Web Exclusive: Books Received 2006-07

New books by alumni and faculty.
Undergraduate alumni books are listed by class year;
graduate alumni in alphabetical order by author,
faculty in alphabetical order by author;

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For books about the Ivies, click here.

Last updated: July 30, 2007

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Books by undergraduate alumni

1930

The Philadelphian — - Richard Powell '30 (Plexus Publishing). Originally published in 1956 by Charles Scribner's Sons, this novel was touted as an exposé and indictment of blue-blooded Philadelphia society. The saga of a family of humble origins climbing the Philadelphia social ladder, this story spans four generations starting with the emigration of a poor Irish girl in 1857 and ending with her great grandson, a young defense lawyer, in a climactic courtroom scene. In 1959, the novel was made into a film, The Young Philadelphians, starring Paul Newman and Robert Vaughn. Powell died in 1999. To commemorate the book's 50th anniversary, Powell's daughter worked with Plexus Publishing to republish the novel. Several of Powell's novels were made into feature films.

1939

At War and At Home: One Family's World War II Correspondence - Edited by Robert M. McClung '39 and Gale S. McClung (iUniverse). A collection of letters from six family members during World War II, this book looks at the lives of an average American family from western Pennsylvania. With three sons participating in the war and a daughter going off to college, the family members describe events and their personal thoughts and beliefs through their correspondence. Robert McClung died in 2006. His wife, Gale, is a former editor of the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly.

1942

The Concord Quartet: Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and the Friendship That Freed the American Mind — Samuel A. Schreiner Jr. ’42 (John Wiley). The author writes about four friends living in Concord, Mass., in the mid-19th century: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and educator Amos Bronson Alcott (the father of Louisa May). Schreiner looks at how these men shaped American thought and details their everyday lives. Schreiner is a former senior editor at Reader’s Digest.

1944

Memoirs of a Lost Island: Remembrances of a Lifetime of Nantucket Summers - C.S. Lovelace '44 (Beam Ends Press). The author describes his memories of 60 summers spent in Nantucket, noting the many changes that occurred over the years. Lovelace is a retired magazine editor whose family roots in Nantucket date back to 1890.

1946

Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games — - Tennent H. Bagley '46 (Yale University Press). Bagley, a former CIA chief of Soviet bloc counterintelligence, chronicles his time as one of the premier agents working on the case of KGB officer Yuri Nosenko and his 1964 defection to the United States. Bagley unveils details not released to the general public by the CIA about the Nosenko affair, and he provides information about the history of espionage and its implications for the future. Bagley is a writer and researcher living in Brussels, Belgium.

1947

Presidents at War: From Truman to Bush, the Gathering of Military Powers to Our Commanders in Chief — - Gerald Astor ’'47 (John Wiley and Sons). This book examines the evolution of presidential war powers since World War II. Astor, a former magazine writer and editor, is the author of some 25 books, including 12 on World War II.

Evolution for Creationists: A Brief Review of the Science of Evolution for Those Who Might Be Creationists - Edward C. Mendler '47 (iUniverse). This book reviews the work of several critical thinkers in the creation/evolution debate, including Charles Darwin, William Paley, and the "Intelligent Design" theorists. It argues that evolutionary science is compatible with the tenets of mainstream Christian theology. Mendler is a retired attorney who writes about science, philosophy, and politics.

The Last Dog in France: A Tale of the French Resistance and Their Escape Line in WWII — - John Van Wyck Gould ’'47 (Author House). This novel tells the story of Otto Streikler, a Nazi war criminal who escapes from a French prison in 1987, seeking revenge on the American officer and French spy who put him there. The plot circles back to the French Resistance during World War II, telling a tale of conflict, survival, escape, buried treasure, and romance. Gould, a veteran of World War II, is a retired research and development manager who currently lives on Puget Sound.

1949

The Feral Swan - Charles Sarnoff '49 (iUniverse). This novel tells the story of Sadak, an epic hero, and his quest to find the "waters of oblivion," as well as the story of Carl, the young man who is penning Sadak's tale. Sarnoff is a child psychiatrist. This is his first novel.

1950

Big Dams of the New Deal Era: A Confluence of Engineering and Politics —- David P. Billington ’'50 and Donald C. Jackson (University of Oklahoma Press). This book tells how major water-storage structures were erected in four Western river basins: the Colorado, Columbia, Missouri, and Sacramento–- San Joaquin. The authors explain how engineering science, regional and national politics, perceived public needs, and the rivers’' natural features intertwined to create distinctive dams within each basin. Billington is the Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor of Engineering at Princeton University, and Jackson is a professor of history at Lafayette College.

Power, Speed, and Form: Engineers and the Making of the Twentieth Century — David P. Billington ’50 and David P. Billington Jr. (Princeton University Press). The authors explore the engineering and the engineers behind innovations that transformed American life from 1876 to 1939: the telephone, electric power, oil refining, the automobile, the airplane, radio, the steel bridge, and reinforced concrete. David P. Billington ’50 is a professor of engineering at Princeton. David P. Billington Jr. is an independent scholar.

Handbook of Manufacturing Processes: How Products, Components and Materials Are Made — - James G. Bralla '50 (Industrial Press). This comprehensive reference book is a compilation of the workings of more than 1,500 manufacturing processes in the metalworking, chemicals, textiles, plastics, ceramics, electronics, wood, and food industries. Complete with illustrations, this handbook describes how more than 600 products, components, and materials are made. Bralla is an engineer in Susquehanna, Pa.

Is There a God in Health Care? Toward a New Spirituality of Medicine — - William F. Haynes Jr. ’'50 and Geffrey B. Kelly (Haworth Pastoral Press). The authors explore the effects of religious faith on the healing process in health care ministry. They look at how personal faith can boost the immune system and how a spiritual outlook can help maintain a healthy attitude. Haynes is a retired internist and cardiologist who continues to teach at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J.

Sea Time: Life On Board Supply and Troop Ships During World War II and Its Aftermath - William F. Haynes Jr. '50, M.D. (Darwin Press). The author describes his early career as a cadet-midshipman and deck officer with the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II and his adventures as a medical officer in the U.S. Navy in the 1950s. Haynes is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine in New Jersey.

1951

I Wish I’d Been There: Twenty Historians Bring to Life Dramatic Events That Changed America — edited by Byron Hollinshead ’51 (Doubleday). Hollinshead asked 20 historians what scene or incident in American history they would like to have witnessed and why. Through personal narratives, the historians recreate those incidents, including the Salem witchcraft trials and the 1963 March on Washington led by Martin Luther King Jr. Hollinshead is a former president of Oxford University Press.

Princeton Prospect Cooperative Club: A Great Social Experiment — - Edward A. Woolley ’'51 (Sheepfold Press). This book chronicles the history of the Princeton Prospect Cooperative Club, an undergraduate eating club from 1941 to 1959 that was cooperative, democratic, egalitarian, and self-reliant. Its members waited tables, washed dishes, and cleaned, among other tasks. The club was the first Princeton eating club to admit African Americans. Woolley is a former president of the club.

1952

Work Hard, Study, and Keep Out of Politics: Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Political Life — - James A. Baker III ’'52 with Steve Fiffer (G.P. Putnam’'s Sons). Baker tells the personal story of his journey from Houston to Washington, sharing memories of the political campaigns and presidential administrations in which he has served, the offices that he has held, and his five-decade-long friendship with George H. W. Bush. Baker is currently a senior partner in the law firm of Baker Botts in Houston and the honorary chairman of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.

A Visitor’s Guide to Colonial and Revolutionary New England — Patricia and Robert Foulke ’52 (Countryman Press). This guide is geared for travelers who want not only to find good places to lodge and interesting sites to explore, but also to learn the history behind the places they visit. The book covers Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. The authors have written 13 other travel guides.

The Valley of Death - Gwynne Huntington Wales '54 (iUniverse). Set in the year 2002, this novel describes a fictional CIA operation that attempts to target and recover Iraqi nerve gas that was sold to a terrorist organization. Wales is a retired Navy pilot and international lawyer.

1955

Little Hippino - Richard Castellane '55 (Xlibris). An illustrated children's book that encourages readers to look for the goodness in everyone's heart instead of judging others based on their exteriors. Castellane is an attorney who lives in Munnsville, N.Y.

Energy Companies and Market Reform: How Deregulation Went Wrong - Jeremiah D. Lambert '55 (PennWell). This study explores the failure of energy deregulation, a 20-year-long process that was shattered by the Enron scandal and the California energy market implosion. The author explains the inefficiencies of regulatory policies, the corruption within corporate and accounting offices, and possible solutions to the situation. Lambert practices law in Washington, D.C.

Planet of the Dogs — - Robert J. McCarty ’'55, illustrated by Stella Mustanoja McCarty (Café Press). For children of all ages, this book tells the story of how dogs first arrived on Earth to teach humans about unconditional love while saving the farmers of Green Valley from invasion by the Stone City warriors. Robert is a former adjunct professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a former instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Stella teaches painting and drawing workshops at the Vantaa, Finland, Art School.

Cancer in the Body Politic: Diagnosis and Prescription for an America in Decline — - Peter D. Mott '55 (EPICA). In this book, Mott uses his years as a medical doctor to diagnose "Patient USA" and suggest a prescription for social change addressing the nation's problems. Mott helped develop the Alliance for Democracy and the new Latin American Solidarity Coalition.

1956

Weekend in Havana: An American Photographer in the Forbidden City - Robert A. McCabe '56 (Abbeville Press Publishers). This book presents 97 color photos of daily life in Havana. McCabe is a photographer who is working on photographic books about the Antarctic, Greece, and France.

1957

The Future of Christianity: Can It Survive? — - Arthur J. Bellinzoni '57 (Prometheus Books). In this treatise, Bellinzoni asserts that Christianity will not survive another millennium if changes are not made in the analysis of the Christian message. He calls for a new Christianity consistent with human reason, modern science, and fundamental issues of human rights. Bellinzoni is professor of religion emeritus at Wells College.

The Investor's Guide to Hedge Funds - Sam Kirschner and Eldon Mayer '57 (Wiley). Written by industry insiders with decades of experience, this book provides helpful information for managing and expanding hedge fund portfolios. It discusses how top hedge fund managers think, what their proprietary strategies are, and how they successfully deal with varying market environments. Kirschner and Mayer are founders of Mayer & Hoffman Capital Advisors, LLC. Kirschner is managing director, and Mayer is senior managing member.

Leading with Wisdom: Spiritual-Based Leadership in Business - Peter Pruzan '57 and Kirsten Pruzan Mikkelsen (Response Books, Greenleaf). Based on interviews with 31 business leaders from 15 countries, this study looks at how these individuals integrate spiritual awareness and sensitivity into their business and leadership activities. Pruzan is professor emeritus in the Department of Management, Politics, and Philosophy at the Copenhagen Business School. Mikkelsen is a former editor at Berlingske Tidende, a major daily newspaper in Denmark.

On Late Style: Music and Literature Against the Grain — - Edward W. Said ’'57 (Pantheon). In this work of criticism, published posthumously, the author explores how approaching death can influence an artist’'s work. He looks at works written late in the lives of Beethoven, Thomas Mann, Shakespeare, and other writers and musicians, and argues that most reveal deep conflict and impenetrable complexity. Said died in 2003. He taught comparative literature at Columbia.

1958

Sonnenaufgang über Osterreich (Sunrise Above Austria) — - Otto Ludwig Ortner ’'58 (Booksurge). Originally published on March 13, 1989, the 51st anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Austria, this book proposes the restoration of the House of Austria as the only way to restore the honor of Austria. The author, formerly a financial lawyer, lives in Austria and studies theology and languages.

Stalingrad: Princeton’'sche Bekenntnisse, ein Testament für Osterreich (Stalingrad: Princetonian Confessions, A Testament for Austria) — - Otto Ludwig Ortner ’'58 (Booksurge). In this poetic autobiography, the author highlights his invitation by the Russian-Orthodox church to celebrate a burial service, on Sept. 20, 1992, for the unburied victims of the battle of Stalingrad. The author, formerly a financial lawyer, lives in Austria and studies theology and languages.

1959

Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide — Richard W. Thorington Jr. ’59 and Katie Ferrell (Johns Hopkins University). In a question-and-answer format, the authors share information about squirrels, including what they eat, whether they make good pets, how they reproduce, and whether they carry human diseases. Thorington is a curator of mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Ferrell was his research assistant.

1961

The Trouble with Culture: How Computers Are Calming the Culture Wars - F. Allan Hanson '61 (State University of New York Press). The author explains how the evolution of culture has failed to keep up with that of society. He argues that this disparity creates culture wars, and describes how the widespread use of computers can encourage the originality and open-mindedness necessary to calm the conflict. Hanson is a professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas.

1963

Good Bread is Back: A Contemporary History of French Bread, the Way It Is Made, and the People Who Make It — Steven Laurence Kaplan ’63 (Duke). French bread suffered a decline in quality in the 20th century due to the replacement of centuries-old bread-making techniques with conveyor belts that turned out flavorless fluff. The author tells the story of the revival of French bread in the mid-1990s as bakers reclaimed their reputations as artisans. Kaplan is a professor of European history at Cornell.

1964

Institute Freedom — - J.R. Klauder '64 (AuthorHouse). This fictional journal is the account of a middle-aged, middle-class man as he participates in a remote, month-long workshop with 14 other adults. At this workshop, they are encouraged to "be who you really are," and what ensues changes the participants lives forever. This is Klauder's first novel.

Globalization Challenged: Conviction, Conflict, Community — - George Rupp ’'64 (Columbia University Press). The author outlines various steps to ease the conflict between traditional religious beliefs and Western secularism that has arisen as a result of globalization. Using Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan as examples, this study promotes inclusive communities that do not deny the validity of particular commitments as a viable solution. Rupp, a former president of Columbia and Rice universities, is the president of the International Rescue Council, an agency that provides assistance to refugees around the world.

1965

Steamboats: The Story of Lakers, Ferries, and Majestic Paddle-Wheelers — - Karl Zimmermann '65 (Boyds Mill Press). Zimmermann recounts the history of the steamboat, from the birth of the Age of Steam in England to the present, complete with photographs taken by the author. Zimmermann is a writer and photographer living in Oradell, N.J.

1966

Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways that Inspire Innovation and Performance — - Jay Cross '66 (Pfeiffer). Cross asserts that companies who spend money on formalized training are wasting both time and effort. He states that informal learning — - "learning on the job" — - is both more efficient and more effective as a training policy. Cross, who coined the term eLearning, designs corporate performance systems.

Biography of a Place: Passages Through a Central Oregon Meadow — - Martin Winch '66 (Deschutes County Historical Society). With this book, Winch recounts the history of a meadow in central Oregon, now called the Camp Polk meadow. He traces its history from the era of early Native American settlement, to European exploration, to the Civil War, to the present day. Winch is a mediator and elementary school tutor. He lives in Tumalo, Oregon.

1968

Moral Development and Reality: Beyond the Theories of Kohlberg and Hoffman — - John C. Gibbs ’'68 (Sage Publications). This book explores the nature of moral development, social behavior, and human interconnectedness by comparing and contrasting the works of preeminent theorists Lawrence Kohlberg and Martin Hoffman. Gibbs is a professor of developmental psychology at Ohio State University.

Global Financial Warriors: The Untold Story of International Finance in the Post-9/11 World - John B. Taylor '68 (W.W. Norton). The author, a former undersecretary of the Treasury, examines the behind-the-scenes financial struggles in the war against terrorism, highlighting the inextricable ties among national security, politics, and global finance. Taylor is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of economics at Stanford University.

1969

The Divided States of America - Richard Land '69 (Thomas Nelson). The author argues that both sides of the American culture war are incorrect: God has much more to do with our country than the Liberal Left believes, but the Conservative Right is wrong to assume that "God is on our side." The book, which includes a foreward written by Sen. Joe Lieberman, uses reason and historical context to seek common ground between the two sides of the ideological spectrum. Land is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Beating Traffic: Time to Get Unstuck - Michael L. Sena '69 *72 (AuthorHouse). This book describes the problems associated with traffic jams and their effects on our health. It makes suggestions for beating traffic, both immediately and long-term, by decreasing individual car usage and renewing interest in public transportation. Sena, an expert in telematics, digital-map databases, location-based services and navigation, lives in Sweden.

Doing Business Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Going Global - Tom Travis '69 (John Wiley & Sons). This book offers six tenets to help global entrepreneurs understand trade opportunities and avoid costly mistakes. The author explains how he has applied these tenets in real-world situations involving parties ranging from the Cambodian government to Hanesbrands Inc. Travis is managing partner at Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., an international trade and customs law firm.

1970

The Final Victim of the Blacklist: John Howard Lawson, Dean of the Hollywood Ten — - Gerald Horne ’'70 (University of California Press). This is the first biography of John Howard Lawson, a screenwriter who was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 and ultimately blacklisted. Horne is the Moores Professor of History at the University of Houston.

The Color of Fascism: Lawrence Dennis, Racial Passing, and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism in the United States - Gerald Horne '70 (New York University Press). This book uses biography, social history, and critical race theory to explore the life of Lawrence Dennis, a black man who chose to pass as white and eventually became the "brains" behind U.S. fascism. The author argues that Dennis's upbringing in segregated Georgia led him to alliances with antagonists of the U.S. (including Mussolini), and his personal isolation led to his political belief in isolationism. Horne is the Moores Professor of History and African-American Studies at the University of Houston.

1971

The Perfect President — - Mark A. Moorstein '71 (iUniverse). This satirical novel covers the fictional president James Jefferson Jones, or J3, and his term in office. Told by Smitty, a homeless man who used to work for Jones' campaign, the novel reveals how J3 managed to become the "perfect president." Moorstein is a practicing attorney in Gainesville, Va.

The Money Changers: A Guided Tour Through Global Currency Markets — - Robert G. Williams ’'71 (Zed Books). Williams explores the places, machines, circuitry, and people involved in moving world currency. Currency traders, money managers, payment systems architects, and market analysts are called upon to explain the day-to-day workings of the global currency markets. Williams is Voehringer Professor of Economics at Guilford College.

1972

Architecture of the Air: The Sound and Light Environments of Christopher Janney — - essay by Beth Dunlop, foreword by Sir George Martin (Sideshow Media LLC). This book about the artwork of Christopher Janney '72 looks at his work in three categories: "Urban Musical Instruments," "Physical Music," and "Performance Architecture." An artist, architect, and composer, Janney is a visiting professor at The Cooper School of Architecture in New York City.

Two Years in St. Andrews: At Home on the 18th Hole — - George Peper ’'72 (Simon & Schuster). In this memoir, former Golf magazine editor Peper writes about the years he spent in St. Andrews living in a town house adjacent to the Old Course, one of the most famous golf courses in the world. He describes his many exploits, from the differences between the Scottish and American cultures to his quests to shoot an under-par-round on the Old Course and to meet Prince William of Wales. Peper is editor-at-large for Links magazine.

Hollywood Jock: 365 Days, Four Screenplays, Three TV Pitches, Two Kids, and One Wife Who’s Ready to Pull the Plug — Rob Ryder ’72 (Harper). A technical consultant on sports-themed films and a wannabe screenwriter, Ryder has never seen one of his movies produced. Based on a collection of his humorous “Hollywood Jock” columns for ESPN.com, this memoir recounts a year he focused on landing a deal as he tweaked his scripts, schmoozed with Hollywood producers, and dealt with rejection.

1973

Visual Culture in Twentieth-Century Germany: Text as Spectacle —- Edited by Gail Finney ’'73 (Indiana University Press). This volume explores visual media in 20th century Germany in their social and critical contexts. Contributors examine various forms of media, including film, photography, advertising, painting, dance, and cartography. Finney is professor of comparative literature and German at the University of California, Davis.

Proving the Unprovable: The Role of Law, Science, and Speculation in Adjudicating Culpability and Dangerousness — - Christopher Slobogin '73 (Oxford University Press). The author investigates the methods used by mental-health professionals as they try to ascertain culpability and dangerousness in criminal cases. He asserts that the rigorous demands for concrete scientific validity made by the judicial system in order to provide evidence for or against the defendant's mental state are undermining the fairness of the process and quite possibly diminishing its reliability. He proposes several methods by which courts can effectively utilize expert witnesses and their knowledge to extract information about the "ultimately unknowable past mental states and future behavior." Slobogin is a professor of law and an affiliate professor of psychiatry at the University of Florida's Levin College of Law.

1974

A Minor Case of Murder: A Cassie O'Malley Mystery — - Jeff Markowitz '74 (Five Star). In the author's second murder mystery featuring rag sheet journalist and amateur sleuth Cassie O'Malley, Andy MacTavish brings minor league baseball to White Sands Beach, near the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Not everyone welcomes the club: Birders are upset that the ballpark will upset nesting areas. When a woman dies at the ballpark during the final game of the season, MacTavish asks O'Malley for help in solving the murder.

Bestiary —- Robert Masello '74 (Berkeley Books). This novel follows young art curator Beth Cox, who has been commissioned to restore an ancient bestiary said to have come from the Garden of Eden. However, the bestiary leads her paleontologist husband, Carter, to a living menagerie of the creatures of the manuscript. This is Masello's 16th book.

1975

Tales from Nowhere: Unexpected Stories from Unexpected Places - Edited by Don George '75 (Lonely Planet Publications). This book is a compilation of 31 real-life tales about the "nowheres" we visit throughout life and the roads that we take to get there. George defines "nowhere" as "a setting, a situation and a state of mind" that isn't on any map. Contributors include travel authors Tim Cahill, Pico Iyer, Simon Winchester, Pam Houston, Jason Elliot, and Lisa Alpine. George is a travel writer and editor who writes a column titled "What Would Don George Do?" on lonelyplanet.com.

Deadly Advice — - Roberta Isleib '75 (Berkley Prime Crime). The author, a clinical psychologist turned mystery writer, draws on her own experience in private practice in the first book of her new series based on the main character, Dr. Rebecca Butterman, a psychologist and advice columnist. When Butterman returns home to find her young neighbor, Madeline, dead by apparent suicide, she can't believe that she missed the signs and can't keep herself from hunting for the truth. She finds Madeline's blog, a chronicle of her dating adventures. When Butterman's editor asks her to write a column on the modern singles scene, she retraces her neighbor's steps into the dating world, looking for clue's to Madeline's death. Isleib has also written a mystery series based on professional golfer Cassie Burdette.

3-D Negotiation: Powerful Tools to Change the Game in Your Most Important Deals — - David A. Lax ’'75 and James K. Sebenius (Harvard Business School Press). The authors explore why tactical, one-dimensional bargaining techniques are insufficient in business negotiations. This book maps out additional dimensions — - deal design and setup — - that underpin effective tactics and ultimately yield positive results. Lax is a principal of Lax Sebenius LLC, a negotiation strategy firm. Sebenius, also a principal of Lax Sebenius, is the Gordon Donaldson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.

Norfolk’'s Academy: The Heart of Tidewater — - Toy D. Savage ’'75 (Norfolk Academy Press). In this history of Norfolk Academy, a private day school in Norfolk, Va., the author explores the relationship between the academy and the surrounding Tidewater area. Savage has served as a teacher, coach, and administrator at the school.

Shackelford's Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Sixth Edition - Editor-in-Chief Charles J. Yeo '75 (Elsevier). Considered an essential reference guide for general surgeons, surgical residents, and gastroenterologists, this edition of the textbook is pared down from five volumes to two. It is organized in an encyclopedic format, printed in full-color, and includes an image bank on CD-ROM. Special attention is paid to cutting-edge tools and techniques. Yeo is the Samuel D. Gross Professor and Chair of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University.

1976

Michigan’'s Economic Future — - Charles L. Ballard ’'76 (Michigan State University Press). This book discusses Michigan’'s current economic situation. The author focuses on education policy and public finance as the keys to improvement, but he also discusses the importance of transportation, land use, environment, corrections, health-care, and anti-poverty policies. Ballard is a professor of economics at Michigan State University.

Sex, Lies, and Handwriting: A Top Expert Reveals the Secrets Hidden in Your Handwriting —- Michelle Dresbold with James Kwalwasser '76 (Free Press). In this book, Dresbold uses her expertise with handwriting profiling to explain how a single handwritten sentence can provide much insight into a person's psychology, behavior, and background. She also re-evaluates various handwriting clues from unsolved mysteries throughout the ages, shedding new insight on old cases, such as the identity of Jack the Ripper. Kwalwasser, a writer and senior editor in the product development group for Human Resources Outsourcing Solutions at ACS, lives in Pittsburgh.

Milton's Peculiar Grace: Self-Representation and Authority - Stephen M. Fallon '76 (Cornell University Press). This book argues that, contrary to popular academic belief, John Milton was not a religious writer. Rather, Milton wrote extensively about himself in an attempt to achieve immortality, to exert control over his readers' interpretations, and to lend authority to his own arguments. Fallon is professor of liberal studies and English at the University of Notre Dame.

1977

American Carnival: Journalism Under Siege in an Age of New Media - Neil Henry '77 (University of California Press). The decline of professional journalism due to rapid technological changes can pose serious problems for our democracy, argues Henry. Combining elements of memoir and research, the author explores critical contemporary issues, including reporting on the Iraq War, American race relations, and the exploitation of journalism's image by advertisers and politicians. Henry is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.

Professors’ Guide to Getting Good Grades in College — Lynn F. Jacobs ’77 and Jeremy S. Hyman *79 (Collins). The authors, who are married, share the inside scoop on how professors evaluate papers and exams, and offer advice for students who want to earn higher grades, including how to study for tests, how to write effective papers, and how to treat the professor like an ally. Jacobs is an associate professor of art history at the University of Arkansas. Hyman has taught philosophy at several universities.

Michael Zielenziger ’77 explores Japan’s social malaise in Shutting Out the Sun: How Japan Created Its Own Lost Generation, published by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday. Click here to read the article in the February 14, 2007 issue of PAW.

1978

Master Traders: Strategies for Superior Returns from Today’s Top Traders — Fari Hamzei ’78 (John Wiley & Sons). In this guide for private and professional investors, Hamzei and traders, hedge fund managers, and market analysts offer strategies to use when analyzing the markets and investing in stocks, options, and futures. Hamzei is founder of Hamzei Analytics LLC, which provides proprietary analysis and indicators to institutional and professional traders.

The Art of the Garden: Collecting Antique Botanical Prints — - Denise DeLaurentis and Hollie Powers Holt ’'78 (Schiffer Publishing). This book documents botanical prints that were produced from the 17th through the turn of the 20th century. The authors recount the lives of artists and their patrons, technical advances in printmaking, and the discoveries and cultural elements that influenced the artistic depictions of flowers, plants, and trees. DeLaurentis is a fine antique print dealer. Holt, a gardener and an antique print and map collector, has directed galleries, exhibited at antique shows, and made presentations to antique study groups and garden clubs.

1979

Toussaint Louverture: A Biography — - Madison Smartt Bell '79 (Pantheon). This biography of Louverture chronicles his fight for liberty in late 18th century Haiti, beginning with an overview of Haiti's past, as a French colony by the name of Saint-Domingue. It continues to discuss Louverture's personal history and origins, and also examines various accounts of his military and political successes, and finally, the events leading up to his imprisonment and death in a Napoleonic prison in 1803. Bell is professor of English at Goucher College.

Yokohama Burning: The Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire That Helped Forge the Path to World War II — - Joshua Hammer ’'79 (Simon & Schuster). This book uses primary sources to reconstruct the story of the September 1923 earthquakes, fires, and tsunamis that destroyed Yokohama and most of Tokyo, killing 140,000 people. The author describes the American-led relief effort, which led to the hardening of racist attitudes in both the United States and Japan and eventually drove Japan into the hands of radical militarists with imperial ambitions. Hammer is a former Newsweek correspondent.

Gary Krist ’79 tells a lost tale of a train tragedy: While looking into a book idea on the Internet, Krist punched in a few key words that brought up an unexpected subject — a dramatic avalanche that struck two snowbound trains high in the Cascade Mountains in 1910, killing almost 100 people. It remains the deadliest snowslide in American history but one that, despite a blitz of newspaper coverage at the time, had faded into obscurity. Four years later, Krist’s discovery became The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche, an account of the tragedy and its aftermath, published by Henry Holt in February. Read an article on this book in the April 3, 2007 issue of PAW...

The Women of the House: How A Colonial She-Merchant Built A Mansion, A Fortune, and A Dynasty — - Jean Zimmerman ’'79 (Harcourt). The author traces the legacy of Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse, one of the richest women in colonial New York, and the Philipse women who succeeded her. She owned a fleet of trading ships that carried furs, sugar, and slaves around the globe; her real estate holdings stretched from Albany to Barbados. Zimmerman’'s other books have explored the changing role of American women.

1981

Eleven Letters and a Poem: By John F. Kennedy Jr. to Meg Azzoni - Compiled by Meg Azzoni '81, *84 (Self-Published). This book contains a poem and several letters that J.F.K. Jr. wrote to the author. Azzoni is an architect and watercolor painter who is currently working on a manuscript about President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

TAKE-OFF: American All-Girl Bands During WWII - Tonya Bolden '81 (Alfred A. Knopf). Written for young readers, this book describes how American women broke into the music scene during World War II. It follows the journeys of Marian Pankey's Female Orchestra (all black), Babe Egan's Hollywood Redheads (all white), and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm (mixed), and in doing so, it explores issues related to war, race relations, and gender roles in the 1940s. Included with the book is a 16-track swing CD featuring a selection of songs that are discussed in the book. Bolden is an author who lives in New York City.

Flaws - David Galef '81 (David Robert Books). In this collection of poems, the author evokes the foibles and frailties of human experience with both humor and grit. Galef is a professor of English and the administrator of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Mississippi.

David Galef ’81 is a professor of English and an administrator at the University of Mississippi. Meanwhile, his third novel, How to Cope with Suburban Stress, came out in September, along with a collection of stories, 20 over 40, he co-edited with his wife, Beth Weinhouse, a journalist and magazine editor. Read more...

Untapped: Creating Value in Underserved Markets — Michele Kahane ’81 et al. (Berrett-Koehler). This book examines how companies can make a difference in low-income communities and at the same time achieve positive financial results. The authors use case studies to demonstrate how corporations are using new business strategies to provide underserved communities with needed goods and services, jobs, and opportunities for entrepreneurship. Kahane is director of special projects for the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College.

1982

The Notebooks of Robert Frost — edited by Robert Faggen ’82 (Harvard University). Faggen has transcribed and edited about 50 notebooks belonging to the poet Robert Frost from the late 1890s to the early 1960s. In the notebooks, which have never before been published, Frost recorded his thoughts on topics ranging from poetics and politics to religion and science. Faggen is a literature professor at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif.

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game —- Michael Lewis '82 (W.W. Norton & Co.). Lewis tells the story of Michael Oher, a left-tackle prodigy. Oher, an intermittently homeless African-American young man taken in by an affluent, evangelical, white family, is introduced to football and academics, and soon is courted by coaches all around the country. Lewis lives in Berkeley, Calif.

Selected Poems by Herman Melville —- edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Faggen ’'82 (Penguin Group). The introduction to this collection of poems provides a comprehensive account of Melville’'s life and career as a poet, notes on the included poems, and suggestions for further reading. Faggen is the Barton Evans and H. Andrea Neves Professor of Literature at Claremont McKenna College.

Nancy Kalish ’82 used to be a big believer in homework. As a freelance writer for parenting magazines, Kalish even advised parents how to get their kids to do it. But her resolve changed when her daughter entered seventh grade and began drowning in four hours of homework a night at her private school in Brooklyn, N.Y. Kalish found that other families at the school were similarly distressed. While they were fighting for their kids’ sanity, Kalish and Sara Bennett, a lawyer, decided to write a book, The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It. Read more...

The Fate of Mice - Susan Palwick '82 (Tachyon Publications). A collection of 11 short stories (including three new pieces) from the author's 20-year literary career, this book offers diverse plotlines: a woman born with an exposed heart and the killer who protects her; a wolf who is willingly ensnared by a devious academic; a businessman resurrected to play at politics; and an ingenious mouse who dreams of a life beyond the laboratory. Palwick is an associate professor of English at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The Ecology of Oil: Environment, Labor, and the Mexican Revolution, 1900-1938 - Myrna Santiago '82 (Cambridge University Press). The author uses northern Veracruz as a case study to explore the social and environmental consequences of oil extraction in the tropical rain forest within the context of the Mexican Revolution (1910-20). Santiago discusses how Mexican oil workers forged a politicized culture and radical left militancy that turned the region into one of the most significant sources of class conflict in revolutionary Mexico. Santiago is an associate professor of history and the director of the Women's Studies Program at St. Mary's College of California.

Let Us Prove Strong: The American Jewish Committee, 1945-2006 - Marianne R. Sanua '82 (Brandeis University Press). The author provides a history of the American Jewish Committee, an organization founded by wealthy men of German-Jewish descent in 1906 to protect the civil and religious rights of Jews in the United States and abroad. Sanua is an associate professor in the history department and the Jewish Studies Program at Florida Atlantic University.

1983

The Passion for Success: The Mindset of Champions — - David Roy Eaton '83 (The Passion Fund). The author, a motivational speaker, describes how the top 5 percent of ultra-wealthy people become rich. He also guides the reader to develop "the mindset of a champion" — - which involves a philosophy based on finding one's passion and becoming successful in it. Eaton is chairman and CEO of The Eaton Group.

The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America’'s First Black Dynasty — - Lawrence Otis Graham ’'83 (Harper Collins). This book examines the life and family of Blanche Bruce, a former slave who became the first black man elected to a full Senate term. Graham is an attorney and a commentator on race and politics.

1984

Seeing the Science in Children's Thinking: Case Studies of Student Inquiry in Physical Science —- D. Hammer '84 and E.H. van Zee (Heinemann Publishing). This book is a guide for training elementary school teachers to recognize and respond to nascent scientific reasoning during classroom discussions. The book comes with a DVD-ROM to give visual examples in the form of case studies and clips from elementary school classes to watch and discuss. David Hammer is a professor of physics and education at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture - Brink Lindsey '84 (Collins). The author argues that the contemporary political ideologies of left and right emerged in response to the explosion of the American economy after World War II. Before the war, the struggle to feed, clothe, and employ the nation took center stage in American political life, but after the war, a new set of needs emerged - a search for meaning and self-expression on one side, and a quest for stability and a return to traditional values on the other. Lindsey is a vice president for research at the Cato Institute.

Oblivion - David Maisel '84 (Nazraeli Press). This book presents 15 black and white aerial photographs of Los Angeles. The photographer describes his work as a "shadowland," a place previously unobserved that coexists with the sun-struck version that we regularly view on television and in the movies. Maisel is a photographer and visual artist based in the San Francisco Bay area.

1985

The Alibi Club — Francine Mathews ’85 (Bantam). An espionage thriller set in Paris in the spring of 1940, this novel follows four expatriates who frequent an elite nightclub, the Alibi Club, while the fall of the city looms. Blending historical fact and fiction, the story focuses on a scientist trying to keep a deadly weapon out of German hands, and the mysterious murder of an American lawyer. Mathews is a former foreign policy analyst for the CIA.

Ilf and Petrov's American Road Trip: The 1935 Travelogue of Two Soviet Writers — - Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, edited by Erika Wolf '85 (Cabinet Books). In this book, Wolf has put together the observations and photographs of two Russian satirical writers during their 1935 American road trip in an attempt to find "America." Wolf is a lecturer in the department of art history and theory at the University of Otag, New Zealand.

1986

Girl's Guide to Witchcraft — - Mindy Klasky '86 (Red Dress Ink). This novel follows Jane Madison, a 20-something librarian who discovers a cache of magic books hidden in her basement and her own magical powers. As she tries to cope with her newfound powers, she also finds herself dealing with a smart-mouthed familiar, an attractive warder, and her long-lost mother. Klasky currently resides in Virginia.

American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World — - Susan Scott Parrish ’'86 (The University of North Carolina Press). The author examines how people in the British colonies understood and represented the natural world from the late 16th through the 18th century. Parrish is an associate professor of English at the University of Michigan.

1987

Bridge and Tunnel - John Hennessy '87 (Turning Point). This collection of poems features several verses about the industrial areas of New Jersey in which the author and his friends were raised. Hennessy teaches at the University of Massachusetts, and in the fall of 2007, he will be the resident fellow at the Amy Clampitt House in Stockbridge, Mass.

Classical Antiquity and the Politics of America: From George Washington to George W. Bush - Edited by Michael Meckler '87 (Baylor University Press). A compilation of essays about how classical education has affected American politics, this study addresses a variety of topics, ranging from classical education in Colonial America to the waning of classics since Andrew Jackson's presidency. Michael Meckler is a resident fellow at the Center for Epigraphical and Paleographical Studies at Ohio State University.

1988

Floods of the Tiber in Ancient Rome - Gregory S. Aldrete '88 (The Johns Hopkins University Press). Using scientific and cultural data to discuss flooding in Rome during the classical period, this study looks at the strategies that Romans used to prevent or alleviate the effects of flooding, their social and religious attitudes toward floods, and how the threat of flooding influenced the city's physical and economic landscapes. Aldrete is a professor of history and humanistic studies at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay.

Making Memory Matter: Strategies of Remembrance in Contemporary Art — - Lisa Saltzman ’'88 (The University of Chicago Press). This study looks at contemporary artists, including Krzysztof Wodiczko, Kara Walker, and Rachel Whiteread, and their focus on memory. The artists, she argues, have used ancient artistic methods eclipsing traditional painting and sculpture in their works of remembrance. Saltzman is an associate professor of art history at Bryn Mawr College.

Trauma and Visuality in Modernity — - edited by Lisa Saltzman ’'88 and Eric Rosenberg. This collection of essays explores the role of trauma in modern art, highlighting the ties between events and images and showing trauma as a structuring yet elusive subject of representation. Saltzman is an associate professor of art history at Bryn Mawr College, and Rosenberg is an associate professor of art history at Tufts University.

Gaia's Revenge: Climate Change and Humanity's Loss — - P.H. Liotta and Allan W. Shearer '88 (Praeger). The authors discuss the ramifications of climate change and global warming on national security and public policy. Shearer is assistant professor of landscape architecture at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University.

1990

Experience Sampling Method: Measuring the Quality of Everyday Life — - Joel M. Hektner '90, Jennifer A. Schmidt, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Sage Publications Inc.). This book investigates the methods of studying what people do, feel, and think in their everyday lives. It includes methods and procedures that have been successfully implemented, psychometric information necessary to evaluate the measurements' reliability and validity, and a sampler of findings that indicate the type of questions this type of research can answer. Hektner is an associate professor in child development and family science at North Dakota State University.

One spring day a few years ago, Andrew Trees ’'90, a history teacher at Horace Mann School in New York City, met with parents who “spent about an hour trying to badger me” into giving their child a higher grade. That night Trees went home and began his first novel, Academy X. Read more from the Oct. 11, 2006 issue of PAW...

1991

Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage — Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston ’91 (Yale University Press). Drawing on examples from companies like Toyota and Nike, the authors show how corporations increase revenue by building environmental thinking into their business strategies. Esty is a professor of environmental law and policy at Yale. Winston is director of the Corporate Environmental Strategy Project at Yale.

All-New Baseball Brainteasers: 60 Major League Puzzles - Michael A. Morse '91 (Sterling). This book includes 60 challenging questions about plays - for example, can a fielder not standing in the base path be guilty of obstructing a runner? - that have been important in recent Major League games and the answers to the tricky calls. Morse is a professional fundraiser, as well as a baseball umpire in both the National League of Great Britain and the Confédération Européene de Baseball.

Smart Women and Small Business: How to Make the Leap from Corporate Careers to the Right Small Enterprise — Ginny Wilmerding ’91 (John Wiley & Sons). Targeted for midcareer women who have experience working for corporations but want to go out on their own, this book offers advice to find the right entrepreneurial fit, be it joining, buying, or consulting for existing small businesses or starting a new company. Wilmerding is a small-business consultant and former small-business owner.

1992

Negras in Brazil: Re-envisioning Black Women, Citizenship, and the Politics of Identity — - Kia Lilly Caldwell '92 (Rutgers University Press). The author examines the life experiences of Afro-Brazilian women whose stories have until now been largely untold. This study analyzes the links between race and gender and broader processes of social, economic, and political exclusion. Caldwell is an assistant professor in African and African-American studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The Translation of Dr Apelles: A Love Story and Native American Fiction: A User’s Manual — David Treuer ’92 (Graywolf Press). In Treurer’s novel, a lonely Native American translator, Dr Apelles, stumbles across an ancient manuscript. The document tells the love story of a young brave and a princess. While he is translating that story, he, too, falls in love. In Native American Fiction, Treuer argues that fiction written by Native Americans should be read as literature first, and not as authentic windows into Native American culture. Treuer teaches at the University of Minnesota.

1993

Activism Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns is Strangling Progressive Politics in America - Dana R. Fisher '93 (Stanford University Press). The author looks at several national progressive grassroots movements (including Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Save the Children, and the Human Rights Campaign) that have been outsourced to an organization called the "People's Project," and explains how the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential campaign followed a similar outsourcing model. This study examines the history and rationale behind political outsourcing on the Left, compares outsourcing to locally-based grassroots efforts on the Right, and explores the potential consequences of this new phenomenon. Fisher is an assistant professor of sociology at Columbia University.

Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, From Our Brains to Black Holes —- Charles Seife - 93 (Viking Press). Seife explores the science of information and how information theory became the “crucial science of our time.” He expounds upon the realm of theoretical physics and how the laws of information are aiding physicists in unraveling the mysteries of our time. Seife is an associate professor of journalism at New York University.

The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle — Kate Zuckerman ’93 (Bulfinch). In this cookbook, the author — the pastry chef at Chanterelle in New York City — offers recipes for her creations, from tarts, cakes, and cookies to soufflés and frozen confections. She also includes tips on various techniques, such as baking a French meringue, and histories of key ingredients, such as dates and vanilla beans. Her desserts have been described as a “life-changing experience” by The New York Times.

1995

Wideawake Field - Eliza Griswold '95 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). This collection of poems reflects the author's work as an investigative journalist and concerns that shape many people: parenting, travel, love, and sex. Griswold is a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University.

From New Recruit to High Flyer: No-Nonsense Advice On How To Fast Track Your Career — Hugh Karseras ’95 (Kogan Page). This guidebook offers advice on how to work one’s way up the corporate ladder by developing the right attitude for success, acquiring analytical and people skills, and becoming politically savvy. The author, who worked for McKinsey & Co. in London before becoming director of an investment bank, draws on his own experiences and those of top executives in the business world.

Fighting For Rights: Military Service and the Politics of Citizenship —- Ronald R. Krebs ’'95 (Cornell University Press). In this treatise, Ronald Krebs analyzes the history of the usage of military service in shaping the politics of identity and citizenship. Using historical events, Krebs highlights how military service prompts minorities to engage in political activism in search of full citizenship rights within democratic states. Krebs is assistant professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.

1996

Echelon — Josh Conviser ’96 (Del Rey). In this science fiction debut novel, Echelon, a global surveillance system that captures, analyzes, and controls every phone call, fax, and e-mail sent anywhere in the world, eliminates disagreement and ensures the world remains peaceful. That is, until Echelon mysteriously breaks down. Agents Ryan Laing and Sarah Peters try to track down the hackers and save the world from destruction. Conviser is a screenwriter and the executive consultant to the HBO series Rome.

Into the Wild - Sarah Beth Durst '96 (Razorbill). In this novel, Rapunzel's daughter Julie tries to balance life in junior high with life in her magical home. She and her family are the guardians of The Wild, a mass of hungry vines stuffed under Julie's bed. One day The Wild escapes and turns the town into a magical forest that traps its inhabitants into fairy tales. Now it is up to Julie to save her home and her family. This is Durst's first novel.

The Taker — J.M. Steele, a pseudonym for co-authors Jadrien Steele ’96 and Richard Abate (Hyperion). The main character in this humorous novel for teenagers is high-school senior Carly Biels. She wants to attend Princeton, but her SAT scores are too low. After receiving a mysterious text message from “The Taker,” who offers to retake the test for her and guarantees a higher score, Biels wrestles with accepting the offer or upping her score the old-fashioned way, by studying. Steele is a screenwriter. Abate is a literary agent.

1997

Deans and Truants: Race and Realism in African American Literature –- Gene Andrew Jarrett ’'97 (University of Pennsylvania Press). This book traces the shifting definitions of African-American literature and the authors who wrote beyond those boundaries at the cost of critical dismissal and, at times, obscurity. Jarrett is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park.

1998

Mine - Tung-Hui Hu '98 (Ausable Press). This collection of poetry explores the various stories of people that occur time and time again on the same land. This is Hu's second collection of poetry.

1999

To Oppose Any Foe: The Legacy of U.S. Intervention in Vietnam - Ross A. Fisher '99, John Norton Moore, and Robert F. Turner (Carolina Academic Press). A compilation of essays about the historical, legal, and contemporary legacies of the Vietnam War, this study addresses the consequences of the ill-fated intervention, from the Cambodian killing fields and nation building in Somalia, to evolving legal thinking about war crimes. Fisher is an associate attorney in Washington, D.C., Moore is director of both the Center for Oceans Law & Policy and the Center for National Security Law and the Walter L. Brown Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, and Turner is the associate director at the Center for National Security Law.

Working from current government statistics, a commissioned poll of more than 1,600 high achievers of both genders, and interviews with a diverse group of women, Christine Whelan ’99 lays out her case for a rosier view in a new book, Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women, published by Simon & Schuster in October. Successful men, she contends, also want to be with successful women, and having more education actually increases the chances that a woman will wed. Click to read article...

American Religious Poems: An Anthology by Harold Bloom — - edited by Harold Bloom and Jesse Zuba '99 (Library of America). This anthology presents a selection of poetry illustrating American spirituality throughout the ages, including works from well-known authors, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickenson, W.E.B. Dubois, and Walt Whitman, as well as works from other, lesser-known authors. Zuba is pursuing a Ph.D. from Yale University.

2000

Anonymous Lawyer - Jeremy Blachman ' 00 (Henry Holt). This satirical novel is written in blog form, in the snobby, grouchy voice of the hiring partner of a prestigious law firm. He secretly blogs about the summer interns he scares, his bitter rival at the firm, and his wife, who likes to spend his money. Trouble ensues when someone inside the firm discovers he is the author of the blog. Blachman is the author of a blog also titled Anonymous Lawyer.

Poems (1945-1971) - Miltos Sachtouris, translated from Greek by Karen Emmerich '00 (Arhipelago Books). The verses by Greek poet Miltos Sachtouris present the author's interpretations of historical events, including the Axis occupation of Greece and the military junta of 1967-74. Emmerich is a translator of Greek poetry who has received grants and awards from PEN and the Modern Greek Studies Association.

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich - Timothy Ferriss '00 (Crown Publishers). Based on the author's guest lectures at Princeton, this book describes how to break free from the 9-5 system and live like the "New Rich" by manipulating time and mobility in one's favor. Ferriss speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from global wireless locations, has held a world-record in tango, has won a national championship in Chinese kickboxing, and acted in a hit TV series in Hong Kong.

2001

Grindhopping: Build a Rewarding Career Without Paying Your Dues — Laura Vanderkam ’01 (McGraw-Hill). The author, a freelance writer in New York City, coined the term “grindhopping” to describe what she has done since leaving college. In her book, she describes how college graduates in their 20s can skip entry-level corporate jobs, with their dull responsibilities and low pay, and dive right into more creative and lucrative work by starting their own companies, freelancing, or consulting.

2002

Avenue Q: The Book - Zachary Pincus-Roth '02 (Hyperion). This companion to the Broadway musical Avenue Q describes the lives of adults with big dreams and small bank accounts. It relays several lessons about life in a manner that cleverly evokes memories of the hit children's TV show Sesame Street. Roth is a reporter for Variety.

2004

Indigenous Beasts - Nathan Sellyn '04 (Raincoast Books). This short-story collection began as Sellyn's Princeton thesis. The stories within this collection are the tales of young men trying to grow up and grown men trying to reconcile their pasts. This is Sellyn's first book.

Please check back for updates. You can also check previous postings from past volumes:

Click here for Books Received 2005-06
Click here for Books Received 2004-05
Click here for Books Received 2003-04
Click here for Books Received 2002-03
Click here for Books Received 2001-02

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By Graduate Alumni (Listed alphabetically by author)

"Black" British Aesthetics Today - Edited by R. Victoria Arana *67 (Cambridge Scholars Publishing). This collection of 24 critical and theoretical essays about the artistic, literary, and critical works that are being produced by black Britons provides readers with insights into contemporary "black" aesthetics. It also features several chapters by the avant-garde black British novelists, poets, and artists themselves. Arana is a professor of English at Howard University.

The Calculus Lifesaver: All the Tools You Need to Excel at Calculus - Adrian Banner *02 (Princeton University Press). Based on the author's popular calculus review course at Princeton, this textbook is a comprehensive yet entertaining calculus study guide. Containing more than 475 example problems and detailed solutions, it can be used to supplement any single-variable calculus textbook or course. Banner is director of research at INTECH and a lecturer in mathematics at Princeton University.

Owning Russia: The Struggle Over Factories, Farms, and Power — - Andrew Barnes *98 (Cornell University Press). Using interviews, archival research, and firsthand observation, Barnes examines the evolution of property-ownership during and after the breakdown of the Soviet regime, as state-owned property was transferred into private hands. Barnes is assistant professor of political science at Kent State University.

Rape and Sexual Power in Early America — - Sharon Block *95 (The University of North Carolina Press). This book examines rape and its prosecution in British America between 1700 and 1820, exposing the dynamics of sexual power upon which colonial and early republican Anglo-American society was based. The author looks at the legal, social, and cultural implications of more than 900 documented incidents of sexual coercion and hundreds more extralegal commentaries from print and manuscript sources. Block is an associate professor of history at the University of California, Irvine.

On Brahms and His Circle: Essays and Documentary Studies by Karl Geiringer - revised and enlarged by George S. Bozarth *78 (Harmonie Park Press). This book compiles essays, articles, and program notes about Brahms by Karl Geiringer. It uses footnotes and editorial postscripts to make updates and provide context, allowing readers to obtain first-hand knowledge of Brahms' conflicted personality, his studies of music, and his relationships with family members, colleagues, and female admirers. Bozarth is a professor at the University of Washington's School of Music in Seattle.

Mellon: An American Life — - David Cannadine *74 (Alfred A. Knopf). This is the first biography of Andrew Mellon, the Pittsburgh-born banker who became one of America’'s richest men and most noted philanthropists. Cannadine is a history commentator on British television and radio. He attended Princeton for one year as a visiting graduate student.

The Measure of Merit: Talents, Intelligence, and Inequality in the French and American Republics, 1750-1940 - John Carson *94 (Princeton University Press). This book looks at how France and the United States have balanced their commitments to equality among all citizens with the fact that disparities in talent and intelligence may be natural, persistent, and consequential. It reveals the critical role that determinations of intelligence have played in both societies in organizing educational systems, justifying racial hierarchies, classifying army recruits, and directing individuals onto particular educational and career paths. Carson is an associate professor in the history department and director of the science, technology, and society program at the University of Michigan.

Never Saw It Coming: Cultural Challenges to Envisioning the Worst — Karen A. Cerulo *85 (University of Chicago Press). Americans tend to focus on and imagine best-case scenarios, such as winning the lottery, and disregard and not plan for worst-case scenarios, such as a hurricane destroying a neighborhood, argues Cerulo. She examines the role of society in fostering this trait and explores strategies for overcoming it. Cerulo is a sociology professor at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J.

The First Year Out: Understanding American Teens after High School - Tim Clydesdale *94 (The University of Chicago Press). Based on 125 in-depth interviews and one year of field research, the author examines the daily lives and shared culture of American teens who graduated from high school between 1995 and 2003. He argues that powerful economic and cultural influences force teens to focus on their day-t0-day lives while limiting their political, religious, or social identities in the process. Clydesdale is an associate professor of sociology at the College of New Jersey.

The Holy Bureaucrat: Eudes Rigaud and Religious Reform in Thirteenth-Century Normandy - Adam J. Davis *01 (Cornell University Press). Davis explores the career of Eudes Rigaud, archbishop of Rouen, as he bureaucratized 13th-century ecclesiastical life in Normandy by designing a system insisting on discipline and accountability within the ranks of the church. Davis is an assistant professor of history at Denison University.

The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World - Peter Dear *84 (University of Chicago Press). This book considers the evolution of science as an intellectual discipline. It pays particular attention to the tension between “knowing” and “doing” that has characterized key episodes in the history of science, ranging from Newtonian gravitation to quantum theory. Dear is a professor of history and of science and technology studies at Cornell University.

Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit - Joshua Foa Dienstag *93 (Princeton University Press). Dienstag challenges the widely held belief that pessimism is “bad for the individual, worse for the species” by arguing that there is an unrecognized yet coherent pessimistic philosophical tradition. He also asserts that pessimism has been and can be a liberating philosophy meant to edify us about our condition and fortify us for life in a disenchanted universe. Dienstag is professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Exploring the World Ocean - Sean Chamberlin and Tommy Dickey *77 (McGraw-Hill). This textbook presents the study of the ocean as an interdisciplinary subject, focusing on understanding how the ocean works as a system. Dickey is professor in the Department of Geography and the graduate program in marine sciences at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Governor Tom Kean: From the New Jersey Statehouse to the 9-11 Commission — - Alvin S. Felzenberg *78 (Rutgers University Press). Following Tom Kean ’'57’'s life, from childhood to his election to the New Jersey Statehouse, to his leadership role in the 9-11 Commission, Felzenberg has written the first political biography of one of New Jersey’'s most successful governors. Alvin S. Felzenberg was principal spokesman for the 9-11 Commission and a fellow at the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He has served in two presidential administrations.

Securing Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Autonomy — - James E. Fleming *88 (University of Chicago Press). Fleming asserts that the constitutional right to privacy, or autonomy, is integral to the scheme of a constitutional democracy. He also argues for the right of citizens to deliberate about the institutions and policies of their government and to deliberate about the conduct of their own lives. Fleming is the Leonard F. Manning Distinguished Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law.

Growing With America: The Fox Family of Philadelphia — - Joseph M. Fox ’'44 *47 (Xlibris). This book chronicles the author’'s family history dating back to 1686, when his 13-year-old ancestor, Justinian, joined a Quaker expedition to America. Fox is a retired Bechtel chief process engineer and chemical engineering society director.

All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity — - Robert W. Fuller *61 (Berrett-Koehler Publishers). This book argues that rankism — - the abuse of power that comes with superior rank — - does serious harm to private relationships and public institutions. The author suggests ways to design social institutions that protect human dignity. Fuller is the former president of Oberlin College.

Published by Schocken in May, Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity looks at the philosopher’s life and beliefs and is the product of Goldstein’s lifelong habit of questioning. A novelist and philosopher, Rebecca Goldstein *77 uses techniques from fiction in her biography of Spinoza. Click to read article in 11/8/06 issue of PAW.

Captive Histories: English, French, and Native Narratives of the 1704 Deerfield Raid — - edited by Evan Haefeli *00 and Kevin Sweeney (University of Massachusetts Press). This book contains various narratives chronicling the 1704 French and Indian attack on Deerfield, Mass. Texts range from the more famous American captivity narratives to the records of French soldiers and clerics and little-known Abenaki and Mohawk stories that emerged out of their communities’' oral traditions. Haefeli is an assistant professor of history at Columbia University.

Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs - Kieran Healy *01 (The University of Chicago Press). This book explores the social organization of blood and organ donation in Europe and the United States. It argues that institutions play a pivotal role in shaping the contexts for donation, the most successful ones resting on fairness of exchange rather than pure altruism or financial incentive. Healy is a professor of medical anthropology at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Cultivating Picturacy: Visual Art and Verbal Interventions – - James A. W. Heffernan *64 (Baylor University Press). The author argues that the capacity to interpret pictures — - which he calls picturacy — - must be cultivated. With examples ranging from prehistoric cave paintings to film versions of Frankenstein, this study shows how verbal language frames and regulates our experience of visual art, even though art demands its own unique type of reading. Heffernan is a professor emeritus of English at Dartmouth College.

The Sea Captain’s Wife: A True Story of Love, Race and War in the Nineteenth Century, published by W.W. Norton. Martha Hodes *91 uncovers the extraordinary life of a Civil War-era woman. Click here to read the article from the March 7, 2007 issue of PAW.

Professors’ Guide to Getting Good Grades in College — Lynn F. Jacobs ’77 and Jeremy S. Hyman *79 (Collins). The authors, who are married, share the inside scoop on how professors evaluate papers and exams, and offer advice for students who want to earn higher grades, including how to study for tests, how to write effective papers, and how to treat the professor like an ally. Jacobs is an associate professor of art history at the University of Arkansas. Hyman has taught philosophy at several universities.

The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of Mass Public — - Sarah E. Igo *01 (Harvard University Press). The author tells the story of how widely accessible information about Americans — - public-opinion polls, man-in-the-street interviews, sex surveys, community studies, and consumer research — - has transformed U.S. culture. This book shows how modern polls and surveys have infiltrated the lives of those who were polled and those who measured their personal habits and beliefs against the resulting statistics. Igo is an assistant professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania.

Writing for Design Professionals: A Guide to Writing Successful Proposals, Letters, Brochures, Portfolios, Reports, Presentations, and Job Applications, 2nd ed. — - Stephen A. Kliment *57 (W.W. Norton). This writing guide shows design professionals how to write clear and effective letters, proposals, brochures, reports, oral presentations, and other written materials. Kliment is an adjunct professor of architecture at the City College of New York, CUNY.

Byzantine Christianity: A People’'s History of Christianity — - edited by Derek Krueger *91 (Fortress Press). This study, the third volume in a series of Christian social histories, examines the lives of Byzantine Christian lay people from the founding of Constantinople in 324 to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Krueger is a professor of religious studies and department head at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

Melancholia’'s Dog — - Alice Kuzniar *83 (University of Chicago Press). This book uses philosophy, psychoanalysis, and the literary and visual arts to explore the kinship between humans and dogs. Kuzniar is a professor of German and comparative literature at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Sh*t Happens: The Book — - Deborah Lazarus *84 (aka Deborah Berendt) (Workman Publishing). This book chronicles macabre, amusing, and sometimes chilling mishaps and catastrophes throughout history. The author lives in Scarsdale, NY.

Never Say I: Sexuality and the First Person in Colette, Gide, and Proust – - Michael Lucey *89 (Duke University Press). The author looks at Marcel Proust’'s, Colette’'s, and André Gide’'s use of a first-person voice when writing about matters relating to same-sex sexuality. This study shows how their writings and careers took on political and social import through the contributions that they made to the representation of these social groups. The author explores these three writers as both practitioners and theorists of the first person. Lucey is a professor of French and comparative literature and the chairman of the French department at the University of California, Berkley.

Turning the Kaleidoscope: Perspectives on European Jewry - Edited by Sandra Lustig *94 and Ian Leveson (Berghahn Books). This volume covers topics including the new roles for Jews in Europe, models of Jewish community organization in Europe, concepts of diaspora and galut, a European-Jewish way of life in the era of globalization, and European Jews' relationships with Israel and non-Jews. Lustig is co-founder and senior policy adviser for the Ecologic Institute for International and European Environmental Policy, and Leveson is a Scottish computer scientist who has participated in grassroots initiatives to rebuild Jewish civil society in Berlin.

Aden and the Indian Ocean Trade: 150 Years in the Life of a Medieval Arabian Port - Roxani Eleni Margariti *02 (University of North Carolina Press). This book examines the history of the Yemeni port of Aden between the 11th and 13th centuries, showing how physical space and urban institutions developed to serve and harness the commercial potential presented by the city's strategic location at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Margariti is an assistant professor of Middle Eastern and South Asian studies at Emory University.

The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million — Daniel Mendelsohn *94 (HarperCollins). The author takes the reader on a journey back in time and around the world and ultimately to Bolechow, Poland (now the Ukraine), to discover how his great-uncle and aunt, Shmiel and Ester Jäger, and their four daughters perished in the Holocaust. The New York Times called his focus on family details “absorbing and novelistic.” Mendelsohn is a humanities professor at Bard College.

Power, Faith & Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776-Present – - Michael Oren *86 (W.W. Norton). Using government documents, personal correspondence, and memoirs of merchants, missionaries, and travelers, the author reconstructs the ways in which Americans have been involved with the Middle East. Oren is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center, based in Jerusalem.

Painter and Priest: Giovanni Canavesio’'s Visual Rhetoric and the Passion Cycle at La Brigue — - Véronique Plesch *94 (University of Notre Dame Press). Plesch analyzes Giovanni Canavesio’'s pictorial cycle on the “Passion of Christ” by assessing the significance of the order of pictures, the formal means used to convey content, and the relationship between the painted ensemble and late medieval preaching. Plesch is associate professor and chair in the Department of Art at Colby College.

Introduction to California Chaparral – - Ronald D. Quinn *69 and Sterling C. Keeley (University of California Press). This book describes the ecology of the California Chaparral — - a soft bluish-green blanket of vegetation covering the hills that is a quintessential part of the state’'s landscape. Chaparral is prone to both fire and draught and is consequently home to unique plant and animal organisms. Quinn is a professor of biological sciences at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Keeley is a professor of botany at the University of Hawaii.

What Workers Want — Richard B. Freeman and Joel Rogers *84 (Cornell University Press). The authors document workers’ attitudes about participation and representation on the job. Workers want their voices to be heard, a greater role in decision-making, and disputes to be settled through arbitration, they say. Freeman holds the Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard. Rogers is a professor of law, political science, and sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Policing Paris: The Origins of Modern Immigration Control between the Wars — - Clifford Rosenberg *00 (Cornell University Press). Rosenberg uses post-World War I police archives and other documents to chronicle how the French became the first to document and enforce distinctions of citizenship, national origin, and immigration laws. Clifford Rosenberg is an assistant professor of history at the City College of New York, CUNY.

In AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from Military Service —And How It Hurts Our Country, published in May by Collins, Kathy Roth-Douquet *91 explores the disconnect between people from America’s upper classes and the military world, and she argues that the military and the country’s opinion-makers are dangerously estranged. Click here to read more...

Slow and Steady Parenting: Active Child-Raising for the Long Haul, from Birth to Age Three: Avoiding the Short-Term Solutions that Lead to Long-Term Problems - Catherine Sanderson *97 (M. Evans and Co.). This book argues that "slow and steady wins the race," especially in parenting. It details methods of child rearing that slowly, but surely, will foster good behavioral habits in children. Sanderson is an associate professor and chair of psychology at Amherst College.

Courtly Love, the Love of Courtliness, and the History of Sexuality – - James A. Schultz *77 (University of Chicago Press). By examining key medieval German texts, the author shows that courtly love was provoked not by the intrinsic biological factors that dominate contemporary thinking about sexuality, but rather by extrinsic signs of class. He argues that courtly love is actually the love of courtliness — - the eroticization of noble status and the courtly culture that celebrated noble power and refinement. Schultz is a professor of German and the director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Program at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Saul Steinberg: Illuminations - Joel Smith *01 (Yale University Press). This book provides a comprehensive look at the work of 20th-century artist Saul Steinberg, best known for his contributions to The New Yorker. It traces the evolving motives that underlie his work, raising questions about the historiography of modernism and the status of "the middlebrow avant-garde" in an age of museum-bound art. Smith is curator of photography at the Princeton University Art Museum.

International Law and International Relations: Bridging Theory and Practice — - edited by Thomas Biersteker, Peter Spiro, Chandra Lekha Sriram *00, and Veronica Raffo (Routledge). This book explores the opportunities to be had in interdisciplinary research between the fields of international relations and international law. The authors argue that such interdisciplinary research is central to the creation of a knowledge base among international relations scholars and lawyers. Sriram is chairwoman in human rights and director of the Centre on Human Rights in Conflict at the University of East London.

The Megamusical — - Jessica Sternfeld *02 (Indiana University Press). Sternfeld explores the history of the megamusical, the entertainment phenomenon loved by audiences but scorned by critics. Describing its performative qualities and its external market reception, she reveals the reasons behind the megamusical's popularity by analyzing several popular musicals, such as Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables. Sternfeld is assistant professor of music at Rhode Island College.

Reinventing the Wheel: Paintings of Rebirth in Medieval Buddhist Temples - Stephen F. Teiser *86 (University of Washington Press). This study explores the artistic use of the Buddhist wheel of rebirth, discussing how the metaphor of the wheel has been interpreted in divergent local traditions from India to Tibet, Central Asia, and China. Teiser is the D.T. Suzuki Professor in Buddhist Studies at Princeton University.

Philosophy for Teens: Questioning Life’'s Big Ideas — - Sharon M. Kaye and Paul Thomson *90 (Prufrock Press). This book provides an in-depth, teen-friendly look at the philosophy behind everyday issues, such as lying, cheating, love, hate, beauty, the role of government, and prejudice. Both Kaye and Thomson are associate professors of philosophy at John Carroll University.

The Art of Power: Machiavelli, Nietzsche, and the Making of Aesthetic Political Theory — - Diego von Vacano *03 (Lexington Books). The author examines the works of Machiavelli, asserting that he created a new aesthetic view of political theory. He then goes on to analyze and compare the works of Machiavelli and those of Nietzsche, stating that the two political theorists had similar ideas and aims. Von Vacano is assistant professor of political science at Texas A&M University.

The Crucial Role of the Environment in the Writings of George Stewart (1895-1980): A Life of America’'s Literary Ecologist — - Fred Waage ’'65 *71 (Edwin Mellen Press). In this biography of George Rippy Stewart, an influential 20th century American writer, the author looks at how Stewart explored the relationship between places, ecology, history, and literature and influenced John Steinbeck, Wallace Stegner, and Robert Frost. Waage is a professor of English at East Tennessee State University.

Copperheads: The Rise and Fall of Lincoln’'s Opponents in the North – - Jennifer Weber *03 (Oxford University Press). This book describes the lives and political activities of the Copperheads, a group of Northern antiwar activists who came perilously close to defeating Lincoln and ending the Civil War in the South’'s favor. Weber is an assistant professor at the University of Kansas.

Early New England: A Covenanted Society — - David A. Weir *92 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) Weir gives a detailed study of the origins of covenant thought in early America through an in-depth analysis of civil and church covenants signed by early 17th-century New Englanders. In analyzing covenants from all New England colonies, instead of just the more famous ones such as the Mayflower Compact, Weir asserts that colonial New England society was much more “English” than “American” and often mirrored change in Old England. Weir is professor of history at Nyack College in Nyack, New York.

Hollywood Be Thy Name: African American Religion in American Film, 1929-1949 - Judith Weisenfeld *92 (University of California Press). This book explores how cinematic representation of African American religious practices has reflected and contributed to complicated discourses about race, the social and moral requirements of American citizenship, and the very nature of American identity. Weisenfeld is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Religion at Vassar College.

Please check back for updates. You can also check previous postings from past volumes:

Click here for Books Received 2005-06
Click here for Books Received 2004-05
Click here for Books Received 2003-04
Click here for Books Received 2002-03
Click here for Books Received 2001-02

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By Faculty (Listed alphabetically by author)

Sovereignty and Revolution in the Iberian Atlantic - Jeremy Adelman (Princeton University Press). The author argues that modern notions of sovereignty in the Atlantic world have been unstable, contested, and equivocal from the start. This study shows how contemporary notions of sovereignty - including property, citizenship, and human rights - emerged in the Americas as a response to European imperial crises during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Adelman is the Walter Samuel Carpenter III Professor of Spanish Civilization and Culture and chairman of the history department at Princeton University.

In Satyr Square, published in October by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, professor Leonard Barkan blends memoir and travelogue with a sharp critical acumen and beautiful and witty prose. On the surface, the premise of Satyr Square seems deceptively simple: A professor chronicles the year he spent in Rome researching the Roman Renaissance custom of unearthing and recycling ancient sculpture. This work became the subject of Barkan’s book Unearthing the Past (2001); in Satyr Square, he offers not just an account of his research but an excavation of what friend and critic Richard Howard calls “the archaeology of the modern self.” Click here to read article in 1/24/07 issue of PAW...

Fly Me to the Moon: An Insider's Guide to the New Science of Space Travel - Edward Belbruno (Princeton University Press). This book introduces the "gravitational wave surfing" concept, a low-fuel alternative for space travel. Written for a general audience, the author describes how he successfully used his theory to steer a stray Japanese satellite back on course to the moon, despite significant resistance from the scientific community. Belbruno is a visiting research collaborator in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University and president of Innovative Orbital Design.

Why Size Matters: From Bacteria to Blue Whales — - John Tyler Bonner (Princeton University Press). Bonner explores the effect of size on biology, and he looks at how size determines shape, function, and longevity. By examining stories ranging from Gulliver's Travels to Alice in Wonderland, he shows that humans have always been fascinated by things big and small. Bonner is George M. Moffett Professor of Biology emeritus at Princeton University.

Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 1579-1724 - Liam Matthew Brockey (Harvard University Press). This book illuminates one of the great cultural encounters of world history: highly educated Jesuit priests confronting Chinese culture for the first time in the modern era. It shows how the Jesuits translated traditional Catholicism into the Chinese cultural framework and, in doing so, claimed 200,000 converts. Brockey is an assistant professor in the history department at Princeton University.

Recombinant DNA: Genes and Genomes - A Short Course - James D. Watson, Amy A. Caudy, Richard M. Myers, Jan A. Witkowski (W.H. Freeman). The third edition of the classic James Watson textbook published in 1983, this book features 11 new chapters based on significant developments in the field of genetics that have recently been made. Watson is the chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Caudy is a Lewis-Sigler Fellow at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University, Myers is the chairman of genetics at Stanford University, and Witkowski is the executive director of the Banbury Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Domesticity at War - Beatriz Colomina (MIT Press). This book explores the domestication of America after World War II. Interlocking images and text examine how postwar American architecture adapted the techniques and materials that were developed for military applications to domestic use. Beatriz Colomina is professor of architecture and founding director of the Program in Media and Modernity at Princeton University.

The Aeneid — translated by Robert Fagles, with an introduction by Bernard Knox (Viking). In this new translation of the epic poem, Fagles has brought a contemporary voice to the narrator of the poem, ancient Rome’s poet Publius Vergilius Maro, better known as Virgil. Maro tells the story of the origins of Rome through the tale of the warrior Aeneas, who becomes entangled in a tragic love affair, descends to the world of the dead, and finally reaches Italy. Fagles is a professor of comparative literature, emeritus, at Princeton.

The Art of Forgetting: Disgrace & Oblivion in Roman Political Culture — - Harriet I. Flower (University of North Carolina Press). The author examines the Roman custom of mutilating public images of leading citizens who were deemed unworthy members of the community — - a practice intended to limit the public’'s memory of them. She uses literary and legal texts as well as art and archaeological evidence to shed light on this practice. Flower is an associate professor of classics at Princeton University.

Five Days in August: How World War II Became a Nuclear War - Michael D. Gordon (Princeton University Press). This book reinterprets the historical conversation about the atomic bomb and its role in ending World War II, arguing that the U.S. military failed to realize the revolutionary strategic potential of the atomic bomb and ended up shocked by the Japanese surrender. Gordon is an assistant professor of the history of science at Princeton University.

Hell Creek: 65 Million Years in the Past, The Journey Begins — - Lisa M. Graziano and Michael S.A. Graziano (Trafford Publishing). In this prehistoric fiction novel, four-and-a-half people and a dog are hurled 65 million years into the past by an unstable Graviton Vault and must find a way to return to their own time. Michael S.A. Graziano is assistant professor of psychology at Princeton University. Lisa Graziano is a writer and music teacher on Cape Cod.

Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland After Auschwitz — Jan T. Gross (Random House). In his 2001 book Neighbors, Gross exposed how Poles in the town of Jedwabne murdered the town’s 1,600 Jews in 1941. In postwar Poland, argues Gross in his new book, the persecution of Jews did not end. The author describes how returning Jews were terrorized by Poles as church and Communist officials did not intervene. Gross is a history professor at Princeton.

The Inner Touch: Archaeology of a Sensation - Daniel Heller-Roazen (Zone Books). What does it mean to feel alive? This book reconstructs and reconsiders the history of sensation through ancient, medieval, and modern cultures, looking at philosophical, literary, psychological, and medical accounts of the nature of animal (including human) existence. Heller-Roazen is a professor of comparative literature at Princeton University.

A Kingdom of Priests: Ancestry and Merit in Ancient Judaism — - Martha Himmelfarb (University of Pennsylvania Press). According to the Book of Exodus, God addressed the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai with the words, “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This book examines the implications of this quotation, studying the relationship between priests and the Jewish population with a focus on texts from the Second Temple Judaism period. Himmelfarb is a professor of religion at Princeton University.

The Secret Gospel of Mark Unveiled: Imagined Rituals of Sex, Death, and Madness in a Biblical Forgery — - Peter Jeffrey (Yale University Press). In 1958, Biblical scholar Morton Smith announced the discovery of a sensational manuscript that quotes an unknown, longer version of the Gospel of Mark. This book provides a close examination of the manuscript’'s text, revealing it as an elaborate hoax by an estranged Episcopalian priest. Jeffrey is the Scheide Professor of Music History at Princeton University.

Failing to Win: Perceptions of Victory and Defeat in International Politics — - Dominic D.P. Johnson and Dominic Tierney (Harvard University Press). This book examines the psychological factors that determine whether leaders, the media, and the public perceive the outcome of war and crises as victories or defeats, concluding that common perceptions of wins and losses often diverge widely from realities on the ground. Included as case studies are the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the 1968 Tet offensive, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1992-1994 U.S. intervention in Somalia, the War on Terror, and the ongoing Iraq war. Johnson is a fellow in the Society of Fellows at Princeton University, and Tierney is an assistant professor of political science at Swarthmore College.

Tom Thomson in Purgatory — Troy Jollimore *99 (MARGIE). The title poem of this collection is a sequence of 42 sonnets that explore love, work, time, pain, and sorrow, as experienced by the everyman Tom Thomson. The book won the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry and the Robert E. Lee and Ruth I. Wilson Poetry Award. Jollimore teaches philosophy at California State University, Chico.

Patriotism and Other Mistakes - George Kateb (Yale University Press). This study discusses the role that nonrational psychic forces play in political life and their moral consequences. It urges vigilance, cautioning against commitments to ideals of religion, nation, race, ethnicity, manliness, and courage that can be manipulated in the service of immoral ends. Kateb is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, emeritus, at Princeton University.

Crossing the Line: A Bluejacket's Odyssey in World War II - Alvin Kernan (Yale University Press). A memoir of life aboard aircraft carriers during World War II, this book describes the author's experience as a young enlisted sailor in the Pacific theatre. Kernan is the Avalon University Professor of Humanities emeritus at Princeton University.

The Unknown Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons - Alvin Kernan (Yale University Press). The author, who was an 18-year-old on board one of the American aircraft carriers that fought the Battle of Midway, one of the greatest naval victories of World War II, describes "how badly things went wrong for the aerial torpedo squadrons that day over the blue waters of the mid-Pacific." Kernan is the Avalon University Professor of Humanities emeritus at Princeton University.

Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches — Nolan McCarty, Keith T. Poole, and Howard Rosenthal (MIT Press). The authors argue that the increasing political polarization is related to economic inequality, and show that polarization and income disparity have risen since the mid-1970s. With the poor making up a larger share of the population, and increasing immigration, the authors argue that there is less pressure from the bottom for redistribution of wealth. McCarty is a professor of politics and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School.

Uncommon Carriers — - John McPhee ’'53 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The author profiles people who work in freight transportation, including a truck driver, ship captain, and towboat pilot. McPhee describes his journeys with these people, including rides in the cabs of coal trains and a drive from Atlanta to Tacoma with the owner of a 65-foot, five-axle, 18-wheel tanker carrying hazardous materials. McPhee is a professor of journalism at Princeton.

Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity - Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King (Viking). This book reflects upon the recently discovered Gospel of Judas, a narrative that curiously praises Judas above the other disciples. It contains an English translation of the Gospel with commentary, as well as comparisons between the Gospel of Judas and the "official" accounts that appear in the New Testament. Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, and King is the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Harvard Divinity School.

The Last Days of the Renaissance & The March to Modernity — - Theodore K. Rabb (Basic Books). In his treatise, Rabb explores the final days of the Renaissance period and defines how and when it shifted into Modernity. Rabb is professor of history emeritus at Princeton University.

Law as Culture: An Invitation — - Lawrence Rosen (Princeton University Press). The author examines law as a tool by which cultures express their senses of order. He considers how facts adduced in a legal forum connect to the construction of facts in everyday life, how processes of legal decision-making relate to the logic by which the culture as a whole is structured, and how courts, mediators, or social pressures fashion a sense of the world that is consistent with common sense and social identity. Rosen is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University and an adjunct professor of law at Columbia University.

Jesus in the Talmud - Peter Schäfer (Princeton University Press). The author examines references to Jesus within the Talmud, the founding document of rabbinic Judaism. It shows how the rabbis of the Talmud read, understood, and used the Christian New Testament's Jesus narrative to ultimately assert Judaism's superiority over Christianity. Schäfer is the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Judaic Studies and the director of the Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University.

Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life - Lee M. Silver (HarperCollins). This book addresses the clash between science and religion in Western society over cloning and other biotechnologies. Silver is a professor of molecular biology and public affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

Duende - Tracy K. Smith (Graywolf Press). A collection of 30 poems that explore history and the intersections of folk traditions, political resistance, and personal survival, and that give passionate treatment to cultures that have been suppressed. Smith is an assistant professor of creative writing in the Princeton University Center for the Creative and Performing Arts.

Snipers, Shills & Sharks: eBay and Human Behavior - Ken Steiglitz (Princeton University Press). In this study of eBay, the foremost Internet auction site, the author describes eBay's similarities to older forms of auction, examines the "types" of eBay bidders, and outlines methods for successful bidding. Steiglitz is professor of computer science, acting chair of the department of computer science, and director of the program in applications of computing at Princeton University.

About Princeton(ians):

Black Lotus: The Spiritual Journey of an Urban Mystic - Steven J. Rosen (Hari Nama Press). This book explores the life and mission of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami (1950-2005), an African-American seeker who rose from impoverished conditions in the Cleveland ghetto to become a global spiritual leader of the Hare Krishna movement aka John Favors '72. Rosen is senior editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies and associate editor of Back to Godhead, the magazine of the Hare Krishna movement.

About the Ivies:

Ivies in Athens: The Deep Bond Between Two Great Sporting Traditions: The Olympic Games and The Ivy League - Jay V. Bavishi (Markus Wiener). This book chronicles the Ivy League's involvement in the Olympic Games from the 1896 Athens Olympics to the 2004 Athens Olympics. With sections on each Ivy League school and an index of all Ivy Olympic competitors, it highlights the Ivy League's success in garnering Olympic glory. Jay V. Bavishi is a resident of Princeton, N.J., and a student at Boston College.

Please check back for updates. You can also check previous postings from past volumes:

Click here for Books Received 2005-06
Click here for Books Received 2004-05
Click here for Books Received 2003-04
Click here for Books Received 2002-03
Click here for Books Received 2001-02

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