ERA Reviews

Everything you've heard but forgotten put in proper sequence and total truthful facts. This is the best chronology of the whole civil rights movement that I've ever seen. It puts all of it in proper sequence and perspective of the times. This is a must read for anyone that believes in freedom for all...get it, and read it twice...the index is super...it's a library keeper. And buy one for your friends!

Caught between a plethora of beautiful picture books written by visitors who rush undigested material into print and scholarly tomes too pithy and densely packed with jargon to be understood by anyone, sometimes even the author, it is rare to find a book that is written by an academic thoroughly versed in her subject yet so enjoyable to read that it may as well be a novel. You will find Professor Willow Roberts Powers' "Navajo Trading the end of an era" a joy to read for its lively style, and you will gain an introduction to and an understanding of a complex period in our national history.
The text is enlivened with quotes from oral histories of Navajo Indians and traders who lived together through friendship and animosity, trust and fear, hardship and wealth. It is evident that Powers understands her subject from decades of contact and is able to outline the intricate social and political interactions that changed the lives of people in the Southwest in fundamental ways.
I know some of the people in the book, many are still alive, and even after years of contact I feel I know them better now that I have read their story as Powers writes it, casting light in the cobwebby corners of memory and bringing a time past into clear view. The era may have ended but the story and its people still live today in its aftermath.
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Early in 2001, two big economics stories crossed paths and received vastly different coverage. The meltdown of the "dot-coms" dominated the front pages. Meanwhile, congressional passage of a new bankruptcy law that threatened to establish more favorable terms for creditors passed mostly under the radar screen.

Edward Balleisen's engaging social and economic history of bankruptcy in the mid-19th century United States anticipates today's trends, both noisy and quiet. It is a lively yet thorough chronicle of the kinds of booms and busts to which capitalism is prone. When a New Yorker of 1837 ruefully remarks that fortunes "have melted away like the snows before an April sun," it is easy to believe that his cruelest month is ours as well.

One of the book's many virtues lies in reminding readers that lesser-known stories-such as the passage of bankruptcy laws-may have a bigger long-term impact than panics and crashes themselves. Liberal bankruptcy laws have been and remain important for many economic and cultural reasons. Some of the characters in this book-and they are truly characters, a tribute to Balleisen's skills as a writer-yield to disappointment and become the security-seeking cadres of corporate capitalism. Others take the "double or nothing" pledge and become even more reckless entrepreneurs.

This is historical writing at its best: by opening a window on crucial but little-known episodes in the nation's past, it lets through rays of insight that illuminate the present.

Contrary to what is widely believed in the U.S., anti-Semitism and ultranationalism in Russia have not declined after the collapse of the Soviet regime, but gained new momentum, turning into an organized political and social movement. Ultranationalistic forces heavily influence Russian parliament and some key executive offices. They enjoy a considerable support from Russian Orthodox Church, law enforcement agencies and other important institutions. The possibility that they can take over the control over government is quite real. The national-communist leader Gennady Zyuganov receiving 30 million votes is a clear signal. This dangerous trend in today's Russian society has been analyzed in detail in The Nazification of Russia by Semyon Reznik. Mr. Reznik is a historian, journalist and novelist with a Russian-Jewish background. He authored twelve books, including four on the Russian anti-Semitism, which he has been studying fore more than twenty years. The Nazification of Russia--his first book in English-- summarizes his more than 20-year extensive research. Xenophobia and antisemitism have been an essential part of so called Russian idea for at least last two centuries. Hence what is going on today is a natural continuation of a strong tradition. Mr. Reznik's book gives a vivid description of this social disease. Thus, in the chapter "Blood Libel," the author demonstrates, how, on the eve of the 21st century, Russian red-brown ideologists are exploiting the Dark Age anti-Semitic prejudices. Horrible stories of the Jewish cannibalism have been printed in leading communist dailies as Pravda and Sovetskayua Rossia, in widely read youth magazine Molodaya Gvardia, not to mention dozens of smaller "patriotic" publications. Perhaps the most fascinating is the story of numerous "reincarnations" of the so-called Report on Ritual Murders produced 150 years ago for the Czar Nicholas I by a completely forgotten bureaucrat. Later it was reprinted under a glorious name of Vladimir Dal, one of the most prominent figures in Russian culture of 19th century; and today this book--under Dal's name again--has been widely circulating in numerous different editions all over the country, sowing fear and hatred into thousands of ignorant and credulous souls. Mr. Reznik proves that Vladimir Dal had nothing to do with this lampoon. Another fascinating story told in the book might sound familiar to the Jewish Chronicle readers. It is related to a political scandal that erupted a few years ago after the U.S. Information Agency had invited to this country on the taxpayers expense a group of Russian anti-Semitic writers to discuss "Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in the Soviet Union" during a month-long trip. The list of the names included the most outspoken Russian Red-Brown ideologists. The level of ignorance of organizers of the event was really outstanding: It was as someone would invite a group of KKK leaders to speak on "Racial tolerance and harmony in the U.S." Mr. Reznik was the first to introduce these guests to the U. S. public. His article, "Soviet Nazi landing in Washington, DC," printed in the Russian Los Angeles weekly Panorama was translated into English and caused a real storm in the main stream media. Most of the Universities canceled their invitations to the Russian guests, hundreds protesters followed them in every city on their tour, in one word, hardly those anti-Semites enjoyed their trip. Moreover, Mr. Reznik attended their first seminar in the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies and publicly exposed them as Nazis. His first-hand account of this event is really thrilling. Semyon Reznik tells many other stories and displays characters of key figures of anti-Semitic movement in today's Russia, such as a world-recognized mathematician and former dissident Igor Shafarevich turned into ideologist of anti-Semitism, one of the leaders of notorious Pamyat' society Igor Sychev, whom the author interviewed in Moscow, or professor Valery Yemelianov, who denounced Zionism with such passion that he killed his wife suspecting her of being a secret Zionist agent in his own family. To collect his unique materials Mr. Reznik traveled to Moscow and interviewed red-brown nazi's leaders. Hardly I need to explain what a personal risk was involved in such undertakings. Mr. Reznik's analysis of gradual nazification of Russian political and spiritual life under Gorbachev and Yeltsin is based on documents that have never been published before. I would recommend this book to every student of Political Science interested in contemporary Russia. On the other hand, the general public will gain a lot from this book as well, since it is packed with first-hand information, lively characters and fascinating intrigues. 8 oct. 1996, Boris A. Kushner, Professor, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

Bernstein points out in the Introduction his inability to combine the subsequent essays into a single theme, generative principle, or common core. His way of characterizing the refractory nature of these strands is to liken them to a "constellation", which by definition contains elements resisting integration into a unified whole. Thus, the image of constellation stands as the book's central metaphor, and a characterization of how Western philosophy stands following the emergence of the post-modern "Stimmung" or "mood". Put in Hegelian terms, the "other" remains other, because the post-modern negation of reason offers no prospect of being reconciled into a more comprehensive whole. I think it's fair to say that for Bernstein, the "post" in post-modernism really does mean post. And though Bernstein doesn't emphasize the word, a thoroughly pluralist landscape would appear to be the result, a pluralism perhaps uniquely beyond all measure of integration.

Those who see the missing yet vital connecting strand in the triumph of a consumer mentality may find the work inadequate from the standpoint of broader cultural analysis. It's true, Bernstein does stick closely to the narrower philosophical level. Nevertheless, each essay represents a penetrating discussion of major post-moderns and their precursors, figures such as Foucault, Derrida, and Heidegger, along with more diverse thinkers, like Rorty, Habermas and MacIntyre. For me, the two most revealing chapters are the discussion of Heidegger and technology and Rorty's liberal utopia. The former makes a revealing connection between Heidegger's philosophy of Being and his refusal to disavow a Nazi past; while the latter illuminates an important theoretical issue confronting the post-moderns--- how to finesse the paradoxes facing an anti-foundationalist politics as it seeks to avoid outright nihilism. Despite the work's breadth, this is by no means the flabby work of an eclectic. Bernstein's reputation is built upon a sympathetic and fair-minded understanding of both Anglo-American and Continental traditions. This work is certainly no exception.

Book includes many color photos of New Haven trains, including some of the special streamliners that were tried in the 50's. A comprehensive equipment rooster is included at the end. Very good photography, and insightful writing. All and all a must for the New Haven fan.

This is a brilliant work on a subject that has been shrouded in silence. Although it's obvious that interacial matches have been going on since Jamestown there has been little scholarly work on the topic. Love and sex across the color line was a dangerous business in most of America but in Virginia it was particularly complicated. Mr. Rothman's book deserves to be in the library of anyone who is serious about history.

This book gives the reader an amazing insight into the years that were the Era of Ara. He was given a program that needed help and with the ability to put together a fantastic staff, turned that program around. It gives you a sense of the times and the Leadership Ability of the man. Through the Glory and the Pain you can see the scope of college coaching and see some of the great history which is Notre Dame Football. His ability to motivate young men at a period of time that was less than condusive to discipline is a story in itself.

The large scale view of the football program adds to its hold on your intellectual spirit. you relieve many of the moments that are Notre Dame History and get a deeper insight into its backround. For the Notre Dame Reader it is a must. Our Lady of the Golden Smiled on this Man.

With lightening speed companies are suddenly thrust into crisis mode in these heady electronic times. Today's PR professional has to not only think quickly, but proactively to think ahead. How to handle a situation like the ones handed, say, Firestone, or Andersen. This book is the best one in its field when it comes to rolling up its sleeves and offering pragmatic guidance. Baron has been there and done it. He can help you and your company survive. Get this book, and be ready!

This book was very informative about the New Madrid Earthquake. It had great detail about the earthquake and is a great resource for term papers. I would highly recommend this book to students who are doing papers for Earthscience courses with there main interest of the New Madrid Earthquake.