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Books: Text Books: History and Theory
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrongby James W. Loewen List Price: $16.00 Available from Amazon $10.08 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Sociology professor Loewen lambastes history textbooks as both too inaccurate and too bland to engage students. Copyright 1996 Reed business Information, Inc. From Booklist When textbook gaffes make news, as with the tome that explained that the Korean War ended when Truman dropped the atom bomb, the expeditious remedy would be to fire the editor. Loewen would rather hire a new team of authors bent on the pursuit of context instead of factoids. In Loewen's ideal text, events and people illuminating the multicultural holy trinity of race, gender, and social class would predominate over the fixation on heroes and acts of government. Such is the mood adopted throughout this critique of 12 American history texts in current use. Vetting 10 topics they commonly address--from the Pilgrims to the Vietnam War--Loewen bewails a long train of alleged omissions and distortions. To account for the deplorable situation, he offers this quasi-Marxist explanation: "Perhaps we are all dupes, manipulated by elite white male capitalists who orchestrate how history is written as part of their scheme to perpetuate their own power and privilege at the expense of the rest of us." Certainly students' appalling ignorance of history is troublesome, and broken families and excessive TV viewing are at least the equals of white male conspirators as the cause. However, libraries located where dissatisfaction with textbooks exists should be interested in Loewen's critique. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. |
Machiavelli: The Prince (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)by Niccolo Machiavelli, Quentin Skinner, Russell Price, and Raymond Geuss Available from Amazon $9.99 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review When Lorenzo de' Medici seized control of the Florentine Republic in 1512, he summarily fired the Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria and set in motion a fundamental change in the way we think about politics. The person who held the aforementioned office with the tongue-twisting title was none other than Niccolò Machiavelli, who, suddenly finding himself out of a job after 14 years of patriotic service, followed the career trajectory of many modern politicians into punditry. Unable to become an on-air political analyst for a television network, he only wrote a book. But what a book The Prince is. Its essential contribution to modern political thought lies in Machiavelli's assertion of the then revolutionary idea that theological and moral imperatives have no place in the political arena. "It must be understood," Machiavelli avers, "that a prince cannot observe all of those virtues for which men are reputed good, because it is often necessary to act against mercy, against faith, against humanity, against frankness, against religion, in order to preserve the state." With just a little imagination, readers can discern parallels between a 16th-century principality and a 20th-century presidency. --Tim Hogan --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition. J. H. Hexter, Washington University A readable text in vigorous prose. I have not read a translation of The Prince into English that is more lively. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. |
Nietzsche: 'On the Genealogy of Morality' (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)by Friedrich Nietzsche, Keith Ansell-Pearson, Carol Diethe, and Raymond Geuss Available from Amazon $14.99 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Book Description A genealogy of Morality is Nietzsche's most important work on morality. A polemical contribution to moral and political theory, it traces the history of concepts such as guilt, responsibility, and justice, offering insight into Nietzsche's assessment of modern times as the epoch of nihilism. This volume contains new translations of the genealogy and The Greek State and sections from other of Nietzsche's work to which he refers within it (Human All Too Human, Daybreak, The Joyful Science, and Beyond Good and Evil). Language Notes Text: English (translation) Original Language: German --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. |
The Chinese Have a Word for It : The Complete Guide to Chinese Thought and Cultureby Boye Lafayette De Mente List Price: $17.95 Available from Amazon $12.21 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page Book Description This is an ideal introduction to the Chinese language and culture for business people, students, and travelers. It sheds light on the character and personality of the Chinese by examining the meaning, historical significance, and use of more than 300 Chinese expressions. This practical guide will help readers anticipate Chinese behavior and avoid cultural faux pas. About The Author Boyé Lafayette De Mente is a renowned sinologist and has written many books on language and culture. |
The Dream Life of Sukhanovby Olga Grushin List Price: $24.95 Available from Amazon $15.72 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Even for a man on "the very best terms with the very best people," the Soviet Union on the eve of glasnost is a precarious place. So it goes for bitterly compelling antihero Anatoly Pavlovich Sukhanov, richly crafted in this debut novel by Russian émigré Grushin. After starting out as an avant-garde artist, Sukhanov marries the daughter of an iconic Soviet painter, becomes a critic and quickly rises to editor-in-chief of Art of the World, an influential journal devoted to disparaging the Western art that once inspired him. An enviable Moscow apartment, a dacha and a personal driver follow, but 12 years later, Sukhanov can no longer write, his wife and son know him for the sellout he is, and Gorbachev's ascension may mean the end of his sinecure. When a man claiming to be his long-lost cousin comes to visit, Sukhanov finds himself sleeping on his couch, where, as dreams of his former life haunt him, his past may catch up with him for real. Grushin, who has served as former President Carter's personal interpreter and as an editor at Harvard's Dumbarton Oaks research Library, offers a powerful and richly detailed examination of late Soviet society's harsh confinements—even for those who have all the right connections. (Jan. 5) Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist *Starred Review* Anatoly Sukhanov showed talent early, and his daring, brilliant art captured the hand of beautiful Nina Malinin, daughter of a famed Russian artist. But then he opted for prestige and comfort, hiding his controversial paintings and becoming critic rather than creator as editor ofArt of the World, Russia's leading art magazine, which condemns whole schools of Western art. Suddenly in 1985, at the age of 56, Sukhanov's life unravels and he loses everything he holds dear--job, son, daughter, possibly wife--but through the pain, in a series of dream sequences in which he confronts his past, he gains truth about his father's life and death and about young Nina's wrenching decision between art and love. In well-honed prose with vivid imagery, Grushin provides a portrait of a culture, interplaying art with politics in twentieth-century Russia, and dealing throughout with the universal subjects of love and truth. Sukhanov lingers in memory as a child stunned into silence by the beauty of Botticelli's paintings and as a middle-aged adult finding his way. Michele Leber Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved |
The Theory and Practice Of Group Psychotherapyby Irvin D. Yalom and Molyn Leszcz Available from Amazon $55.00 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page Book Description In this completely revised and updated fifth edition of group psychotherapy's standard text, Dr. Yalom and his collaborator present the most recent developments in the field, drawing on nearly a decade of new research as well as their broad clinical wisdom and expertise. Book Info Stanford University, California. Fourth edition of a major textbook on the theories and techniques of group psychotherapy, updated to reflect DSM-IV and current practices such as brief psychotherapy. For psychotherapists. Previous edition 1985. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned (Don't Know Much About...)by Kenneth C. Davis List Price: $13.95 Available from Amazon $10.74 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page Product Review Finally, someone who tells history like it was, without the old textbook gloss that's put so many students into premature naptime and misinformed the few who stayed awake. Davis corrects the myths and misconceptions from Columbus up through the Clinton administration, and shows that truth is more entertaining than propaganda. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Amazon.com Audiobook Review Kenneth Davis's aim in this program, as it is in all the titles of this popular series, is to make learning relevant and fun. He succeeds marvelously. Davis has an easygoing style and a good sense of humor. And most importantly, he knows how to present the "big picture." His history of the United States is not a series of isolated incidents that happened long ago with no bearing on contemporary American life. Listening to this presentation, we recognize patterns, notice how problems of the past resurface in our own present, and realize that history is what makes us today. We are also presented with a look at American history that is far more honest than anything gleaned from traditional textbooks. Heroes and villains alike are presented, warts and all, and the "less savory moments" in America's past are discussed frankly. For, as Davis explains, "the real picture is much more interesting than the historical tummy tuck." The theme running through the program, from pre-European settlement to the Reagan years, is the struggle for power--the never-ending battle between the haves and have-nots that is the "essence of history." Six hundred years of history are broken up into manageable segments though a series of questions (spoken in a number of different voices to help distinguish them from the main narration), each of which is given a specific answer and then discussed in the context of its contemporary setting and perhaps past and future events. This is a crash course that focuses on the basics but will inspire listeners to want to know more--which is really what learning's all about. (Running time: six hours, four cassettes) --Uma Kukathas --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
Arnold: 'Culture and Anarchy' and Other Writings (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)by Matthew Arnold, Stefan Collini, Raymond Geuss, and Quentin Skinner Available from Amazon $13.99 On 7-21-2006
See Item's Page Book Description Matthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy (1869), is one of the most celebrated works of social criticism ever written. It has become a reference point for all subsequent discussion of the relations between politics and culture. This edition establishes the authoritative text of this much-revised work, and places it alongside Arnold's three most important essays on political subjects. The introduction sets these works in the context of nineteenth-century intellectual and political history. This edition also contains a chronology of Arnold's life, a bibliographical guide and full notes on the names and historical events mentioned in the texts. |
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