERDICT This book will be of interest to readers who want to keep up with the best writing from Poland and who have some familiarity with the culture and history of eastern Europe (Stasiuk does not explain local references). The author may not be a joyful traveler, but he is wonderfully observant, and his evocative writing, at times almost poetic, makes for a challenging but worthwhile experience.—Linda M. Kaufmann, Massachusetts Coll. of Liberal Arts, North Adams
AMERICAN JIHADISTS
Berger, J.M. Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam. Potomac. Jun. 2011. c.288p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9781597976930. $29.95. INT AFFAIRS
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and occupied the country for ten years, Muslims from several countries, aided and abetted by the Reagan administration’s anti-Soviet stance, joined the “holy war,” or jihad, against the Soviet Union to liberate Afghanistan from the grip of what they considered to be an atheistic foreign aggressor. With the defeat of the Soviet army, many of the jihadists continued their battle against an assortment of internal and external enemies. The U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq gave new impetus to them to confront Western powers and their regional clients. These jihadists, primarily Sunni extremists from Middle Eastern countries with pro-American governments, have been joined by a handful of Americans. Investigative journalist Berger (Intelwire.com) documents some 240 American citizen jihadists. By interviewing many of his subjects, including security officials and “Muslim radicals and counterradicals,” as well as using data from U.S. government agencies, he seeks to explain why these Americans went to war. VERDICT The book’s journalistic language makes it an easy read, best for nonspecialists and those who wish to supplement the news they get from mass media.—Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile
Herridge, Catherine. The Next Wave: On the Hunt for Al Qaeda’s American Recruits. Crown Forum. Jun. 2011. c.272p. photogs. index. ISBN 9780307885258. $25. INT AFFAIRS
The killing of Osama bin Laden by a team of U.S. Navy Seals in a compound near Pakistan’s capital ended the career of al-Qaeda’s notorious leader; however, new leaders emerge. One leader is Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Yemeni cleric who has been linked to, among others, three of the 9/11 hijackers and to Major Nidal Hasan, who murdered 13 personnel at Fort Hood in 2009. Herridge (national correspondent, Fox News) recounts the story of al-Qaeda’s American recruits by focusing on the case of al-Awlaki and bases her account on Fox News reports as well as her travels across the United States and Yemen and to Guantánamo Bay to interview a handful of U.S. law enforcement and security agents. She did not interview any of the radicalized Americans. VERDICT Herridge writes with a sensationalist approach, unlike J.M. Berger in Jihad Joe, reviewed above, and does not provide much analysis or insight. Both books are largely descriptive and anecdotal, but Berger’s is the better choice for those seeking journalism that is more objective and somewhat broader and deeper in scope. Fans of Fox News may want to seek out Herridge’s book.—Nader Entessar, Univ. of South Alabama, Mobile
