Ashgate Publishing Co.
Africa and the war on terrorism.
Davis (international politics, Howard University) conducts a detailed examination of major terrorism in Africa and the country's relevance in the global war on terror. He and his co-contributors discuss why Africa has become such a fertile ground for terrorism from both internal and external perspectives by examining its political, ethnic, and religious tensions, as well as the use of African states as sanctuaries by terrorist organizations. Davis and his co-authors also examine the strategies and effectiveness of the Clinton and Bush administrations in combating terrorism in the country, and provide a detailed appraisal of the post-9/11 Combined Joint Task Force. In his conclusion Davis makes recommendations to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the war on terror in Africa and to ensure the country's stability as the war continues. These include the need to prioritize critical issues such as HIV/AIDS and underdevelopment, end the continent's widespread political violence, and provide more economic assistance. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The artist and the state, 1777-1855; the politics of universal history in British and French painting.
Guernsey (Florida International U.) examines the works, mainly murals, of four European painters — Delacroix, James Barry, Chenavard, and Courbet — all of which were presented to state institutions between 1777 and 1885, against Baudelaire's definition of "universal history" in art. He discusses the politics present in each work, the arguments against the beauty of art that addresses religious and political crisis, and the transformation and legacy of universal histories in modern art within a larger Western framework. Black and white reproductions support the text. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Ayn Rand's Atlas shrugged; a philosophical and literary companion.
Still popular, still controversial, and still influential, Rand's 1957 novel relates what happens when all the world's intellectuals go on strike. These 36 essays address Rand's philosophical intentions, literary aspects, such as the use of cinematic imagery and the possibility of this being a science fiction novel, aesthetics in Rand's commentary on art and music, political economy in Rand's commentary on public choice and productivity, human relationships as expressed in friendships, romantic love and virtuous sexuality, characterizations, and history, including Rand's debt to Isabel Paterson. Although obviously intended for those who approve of Rand's novel and its sentiments, even those who are not fans are sure to find at least one article to amuse or inform them. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Beyond the philosopher's fear; a Cavellian reading of gender, origin, and religion in modern skepticism.
Viefhues-Bailey (religion, Yale U.) examines the philosophy of Stanley Cavell (b. 1926), the role gender plays in it, and the significance of religious imagination in overcoming skepticism. He focuses on the main themes, including his interpretation of Wittgenstein, Shakespeare, and Emerson; and his work on film and opera. The study began as a doctoral dissertation for which neither date nor institution is identified. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The concept "horse" paradox and Wittgensteinian conceptual investigations; a prolegomenon to philosophical investigations.
The Concept "Horse" Paradox played a central role in the debate between philosophers Benno Kerry and Gottlob Frege over whether the difference between concepts and objects were absolute or relative. Jolley (philosophy, Auburn U.) explores the debate between Kerry and Frege and subsequent iterations of the debate in the works of other philosophers, relating these arguments to Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. Jolley argues that the "conceptual investigation" idea found in Wittgenstein's work was influenced by the Kerry/Frege debate and comes down on the side of absolute difference — an argument that holds significant implications for the understanding of Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations itself. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Creating new states; theory and practice of secession.
Initially concerned with understanding the intractability of the violent secession wars that led to the break-up of Yugoslavia, the authors (both of Macquarie U., Australia) were led towards comparative studies of violent and peaceful secessions and the theoretical attempts to understand them. They first set out to identify common and divergent features of secession movements and outcomes for the cases of Norway, Slovakia, Quebec, Biafra, Bangladesh, and Chechnya, as well as the multiple secession/state dissolution cases of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and then move to comparative discussion of explanatory theories and normative theories of secession. They conclude with discussions of the legality of secession in domestic and international law and the future of secession in "a globalized or borderless world of the future." (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
D.Z. Phillips' contemplative philosophy of religion; questions and responses.
Six European philosophers and theologians offer critical essays on Welsh philosopher Phillips' work in the philosophy of religion, and he responds. Among the litanies are three styles of philosophical architecture/locating philosophy's cool place, internal realism/too close for comfort, and philosophy of religion in a pluralistic culture/philosophy's radical pluralism in the house of intellect. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The dancer on the horse; reflections on the art of Iranna GR.
The paintings and sculpture of contemporary Indian painter Iranna GR represent a challenge to post-modernism in their representative and modernistic roots, explains Hoskote (an independent cultural theorist). The 180 works collected here often depict a solitary figure in an unusual landscape, a subject Hoskote interprets as the artist's estrangement from his own context, greatly colored by political and class turmoil in his home country. This book is distributed in the US by Ashgate. Oversize:11.25x9.75 inches. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Death, contemplation and Schopenhauer.
Singh (philosophy, Brock U., Canada) explores the connection between death, contemplation, and the contemplative life, focusing on the sources and positions of Arthur Schopenhauer (1778-1860) as a thinker who pursued the problem comprehensively. His influences included ancient Greek and Indian thought. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Deaf liberation theology.
An Anglican priest who works with Deaf people in Liverpool, Lewis has been Deaf since childhood and involved with the Deaf Church since 1997. Here she explores what the Christian faith has to say about Deaf people, arguing that the marginalization of Deaf people and their concerns within the theological discourse cannot be addressed unless the dominant theological discourse itself is challenged and changed. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Dionysius the Areopagite and the Neoplatonist tradition; despoiling the Hellenes.
Wear (Franciscan U. of Steubenville) and Dillon (Greek, Trinity College, Dublin) examine the philosophy of Dionysius the Areopagite, influenced by but clearly departed from Hellenic Platonists in his use of an ecclesiastical cosmos rather than the Platonic Timaean, among other distinctions. This book studies his writings Divine Names, The Mystical Theology and others as they integrate Hellenic Tradition with Christian thought. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Distressed US industries in the era of globalization.
Ramrattan (business and management, University of California Business Extension) and Szenberg (business, Pace University) present analyses of several distressed industries in the US, including the steel, footwear, textile and apparel, pharmaceutical, printing and publishing, and automobile industries. There is special focus on the influence of the new era of globalization on these industries, as the authors argue that the transition to their current distressed states was triggered by the structural changes that resulted from globalization. They conclude that trade adjustment assistance can be used as a way to help the impacted industries face new competitive challenges. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Early modern visual allegory; embodying meaning.
In these 13 essays, contributors analyze pictures, sculptures, printed materials and ritual spaces from 1400 to 1800. They address the uses of allegory in the works of Michelangelo, Winckelmann and Casta paintings; allegories of place in Giorgione's depiction of war and rape in Renaissance Venice, the shaping of civic personification in the Pisa Sforzata and Pisa Salvata and political allegories in the redesign of Siena's Palio and Patron Saint in the fascist regime; the role of the audience in allegorical reading of a sixteenth-century life of St. Benedict, an allegorical dialog between political powers of different courts, marital might and romanticism; and allegory as carnal knowledge as found in Venus's milk, frontispieces depicting women's ambition and wet nursing in the New World. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Encountering nature; toward an environmental culture.
Heyd (philosophy, U. of Victoria, Canada) presents new essays and revisions of ones written over the past dozen years in order to help readers devise a more adequate relationship with the natural world. Some are analytical, others more narrative, and though each can be read separately, in order they set out an overall theme of moving beyond encounter to create a culture of environmental sensitivity. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Encyclopedia of furnishing textiles, floorcoverings and home furnishing practices, 1200-1950.
Edwards, who had a career in retail furniture and interiors before becoming a historian (he teaches art and design at Loughborough U. in the U.K.), has compiled an impressive A-Z reference on all aspects of furnishing materials and methods. The volume is oversized (10x10.5 inches) and beautifully laid out, with each entry heading in bold type and cross-references in bold type throughout the text. The entries contain a description and history of the material or method and often incorporate a quote from an original source. Many b&w images are included. The volume concludes with a comprehensive bibliography. As it is a kind of dictionary, the volume is not indexed. Distributed in the U.S. by Ashgate. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Equity and excellence in the public library; why ignorance is not our heritage.
In light of recent attitudes that libraries should only service the middle and upper classes, Usherwood (librarianship, U. of Sheffield, UK) considers the challenges and opportunities facing public libraries that want to prioritize equity and inclusion, and promote excellence in their services and collections. He sent out a questionnaire to all public librarians in the UK who are in the Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society database, as well as U. of Sheffield postgraduate students taking a public libraries module, for their views on the subject. He considers them in the context of academic, practitioner, and policy maker discourses, with concern for accessibility, service marketing, funding, and publicity. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The ethics of foreign policy.
Working at theoretical and practical levels, the contributors of these 14 essays examine the moral issues behind foreign policy in an era of international terrorism. They relate exceptionalism and the Holocaust to American foreign policy, urge moral restraint along the lines proposed by Hobbes, and examine the role of ethics in national security issues. They analyze the morality of the new "international policing," Blair's actions in Kosovo and Iraq, the media in international conflict, the foreign policies of Japan and Germany, Asian trade organizations and trade policy in general, political corruption and rogue regimes, and argue the ethics of the law and its practitioners, including the question of whether international law, including criminal justice, is still relevant during armed conflict. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The euro and the dollar in a globalized economy.
The emergence of the euro as a possible challenger to the American dollar's hegemony raises a large number of interesting questions for the world's political economy. In recognition of this fact, an eponymous discussion symposium — the results of which Roy (European integration, U. of Miami) and Gomis-Porqueras (economics, U. of Miami) present in this volume — was convened to bring together academics and practitioners from the fields of economics, business, and politics in order to exchange ideas related to the general themes of the dollar and the euro as competing currencies in a globalized economy, European Union enlargement and its effects, the euro and dollar monetary policies, and risks and opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
European Union and new regionalism; regional actors and global governance in a post-hegemonic era, 2d ed.
Teló (political science, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium) and this second edition's contributors account for the recent expansion of the European Union in essays examining external relations and the formation of regional agreements in that organization from a political economy perspective. Fifteen chapters are organized under the themes of: theoretical perspectives on regionalism (e.g. the diverging EU and US models), comparative analysis of regional groupings (e.g. the EU and NAFTA), the potential and challenges for Europe as a new civilian power, and lists of regional and interregional agreements. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The fairy tales of Oscar Wilde.
When Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) published collections of fairy tales in The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) and A House of Pomegranates (1891) while writing The Picture of Dorian Gray, critics didn't know what to make of them due to their divergence from his persona as a social subversive. Based on his dissertation research, Killeen (Victorian literature, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) presents the evidently first full-length study of these tales that have been marginalized in Wilde studies as anomalies. Through textual and contextual analysis, he interprets them as reflecting both Wilde's conservative Catholic and radical sexual orientations by contrasting fairy tales' aim to socialize children into the status quo and folk tales' challenge of it. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
