On the Air
 Saber’s Edge: A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq
Thomas A. Middleton
$27.95 Cloth, 978-1-58465-747-7, UPNE
“Middleton’s book gives readers a glimpse into the world that few people outside the military know: The horrors of combat, the emotional struggles of trying to balance the need to kill with the Christian admonition of “thou shall not kill,” and the emotional acceptance of the ultimate reality of war. . . . Middleton, a lifelong Catholic, acknowledges he killed people in Iraq. He also talks about the spiritual journey he went on to reconcile the commandment against killing with warfare and protecting his country, his fellow soldiers and himself.”—Associated Press (picked up by several newspapers and Stars and Stripes magazine)
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 Landscape of Industry: An Industrial History of the Blackstone Valley
Worcester Historical Museum; Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, fwd.
UPNE
“The Blackstone River is sleepy as it twists and turns from Worcester to Pawtucket, R.I. Yet 200 years ago the Blackstone was a whirring engine of the American Industrial Revolution. Slater Mill in Pawtucket was the nation’s first successful water-powered cotton-spinning mill. The area was instrumental in the shift from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy.
To celebrate the region’s past, University Press of New England and the Worcester Historical Museum have produced “Landscape of Industry: An Industrial History of the Blackstone Valley.’’ Old maps, prints, and photographs illustrate essays by historians and National Park Service rangers.”—Boston Globe |
 Versed
by Rae Armantrout
Wesleyan
“Versed is a major and moving addition to a life’s work in many-angled reflection.”—Times Literary Supplement |
 Henry Austin: In Every Variety of Architectural Style
by James F. O’Gorman
Wesleyan
“The breadth of Austin’s work is truly delightful.
“O’Gorman’s welcome volume brings together the tidbits of information on Austin’s life and work and begins to sketch a more complete picture of the man as architect.
“The book is beautifully formatted for careful reading as well as browsing. The illustrations are large and sharply reproduced. Any reader who has ever admired early Victorian architecture will take pleasure not only in an armchair tour of Austin’s work, but also in observing how his buildings have changed over time.”—Connecticut Preservation News |
 Sensational Knowledge: Embodying Culture through Japanese Dance
by Tomie Hahn
Wesleyan
“(A) landmark contribution to dance ethnology and the study of Japanese performing arts. The ethnographic glimpse into the hidden world of nihon buyo that Hahn has crafted here is necessary to begin to understand the bodily experience of dancing and the core value of self-development in Japanese art. ... While most people today do not have the time or patience to endure the years of hardship required to fully develop ‘sensational knowledge,’ Hahn’s first book is a major step toward sensitizing reader in that direction.”—Journal of the American Musicological Society |
 Picturing Victorian America: Prints by the Kellogg Brothers in Hartford, Connecticut, 1830-1880
edited by Nancy Finlay
Wesleyan
“Picturing Victorian America provides collectors, museums, and libraries with the information needed to document the Kellogg prints in their own collections. David Tatham, professor of fine arts at Syracuse University says, ‘This admirably wide-ranging and profusely illustrated history of the Kellogg firm, its prints, and their place in the rise of visual culture in America, stands as a major contribution to the history and interpretation of the popular graphic arts. It tells us much, and with fresh perspectives, about the vital interplay of pictures and people in an educated society.’”—Connecticut Explored (formerly Hog River Journal) |
 The Fire in the Stone: Prehistoric Fiction from Charles Darwin to Jean M. Auel
by Nicholas Ruddick
Wesleyan
The Fire in the Stone is a distinctive, welcome and timely addition to the growing library on the impact of evolutionary theory on literature. The first section is an effective work of reference which convincingly identifies a new genre, provides firm ground for future studies in the field and spares later scholars the ordeal of having to read many of the books Ruddick has dutifully covered. The second section is a perceptive and engaging account of why pf is worth reading, both from a cultural-historical perspective and as a form of speculative narrative that not only reflects but complements and even informs palaeoanthropology itself.—web site of the British Society for Literature and Science Fiction |
 Collected Poems of Barbara Guest
edited by Hadley Haden Guest
Wesleyan
“There are other poets of Guest’s generation (Jack Spicer, Philip Whalen, Edward Dorn, Aram Saroyan) who have also been unjustly neglected. But Guest is a better poet than all of them, and this Collected Poems is a terrific volume gathered rather than too late: after an unbelievably productive final fifteen years, Guest died in Berkeley two years ago, at age 85.” —Pleiades |
 The Black Mirror and Other Stories: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Germany and Austria
edited by Franz Rottensteiner, Translated by Mike Mitchell
Wesleyan
“This is a real treat! A collection such as this one-and a history of German SF-is long overdue. ... Rarely has the mixture of hard science fiction and satire worked so well. Mitchell deserves praise for the way he conveys the word play in his translation-some of this satire is Wodehousian. ... Modern anthologies are pick-and-mix on quality. This one is a definitive five-star affair.”—Fortean Times |
 The Treaty of Portsmouth and Its Legacies
Steven Ericson, ed.; Allen Hockley, ed. Dartmouth
“Generally speaking, the entire volume is well worth reading. It provides excellent summaries of the major interpretations of its authors. It would be a good companion piece for an undergraduate student together with a general history text. It offers a short summary to allow a motivated reader to go on to the longer monographs on the war and peace. The meaty endnotes to each essay include excellent bibliographies for the interest reader who wishes to know more. I commend Ericson and Hockley for organizing the conference and for providing us with an excellent volume to whet our interest on the important topic. They have brought us an excellent piece of scholarship that will be received with much appreciation of the treaty.” —Journal of Japanese Studies |
 Photographic Memories: Private Pictures, Public Images, and American History
Rob Kroes; Donald Pease, pref.
Dartmouth
“Kroes is a true Renaissance man, attuned to the world around him, finely sensitive to signs, a man of the world, and, as we begin to discover in this autobiography of a European Americanist, a true guide.”—TransAtlantica |
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Reviews
 Where the Great River Rises: An Atlas of the Upper Connecticut River Watershed in Vermont and New Hampshire
Rebecca A. Brown, ed.
Dartmouth
“Like other atlases, this is not a book easily devoured in one sitting. It is better enjoyed as a resource, for resolving arguments during dinner, researching school projects, or satisfying idle curiosity. Regardless, it will provide many hours of satisfaction. And it should help restore the mighty Connecticut to its rightful place at the heart of the Twin States.”—Northern Woodlands |
 Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential
Dan Pallotta
“In Uncharitable: How Restraints on Nonprofits Undermine Their Potential, [Pallotta] argues that charities have for too long--going back to Puritan times, been hostage to an ideology that regarded making money as antithetical to doing good works. Relying heavily on the controversial experience of his own company, Pallotta TeamWorks, he seeks to show that by acting more like businesses, nonprofits could be more successful in attaining their charitable goals as well.”—Philanthropy |
 Memoirs: Hans Jonas
Hans Jonas; Christian Wiese, ed.; Krishna Winston, trs.
Brandeis
“Because Jonas’s life spanned the entire twentieth century, this memoir provides nuanced pictures of German Jewry during the Weimar Republic, of German Zionism, of the Jewish emigrants in Palestine during the 1930s and 1940s, and of German Jewish emigre intellectuals in New York. This memoir, a collection of heterogeneous unpublished materials--diaries, memoirs, letters, interviews, and public statements--has been shaped and organized by Christian Wiese, whose afterword links the Jewish dimensions of Jonas’s biography and philosophy.”—Shofar |
 Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism: Resistance and Accommodation
Tova Hartman
Brandeis
“Feminism Encounters Traditional Judaism is a “good read,” as well as an inside look at an innovative phenomenon in contemporary Jewish life. It illuminates the concerns of men and women who are committed to traditional Jewish lifestyles and values, but are equally committed to bringing Orthodoxy into practical as well as intellectual dialogue with feminist ideas. This book is sure to be cherished by book clubs and individual readers, and would be a good choice for classes on American Jewish life and women’s studies.” —Shofar
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 From Madness to Mutiny: Why Mothers Are Running from the Family Courts -- and What Can Be Done about It
Amy Neustein, Michael Lesher
Northeastern
From Madness to Mutiny . . . is an emotionally tough but intellectually satisfying read; it is a volume that belongs on the bookshelf of every professional who deals with child custody and child abuse, from lawyers and judges to psychologists and social workers. One reviewer recounted that she had provided a volume of this book to a family court judge who then stated that he had purchased 25 more copies and sent them all to other judges (Fox, 2006). This level of enthusiasm is not surprising since this volume brings the unique combination of a scholarly analysis within a passionate call for change. There can be no doubt that the family courts must change to address the widespread systems failure that has made the best interest of the child an empty slogan instead of the guiding principle it should be.”—Journal of Child Custody |
 Basking with Humpbacks: Tracking Threatened Marine Life in New England Waters
Todd McLeish
“During these hot days of summer, when so many Rhode Islanders are struggling through traffic jams to get to the water’s edge, science writer Todd McLeish is encouraging readers to think about other creatures that share our coastal waters.
“In his new book, Basking with Humpbacks: Tracking Threatened Marine Life in New England Waters, McLeish tells the stories of an array of mammals, fish and birds that share our coastal waters but are threatened by various human activities.
“He writes about encountering a badly injured humpback whale off of Provincetown -- it has been harmed both by a passing ship and by a tangle of fishing gear that entwines its midsection. He broadens the story to discuss the life cycles of humpbacks that travel the length of the East Coast, and he describes the thrill of watching a mother and calf “bubble feeding” off of Cape Cod.
“McLeish also joins a Maine fisherman who just loves halibut and continues trying to catch them, even though few remain. The fisherman faces a state catch limit of four fish per day -- a far cry from a fisherman who caught 15,000 pounds of halibut on a two-day trip in 1837.
“McLeish, a science writer in the department of communication and marketing at the University of Rhode Island, also tells the stories of harbor porpoises, horseshoe crabs, Leach’s storm petrels, leatherback turtles, seaweeds, bay scallops, Atlantic wolfish, harlequin ducks and basking sharks.
“His book is filled with vivid descriptions of the creatures he sees.”—Providence Journal |
 Yehuda Amichai: The Making of Israel’s National Poet
Nili Scharf Gold
Brandeis
“Nili Scharf Gold’s book illustrates the rich complexity that emerges from the intersections of identities and languages. It offers an invaluable case study of the journey of immigrant writers from the ‘foreign’ into the very heart of their adopted culture.”—British Association for Jewish Studies |
 In Words and Deeds: Battle Speeches in History
Richard F. Miller
UPNE
“This is a study of leadership and what must be done when virtually everything is at stake. . . .In Words and Deeds is a thorough collection of pronouncements, exhortations, and comments related to mortal combat, most of which had the desired effect.”—Proceedings |
 Ten Days of Birthright Israel: A Journey in Young Adult Identity
Leonard Saxe, Barry Chazan
Brandeis
“[Ten Days of Birthright Israel] is pleasurable to read and highly recommended to those interested in a synthesis of the ambitious research into this impressive educational effort. It is to be hoped that this valuable evaluation will continue to track this program and its long-term sociological and pedagogical impact will be assessed.”—American Jewish History |
 Lone Stars of David: The Jews of Texas
Hollace Ava Weiner, ed.; Kenneth D. Roseman, ed.; Robert S. Strauss, fwd.
Brandeis
“The richness and readability of the volume is a credit to the talents of its editors. Hollace Weiner writes with the ear of a journalist and the eye of a painter. Rabbi and historian Kenneth A. Roseman . . . was recruited early in the project and helped shape its themes and structure.”—American Jewish History |
 Workplace Chemistry: Promoting Diversity Through Organizational Change
Meg A. Bond
UPNE
“ASQ readers will benefit from analyzing the rich description of this socio-anthropological case study to derive jumping-off points for further theory development as well as fodder for building related research programs. Practitioners will delight in the detailed firsthand accounts of an unexpectedly successful collaboration between consultants and managers. And anyone interested in the cause of creating an inclusive workplace for all individuals will appreciate this well-written, highly insightful narrative of a remarkable effort to change and improve a single organization in the face of some particularly difficult, but perhaps not uncommon, challenges.”—Administrative Science Quarterly |
 The Art of Worcester Porcelain, 1751-1788: Masterpieces from the British Museum Collection
Aileen Dawson
UPNE
“This beautifully photographed book showcases 101 of the most important and attractive pieces of eighteenth-century Worcester porcelain in the collection of the British Museum. They date from the period 1751-83, from the factory’s founding by Dr. John Wall, to a few years after his death in 1776.
Many of the pieces are fully illustrated in color here for the first time. A concise overview of the Worcester factory and its production methods in the eighteenth century is followed by superb illustrations and informative texts, including new research about each of the featured pieces. An enlightening introduction to the subject for the non-specialist and an essential reference for the collector.”—Northeast Antiques |
 Louis I. Kahn’s Jewish Architecture: Mikveh Israel and the Midcentury American Synagogue
Susan G. Solomon
Brandeis
“Valuable . . . Solomon presents a careful and very readable study of those designs, clearly connecting the congregation’s religious and communal needs with Kahn’s evolving vision. She demonstrates where Kahn’s concepts of site, space, light, landscape, and ritual continued to develop, often outpacing the congregation’s own ideas. In this, the book is an introduction to Kahn the architect and the idealist. Solomon also offers lengthy and informative excursions into post-World War II views of Jewish identity and community, and of the lively professional and public debate about the appropriate art and architecture for synagogues, and in a postscript muses on the state of contemporary synagogue design.”—Tablet Magazine |
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Stories in Stone