ERA Reviews

William Graebner does an excellent job in detailing the lifestyles of teenagers growing up in post World War II Buffalo and their interactions with what he calls the "dominant culture" (adults).

Graebner's points are simple. The first is that there was no single "youth culture" made up of these teens but rather a culture made up of a number of "subcultures." The second point, and most dominant, is that adults tried to exercise controls over the emerging youth through methods of social engineering.

Graebner looks at various aspects of teen life - music, clothing, membership in clubs and organizations - and illustrates how each of these was a common thread to all teenagers but that each subculture (race, class, gender, etc.) experienced them differently. He further shows the methods by which adults attempted to control these factors for fear of juvenile delinquency and their own fear of racial integration. Graebner clearly shows that these controls actually caused more bad than good and were actually a precursor to the Civil Rights issues of the 1960's.

Finally, Graebner's book is rich with photos enhancing the reader's experience by allowing him or her to actually see the people and places of this era. It truly adds to the overall experience of the book and makes it all the more real.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in youth culture or even interested about the history or sociology of the time itself.

As a nuclear power, Communist China will pose a major challenge to United States policy-makers. This expert analysis gives vital background information for understanding and coping with the impending threat. In COMMUNIST CHINA'S STRATEGY IN THE NUCLEAR ERA, Alice Langley Hsieh furnishes a rare insight into Red China's governmental system. Some of the topics discussed and interpreted are: The development of Chinese Communist military thinking and doctrine in response to the implications of nuclear warfare China's decision to develop its own nuclear weapons The effect of China's appreciation of nuclear warfare on her foreign policy-especially on her relations with the Soviet Union What the United States may expect from Communist China as a nuclear power

I don't think knowing whether a composer or an artist had deep affiliations with the Nazi regime or the Italian Fascist Party has done anything to clarify what this means today concerning the issues of race and culture,it is fairly inconsequential. Knowing all these deep,dark secrets hasn't hurt in any way the successes of Richard Wagner or Richard Strauss,or Martin Heidegger for that matter. Since the time of the War all have had glorious posthumous careers with entire cadres of devoted writers,scholars,conductors and musicians surveying and performing their work. The Wagner Ring is continuously done,so are Strauss Operas,and there are countless books on Heidegger.

So what are the issues? it seems to be idle curiosity for historical fact without explanation(as fascinating as that seems to be), but what Kater does furnish here is actually interesting profiles and historical data on some composers long neglected. The marvelously powerful "Symphonies" of Karl Amadeus Hartmann for one, to this day remain in a state of neglect,and the chapter here is the only material on his life you will find in English. There is another picture-filled book with Henze,Hartmann and Hindemith published in a series. In focusing on composers lives during the political times of the Nazi era is like looking at history wrongfully from the inside out,with a focus on an individual's life nuances without the larger perspective that created how he/she must act. Artists and composers for the most part only care about their careers and recognition, where is the next performance of their?, and as Kater frequently identifies,he reveals the dirty dealing with Nazi party hacks in order to obtain performances.

Much of the material is fairly redundant as the chapter on Richard Struass or the chapter on Kurt Weill,being Jewish we know he had no chance for successes in an Anti-Semitic country growing more racist by the day, from 1933 forward.

I think there is a danger in reviewing history from this narrow perspective of the individual,especially artists(composers) who are hardly ever power brokers within the state of culture.Frequently the ones that are jettisoned to the top have little artistic genius. First it erases the sense of historical context and the inherent danger of the times. This issue has been well discussed and documented with the "collaborationist" theories during the Nazi Era,yet I doubt if it has been answered with any degree of vigor, and we frequently overlook the fact that the situation in war times is never a "us against them"one's enemies are only revealed after the fact,there are gradations of affiliation between individuals when speaking of betrayel,corruption and greed.

It still remains an open question for us who sit here in a retrospective position, that given a situation of politically dangerous times,not necessarily times of War,which is obvious, but would we have collaborated with a Nazi party hack,when our survival,or demise was a phone call away? That will always be a question we can never answer,but Kater's book certainly makes this question all the more a reality,especially when the focus is on another's creative life.

With the publication of Howard E. Potts, A Comprehensive Name Index for the American Slave (1997), one formidable obstacle has been removed from researchers searching for slave interviews from particular localities or interviews that relate to particular persons. The 42 volumes of Rawick's collection of slave narratives has daunted researchers because of lack of an index. Previously, the only way to find all interviews that related to a particular geographic area (for instance) was to read all 42 volumes, page by page. This book presents versions of the same database, sorted by different fields, including name of interviewee, name of interviewer, county/counties and states in which the interviewee lived during slavery, name of former owner/s, age and birth year of interviewee. This index is a very serviceable tool for historians who may be writing local history and who wish to gather testimony from a particular locale; likewise, biographers of particular slaves and slaveowners will find the book indispensible. Researchers like myself who always pine for more will wish that the compiler had indexed the names of ALL persons mentioned in the slave narratives, not just the interviewees and their former owners. There is still no subject index for this huge collection. Nevertheless, Potts has provided the only practical key to an indispensible set of documents of American history.

This book is a 'must read' for all marketing educators and practitioners. According to the author, the 'old rules' of marketing no longer apply. The transformation of the business world, brought about by digital technology, is shifting the basis of competition from machine intensity to human intensity. The business contest is now a contest between future creating minds. As a consequence, the main sources of competitive advantage in the emerging digital economy are the three I's: Insight, Imagination and Innovation. Insight refers to the ability to recognize customers; their behaviors, experiences and wishes; and the ability to uncover new insights into how the application of new technology can create customer value. Imagination is the ability to develop imaginative solutions to customer needs. According to the author, fuelling the imagination of customers and giving them direct experience of what might be, is one of the most powerful sources of competitive advantage in the digital age. Innovation is the ability to deliver and implement solutions.

Jaffa's work on "The Crisis of the House Divided" is amazing. The breakdown of the very essence of what the debates were about is made crystal clear. Elegant arguments is made for the views held by Lincold AND Douglas regarding the issue of slavery and the very nature of what the American Republic's ideals and virtues are: freedom for all. Never have I read a book that so clearly and intelligently presents the differing views on the nature of freedom. It is a must read for all those who are poltical science, history or law students.

Standard broad history of this era. Generally well-done but several important occurrences of this period insufficiently covered, e.g. Black Death, the Inquisition. I would also be interested in more coverage of the popular insurrections of the time. During this era, towns and organizations of towns for economic/trade benefits arose, nationalism had its beginnings, the Hundred Years War between France and England was intermittently ongoing, with Joan of Arc for the French, the Catholic Church declined and split, heresies continued and the Turks were in the process of taking over the Byzantine Empire. A lot of ground for the author to cover, so ommisions not unexpected.

Horowitz and Collier sure know how to bash their old friends from the Sixties. But after reading their account of the Old and New Left, one can hardly blame them. It would seem that most of the Left failed to learn anything from the Vietnam War and gleaned even less from the collapse of socialism. H&C describe how the Left of the Sixties was really about radical change, namely abolishing the American "System" (i.e. capitalism) and replacing it with a socialist utopia. C&H demonstrate that the Left may have changed it's name when it realized that Stalin's socialist utopia murdered millions and when America lost the war in Vietnam, but it's still driven by anti-Americanism and pro-Socialism. And little has changed even after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. C&H would appear to be onto something when they suggest that the Left never re-evaluates their positions and is therefore doomed to repeat history. Over the years, the Left has remained focused on the illusion of a peaceful utopia even while the Right has discredited it in theory and history has now discredited it in practice. Perhaps it is arrogance or a refusal to admit a mistake. Or perhaps it is really true that the Left is so enamored with socialism that it is unable to examine it objectively. A pretty hard-hitting book that is sure to piss off those that failed to re-evaluate their Leftism after the "glory days" of the Sixties.

An excellent overview of the complicated state of European diplomacy during the Napoleonic Wars through the reign of Russia's Paul I. This book uses many different sources to paint a picture of the time period, even throughing in bits of humor in order to better illistrate some of the personalities involved. Not as large an emphasis on the military aspect, however, it is not ignored. Largely deals with the dealings of Paul I, Napoleon, England and the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand. One of few histories that had a plot twist in the synthesis chapter. A must have for those interested in Europeon history.

If you love big band music [like I do], then you gotta buy this book. "Dialogues in Swing; Intimate Conversations with the Stars of the Big Band Era." details conversations with some of the biggest and baddest musicans of their time and is a book you'll read again and again.