Books and other media
Troubling the Waters: Black-Jewish Relations in the American Century
Cheryl Lynn Greenberg, Professor of History
(Princeton University Press, 2006; 351 pages)
Was there ever really a black-Jewish alliance in 20-century America? And if there was, what happened to it? Drawing on extensive new research in the archives of organizations such as the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, Greenberg shows that a special black-Jewish political relationship did indeed exist, especially from the 1940s to the mid-1960s—its so-called “golden era”—and that this engagement galvanized and broadened the civil rights movement. But even during this heyday, she demonstrates, the black-Jewish relationship was anything but inevitable or untroubled. Rather, cooperation and conflict coexisted throughout, with tensions caused by economic clashes, ideological disagreements, Jewish racism, and black anti-Semitism, as well as differences in class and the intensity of discrimination faced by each group. These tensions make the rise of the relationship all the more surprising—and its decline easier to understand. Tracing the growth, peak, and deterioration of black-Jewish engagement over the course of the 20th century, Greenberg shows that the history of this relationship is very much the history of American liberalism—neither as golden in its best years nor as absolute in its collapse as commonly thought.
The Tub Boats of Sado Island: A Japanese Craftsman’s Methods
Douglas Brooks ’82
(Kodo Books, 2003; 176 pages)
The taraibune, or tub boat, is one of the most unusual inshore fishing craft to be found in Japan. The taraibune are well suited for working the rocky shoreline, and on Sado Island’s Ogi Peninsula, they remain a viable boat in the rich fishing grounds that exist close inshore. Koichi Fujii was the last professional builder of taraibune, and the author of this book was his only student. After Fujii’s death in 1999, the author approached the Kodo Cultural Foundation to explore ways to respond to the decline of craftsmen capable of building taraibune. In cooperation with the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History and with funding from the Nippon Foundation, they developed a plan whereby the author would build two taraibune, working with a student from Sado Island. The goals of the project were two-fold: to train a Sado craftsman on how to build taraibune and to write a detailed record of the construction process. In the spring of 2002 the author and Mr. Takashi Higuchi, a carpenter from Sado, built one taraibune at the Niigata Prefectural Museum of History in Nagaoka and another in Kowashimizu on Sado. This publication documents as completely as possible the craft of building taraibune. This is a clear break from tradition. The craft of taraibune has always been passed directly from master to student with no written material, but the author and the Kodo Cultural Foundation hope to provide the means to foster a new generation of craftspeople.
The Caveman’s Pregnancy Companion: A Survival Guide for Expectant Fathers
David Port ’89 and John Ralston ’89
(Sterling Publishing, 2006; 227 pages)
From the book-jacket liner notes: “Change is difficult for anyone, but it’s especially challenging for a Cro-Magnon like you, equipped as you are with a diminutive brainpan and those tattered animal pelts you insist on wearing. If you’re a modern knuckledragger suddenly faced with the greatest of expectations, you’ve got pressing questions on your mind: now that she’s pregnant, what exactly is going on inside my mate’s belly? What do I need to know to be a good partner during this experience? Will my leather satchel of shiny pebbles and worn seashells see us through? How have other cavemen coped with all these new responsibilities? Pregnancy and childbirth are some of the most exciting and challenging periods in anyone’s life, and you must evolve if you’re going to measure up.” The tone of this book for fathers-to-be is light, but the advice is serious and helpful, ranging from prenatal healthcare to what to do in the maternity ward.
Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington
Peter R. Henriques ’59
(University of Virginia Press, 2006; 256 pages)
In Realistic Visionary George Washington scholar Peter Henriques seeks to humanize the first president without diminishing him. Washington makes mistakes, is sensitive to criticism, and is slow to accept blame, but he is also the greatest man of his age, a relentless pragmatist who could nonetheless envision what a free and united America could be for “millions unborn.” Rather than revisiting Washington’s life in its entirety, Henriques constructs a biographical portrait by addressing the vital themes and events through which Washington the man is revealed. He engages recent biographies and draws on his own unparalleled knowledge of Washington’s numerous writings (he was our most prolific president, authoring several thousand letters and keeping a lifelong diary). Washington’s wife, Martha Custis Washington, emerges as his most important supporter in his great successes, but Henriques also explores Washington’s feelings for Sally Cary Fairfax, who appears to have always held a special place in his affections. Washington’s political life is examined through penetrating studies of his friendship with Thomas Jefferson, which to the regret of both men deteriorated, and his increasingly productive relationship with Alexander Hamilton. Henriques tackles the complex role slavery played in Washington’s life—he freed his slaves in his will—and the continuing controversy surrounding his religious beliefs, which many have misinterpreted in efforts to claim Washington as one of their own. The book closes with a moving re-creation of Washington’s final days and finds inspiration in how he faced his own illness and death.
What emerges most clearly is Washington’s successful struggle to channel his monumental personal ambition into public service and his unrivaled ability to turn his ambitious visions for the fledgling nation into reality.
Notes Collected in the Adirondacks 1895 & 1896: The Fishing and Hunting Diary With Insights of a Physician, Scholar, and Humanist
Arpad Keyza Gerster, edited by Sidney S. Whelan, Jr. ’51
(The Adirondack Museum, 2005; 188 pages)
Arpad Gerster was a Hungarian surgeon who emigrated to the United States in the 1870s. A man of extraordinary interests and powers of observation, he was a linguist, musician, artist, traveler, writer, in addition to conducting an exemplary career in medicine. His diaries chronicling his visits to the Adirondacks (Raquette and Long Lakes) from 1895 to the early 1900s are a unique and exceptionally vivid and astute record of the region in that time period.
A Practical Guide to Software Licensing for Licensees and Licensors: Analyses and Model Forms
H. Ward Classen ’82
(American Bar Association, 2005; 345 pages)
This guidebook examines the fundamental issues that both licensors and licensees confront in the negotiation of a software license and, where appropriate, relevant ancillary issues such as software development as well as maintenance and support. It primarily focuses on non-mass market agreements, as most retail or mass market off-the-shelf software is governed by non-negotiable shrinkwrap and clickwrap licenses. Nonetheless, the principles of software licensing are the same for both shrink-wrapped, click wrapped, and custom-developed software. The book is accompanied by and cross-referenced to, an annotated software license. A companion CD-ROM is also included for customization of the software license and related forms.
Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan
Malcolm MacPherson ’65
Delacorte Press, 2005; 338 pages)
Afghanistan, March 2002. In the early morning darkness on a frigid mountaintop, a U.S. soldier is stranded, alone, surrounded by al Qaeda fighters. For the man’s fellow Navy SEALs, and for waiting teams of Army Rangers, there was only one rule now: leave no one behind. In this account—based on eyewitness testimony and research–Malcolm MacPherson thrusts us into a drama of rescue, tragedy, and valor in a place that would be known as Roberts Ridge. For an elite team of SEALs, the mission seemed straightforward enough: take control of a 10,240-foot mountain peak called Takur Ghar. Launched as part of Operation Anaconda—a plan to attack Taliban al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan—the taking of Takur Ghar would offer U.S. forces a key strategic observation post. But the enemy was waiting, hidden in a series of camouflaged trenches and bunkers—and when the Special Forces helicopter attempted to land on the peak, it was met by a hail of machine gun, small arms, and RPG fire. A SEAL named Neil Roberts was thrown from the aircraft, and by the time the helicopter crash-landed on the valley floor seven miles away, Roberts’s fellow SEALs were determined to return to the mountain peak and bring him out, no matter what the cost. At once an hour-by-hour, bullet-by-bullet chronicle of a landmark battle and a sobering look at the capabilities and limitations of America’s high-tech army, Roberts Ridge is the story of a few dozen soldiers who faced a single fate: to live or die for their comrades in the face of near-impossible odds.
Tired of Living: Suicide in Italy from National Unification to World War I, 1860-1915
Ty Geltmaker ’74
(Peter Lang Publishing-Studies in Modern European History, 2002; 137 pages)
This book examines the bases for the widespread belief among Italians during their first 50 years as a unified country that suicide was a growing epidemic. The story of this concern over the rise in suicide is told within the context of related debates over Italy’s emerging national identity and what it meant to be Italian. Many commentators saw suicide in this period as a “safety valve” peculiar to Italy’s late political and economic development. Popular “Degeneration “ theories gave scientific credibility to such sociological analyses, while the Roman Catholic Church linked the rise in suicides to the secular unification of the state. Controversies over a resurgence of dueling and a fascination with war as an “indirect” suicide are examined in this overview of Italian social, cultural, and legal history.
Religion in a Free Market: Religious and Non-religious Americans—Who, What, Why, Where
Barry A. Kosmin, Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, and Ariela Keysar, Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture
(Paramount marketing Publishing, Inc., 2006; 299 pages)
From the pulpits to the op-ed pages, several messages about religion in the U.S. are heard again and again. It is said that Americans are flocking to churches and other religious institutions in greater numbers than ever before, that non-Christian faiths are growing rapidly, and that a new religious fervor among the young is filling up the pews.
All of these frequently heard messages are incorrect, according to this book, which is based on a major national survey conducted by the authors. The U.S. Census is prohibited from asking questions about religion, so the American Religious Identification Survey contains the most complete and reliable source of data on religion in America today. Kosmin and Keysar argue that religion in America can best be understood as a product on offer in the marketplace of ideas. They say that “religious ferment in America is as strong as it has ever been, so whatever you learned about religion in the U.S. a generation ago is out of date.” The authors note that one reason the religious landscape in the United States is so rich and dynamic is because of the freedom of religion proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and enshrined in the Constitution. Because of this freedom, the U.S. is a hotbed of new religions, with those who are dissatisfied with their current religious group often finding or creating a new one. This freedom creates an open market where religious groups can find new recruits and many of them are turning to established marketing methods in their efforts to bolster their numbers.
Same-Sex Marriage
Donald J. Cantor, Elizabeth Cantor, James C. Black, Campbell D. Barrett ’92
(Wesleyan University Press, 2006; 191 pages)
Few recent topics have claimed as much media and political attention as the fight for the right of same-sex couples to marry legally. Striking at the heart of beliefs about sexuality, marriage, family, and child-rearing, the debate has touched off national and international debate. In this practical guide to the issues and their history, the authors present the issues as a courtroom case would be presented to the jury—with an opening statement, expert testimony, and a closing argument in support of same-sex marriage. Chapters explore how we have arrived at our current understandings of homosexuality and marriage, the impact of same-sex marriage on same-sex relationships and families, the practical civil benefits denied to persons who are not allowed to marry, and the 40-year evolution in the law as it relates to sex and reproduction. This book provides a reasoned and informed history of the subject, and is ideal for readers in government, social work, and the law—and anyone curious about where this contentious issue is headed.
American Gulag
Lawrence Bruckner ’71 and Luanne Bruckner
Authorhouse, 2006; 111 pages)
From the introduction: “This book is about waste in the American criminal justice system: waste of human lives, waste of billions of dollars. Most people do not want to talk about waste. Politicians, the media, and the prison system itself, equally complicit in perpetuating the problem, look the other way when the issue of waste surfaces. People employed in the system, who might be unemployed were it not for rampant waste that gave them jobs in the first place, get all edgy and insecure when the topic of waste comes up.
“The general public knows far too little about waste, especially in the U. S. criminal justice system, to have an educated opinion. But everyone who pays taxes in America should be outraged by the time they finish reading this book. Billions of dollars are wasted each year in this one area of government alone.”
Betraying Spinoza
Rebecca Goldstein, Visiting Professor of Philosophy
(Schocken Books, 2006; 284 pages)
In 1656, Amsterdam’s Jewish community excommunicated Baruch Spinoza, and, at the age of 23, he became the most famous heretic in Judaism. He was already germinating a secularist challenge to religion that would be as radical as it was original. He went on to produce one of the most ambitious systems in the history of Western philosophy, so ahead of its time that scientists today, from string theorists to neurobiologists, count themselves among Spinoza’s progeny. In Betraying Spinoza, Rebecca Goldstein sets out to rediscover the flesh-and-blood man often hidden beneath the veneer of rigorous rationality and to crack the mystery of the breach between the philosopher and his Jewish past. Goldstein argues that the trauma of the Inquisition’s persecution of its forced Jewish converts plays itself out in Spinoza’s philosophy. The excommunicated Spinoza, no less than his excommunicators, was responding to Europe’s first experiment with racial anti-Semitism.