Blackwell Publishing

10 moral paradoxes.

Smilansky (philosophy, U. of Haifa) asks hard questions in his analysis of the place of paradox in ethics, asking in essence whether paradox is harmful or beneficial. Amongst the paradoxes he analyzes are cases in which misfortune turns out to be fortunate, the bind of retirement in which one is rewarded for not doing what one is supposed to do, paradoxes of justice, including situations in which a system threatens unjust punishment to avoid having to punish at all, and the paradox of preferring not to have been born. Along the way he elegantly explores what the paradox can teach us about morality and life. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Aesthetics; a comprehensive anthology.

Although it is primarily concerned with such qualities as beauty and sublimity in works of art and in nature, and therefore is part of the thinking of humankind since there was a humankind, the term "aesthetics" was coined in the eighteenth century. However, the contributions here reflect a full sweep of thought from classic sources to modern theories and contemporary thinking on aesthetics and the philosophy of art. The 55 entries include the work of Plato, Aristotle, Platinus, St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, the Third Earl of Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, Hume, Burke, Lessing, and Kant, with modern theorists such as Schiller, von Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Dewey, Heidegger, Adorno and Gadamer. Contemporary commentators are also well-represented, with Feagin and Meskin, Vacell, Danto, Dickie, Sibley, Mothersill, Nehamas, Carroll, Kivy and Devereaux. Suitable as an undergraduate text or even a professional reference. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Ancient philosophy; essential readings with commentary.

Volume four in the Blackwell Readings in the History of Philosophy series, this title explores ancient philosophies in nine chronological sections on the Presocratics and Sophists, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes the Cynic, Epicurus and Epicureanism, Stoics and Stoicism, Skeptics and Skepticism, and Neoplatism. Smith (humanities, Lewis & Clark College) includes primary writings in each section as well as extensive editorial commentary; each section is introduced with information about the philosophers and their theories. The book is supplemented with a useful chronology chart from 776 BCE to the 7th century CE including key points in history, philosophy, and sciences, art, and religion, and maps outlining the Greek world ca. 6th century BCE, the Hellenistic period, and the Later Roman Empire. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Anthropology and child development; a cross-cultural reader.

Anthropologists and cross-cultural researchers in developmental psychology offer insights into what childhood and child rearing is like beyond Europe and North America. The first section contains accounts by renowned anthropologists from as far back as the 1920s. The other three sections look at current practices in infant care, early childhood, and middle and later childhood. Some essays survey a number of cultures on a particular practice, while others provide a fuller view of a particular culture. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Approaching the Italian Renaissance interior; sources, methodologies, debates.

First-time visitors to Italy are often struck by the nature of Renaissance-era domestic architecture, which tends to be of a different size and degree of ornamentation than they have been led to believe. Readers of these seven essays will no doubt get the same impression, because here the contributors debunk several of our notions about how people lived and what significance objects and ornaments had for those living there. For one thing, from these examples it is clear that insulating the family from the outside world was not necessarily a goal of domestic space. Topics include new methodologies of analysis that led to new conclusions, the real workings of a Venetian "lying in" chamber, the interplay of sacred and secular in display, domestic chapels in Florentine palaces, bathing rooms in Genoese villas and palaces, recycling of furniture in Florence, and creating a sacred space of the domestic in Venice. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Architectural conservation; principles and practice.

Greater appreciation of the value of the built heritage is part of the increasing concern for a sustainable environment. Drawing on her extensive experience in architectural conservation, Orbasli (Oxford Brookes U., UK) introduces theory, principles, and practice in the field from historical and international perspectives. She defines the roles of conservation practitioners, emphasizing a team approach, statutory protection, and public input, and reviews conservation techniques for specific materials. The handbook includes color photographs of conservation projects worldwide, further resources, and a glossary beginning with the term "adaptive reuse." (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Auteurs and authorship; a film reader.

The anthology of 32 essays are designed for a course in film that pivots on the notion of auteurism. They provide a broad view of auterism and authorship by addressing both the aesthetic and historical debates about auterism, and providing new and classic examples of criticism and analysis in practice. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Badlands of the republic; space, politics, and French urban policy.

Dikec (geography, Royal Holloway, U. of London, UK) examines French urban policy, focusing on a specific program initiated in 1981, meant to address the problems of social housing neighborhoods in banlieues of French cities (suburbs that consist mostly of high-rise social housing projects, like inner cities in the US). He argues that this policy contributes to the negative images associated with banlieues and analyzes it, offering an approach that relies on space, considering how it is imagined and used in policy formation in the broader context of state restructuring over the past two decades. He brings to the forefront alternative discourses and describes how changes toward urban policy have moved from more socially-oriented to an emphasis on security, within a broad political and economic context, both national and international. He then argues that these places are sites of political mobilization, and how riots and revolts are actually reactions to problems and a desire for justice. Some of the material in the book is based on previously published articles. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Better living through reality TV; television and post-welfare citizenship.

Ouellette (communication studies, U. of Minnesota) and Hay (communication, U. of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana) explore the affinities between the cultural representations of reality television and the hegemonic discourse of American neoliberalism. For example, they discuss how "charity TV" shows such as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Three Wishes serve to obscure the social nature of want and encourage individualistic responses that necessarily fail to address the full scope of the problem or they examine how personal "makeover" shows construct worker-as-commodity in the ways that show subjects are instructed to improve their looks and other characteristics in order to make them more attractive to employers. They also address the construction of the soldier-citizen in the post 9/11 era, neoliberal models of governance, and other issues. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Children and bullying; how parents and educators can reduce bullying at school.

Most adults can remember being bullied at some point during their school days. It seems to be a universal constant of education. Rigby (education, University of South Australia) believes that the practice of picking on children perceived as "different" can be minimized. His clearly written proposal covers the nature of bullying, both physical and social, including the new problem of cyber bullying. He presents ways in which both teachers and parents can help detailing the pros and cons of several methods. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Children's learning in a digital world.

Computer games, software, and networking technologies are often viewed as threats to children's social, emotional, and physical development. But they can provide opportunities for problem solving, creativity, and autonomy, and carefully constructed software can provide an alternative to traditional classroom learning. Willoughby (child and youth studies, Brock University, Canada) and Wood (psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada) collect recent international research on the impact of computers in both formal learning environments and in informal learning contexts, such as a children's computer kiosk in a rural village square in India. Contributors also examine the social and cultural issues that affect technology use, and take steps toward developing research-based principles for designing and using pedagogically sound games and simulations. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The Civil War and Reconstruction; a documentary reader.

Harrold (history, South Carolina State U.) presents a collection of 62 documents pertaining to the Civil War and Reconstruction Era, including presidential addresses, official reports, songs and poems, and excerpts from personal journals, diaries, and letters offering eyewitness accounts of major events. The materials are organized into sections covering causes of the war, disunion to war, battles, soldiers' experiences, homefronts, political perspectives, the trans-Mississippi West, and Reconstruction. Each document is introduced with contextualized headnotes explaining the significance of the piece, and each section concludes with questions for discussion. Designed as a resource for undergraduate students in American history courses, the text encourages students to actively engage in historical interpretation. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The Colonial era; a documentary reader.

A 30-veteran teacher of US history before it was the US, Clemins (State U. of New Jersey/Rutgers U.-New Brunswick) assembles over 50 primary documents on pre-European America and pre-American England, the colonization of North America, and various aspects of life and politics during the 18th century. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A comprehensive French grammar, 6th ed.

Price (French, U. of Wales Aberystwyth, UK) provides a textbook for advanced students studying French language and literature. It covers grammar aspects from sentence structure to its components and verb tenses. Many examples and sample sentences are incorporated. The new edition adds a section on register and medium, and the sections on capitals, punctuation, and hyphens have been modified and expanded. The bibliography has been updated (which is in the front of the text and consists of only sources from 1993 on). (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens is easily one of the most widely read authors in English literature. Editor Paroissien (English, U. of Massachusetts) has compiled a series of essays that define the author and his writing, the period in which he wrote, and his attitudes toward society and culture. The essays also offer critical examinations of many of his works, from Martin Chuzzlewit to Great Expectations. The collection is divided into five parts: perspectives on the life of Dickens, literary and cultural contexts, English history contexts, critical examinations of the works themselves, and his reputation and influence. While scholarly, the essays provide fascinating illustrations of the time Dickens was a part of and recorded in his writing, from technological advances to Britain's role as the superpower of the mid-1800s. And while critical at times, the essays also clearly support the widely-held opinion that Dickens was pre-eminent among the writers who established the novel as the dominant literary genre of the time. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to classical receptions.

Hardwick (classical studies, Open University) and Stray (Research Fellow, University of Wales, Swansea) have assembled a diverse group of studies on the way in which Greek and Roman writings have been interpreted both in the past and currently. Topics include Arab translations of Greek texts, reinterpretation through film and modern science fiction, Gladstone's writing on Greek authors and the introduction of the classics to non-European cultures. There are also articles on the teaching of the classics in contemporary classrooms. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to contemporary political philosophy, 2d ed.; 2v.

The second edition of this successful handbook has been expanded with the addition of over 15 new chapters and revision of the earlier ones, some by new authors. The 55 chapters provide an overview of their topic, with discussion of the current state of research, including recent specialists and controversies, and concluding with a lengthy bibliography. Many of the new chapters are concerned with issues of international relations and global justice. The chapters are grouped into three sections: disciplines — including history, economics, and legal studies; major ideologies; and special topics. A sampling of chapter topics in the latter section includes ethics, welfare, totalitarianism, toleration, sociobiology, rights, responsibility, and just war. The contributors are academics in fields that include politics, history, sociology, and international affairs in Australia, Canada, the U.S., and Europe. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to digital literary studies.

This collection offers an extensive overview of how new technologies are changing the nature of literary studies. Siemens (Humanities Computing, English, University of Victoria, Canada) and Schreibman (Digital Collections and Research, University of Maryland Libraries) gather specially commissioned articles by leading scholars, theorists, and writers creating born-digital literature to look at the intersections between computing, literary studies, and new media. The interdisciplinary contributors examine topics such as scholarly editing and literary criticism, interactive fiction and gaming, multimedia and immersive environments, and e-books. A section on traditions examines the use of digital resources for studying various literary genres and eras, and a section on textualities explores blogging, a virtual codex, and reading in an era of hypertextuality. Essays on methodologies consider issues related to electronic scholarly editions, writing machines, and character encoding. The book concludes with a 20-page annotated overview of selected electronic resources. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to Emily Dickinson.

This comprehensive reference is broad in scope and admirable in its efforts to explain this public recluse and her work, and succeeds at supporting both Dickinson and her nineteenth-century New England. Contributors provide insights on the myths of her life, the historical and political contexts of the Civil War, the place of literature, philosophy, theology and science in her culture, textual conditions, and Dickinson's legacy. Specific topics include her correspondence and views on war, her perceptions of popular media and concepts of time, the place of God in her theology, her metrical grammar, her place in the photography effect, and the nature of her fasciles. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to Greek and Roman historiography; 2v.

Reflecting new approaches to the study of classical history, this major two-volume work presents 57 chapters written by specialists in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe discussing genres, issues, individual historians, and related writings. The original texts have all been presented in English translation, making this reference accessible to undergraduate students as well as specialists. The initial chapters address current methodology and theory, with chapters on the use of documents by Greek historians, the construction of meaning in Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon; and characterization in ancient historiography, among other topics. The next 23 chapters deal with specific texts or writers, offering an in- depth analysis of their presentation of history. Writings and issues adjacent to history, including epic, tragedy, geography, and ethnography are the subject of separate chapters. A substantial bibliography, index locorum, and general index are provided. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to Heidegger. (reprint, 2005)

This collection of 31 essays gives students a strong start in understanding his thought from early themes and influences to Being and Time and his later, rarely examined later work. Topics include new research on the earliest of Heidegger's publications, his association with national socialism, his relation to Husserl in matter and method, his relationship with German idealism and his approach to Kant and Nietzsche, his takes on the Greeks and logic, his phenomenology and his philosophy of science. Proceeding chronologically, topics include approaches to Dasein and human mortality, categorization, sociality, realism and truth, hermeneutics, authenticity, temporality, "unconcealment," the history of being, the ontology of art, technology, language, the ethic of conditionality, the truth of being, iterability (by way of Derrida), contingency and pragmatism. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to James Joyce.

Rather than going over the same ground other volumes have trod, Brown (modern literature, U. of Leeds) and his contributors look into some of the dark corners that still exist, including those found in famous and obscure texts, in contexts and locations, and in approaches and receptions. In these 25 essays contributors ably re-read Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, then place Joyce within his contexts as a European, an object of concern in Ireland, an object of emulation in Germany, a postcolonial, and a hot topic in Japan, India and New Zealand. Critical readings cover Joyce's place in the epic and in French theory, his part in pop culture, his bridge to Pinter and vice versa, his blessing upon Irish poetry, and his relationship with psychoanalysis. Particular interesting is an essay on previously unknown original manuscripts. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to Latin American history.

Descriptive and interpretive material by historians and social scientists on the history of Latin America is arranged by themes and periods commonly of interest to scholars of the region and their students, as well as general readers. The topics include early population flows in the Western Hemisphere, slavery in the Americas, imperial Brazil 1822-89, the national security state, environmental history, and the social and economic impact of neoliberalism. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

A companion to Victorian poetry. (reprint, 2002)

This is a paperbound reprint of a 2002 book focusing on the diversity of Victorian poetry and on its numerous critical interpretations, for academics, students, and general readers interested in the Victorian era. Articles cover Victorian schools and styles of poetry, form and content, production and distribution, and contexts and interactions with the dominant cultural issues of the era. The book presents work from 29 scholars, including editors Chapman (English, U. of Victoria), Cronin (English, U. of Glasgow), and Harrison (English, North Carolina State U.). An introductory overview, frameworks for future research, and an exhaustive list of references and suggested further reading are included. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The contested commons; conversations between economists and anthropologists.

In this set of 12 essays and six commentaries, contributors exercise the idea that effective outcomes of social science can come from collaboration amongst experts in a variety of disciplines in the study of a single issue, in this case the fate of shared environmental resources. Economists, anthropologists, political scientists and sociologists focus on identity formation, ecological security, sustainability and decision-making, with topics such as the role of social norms, contexts and methods of the politics of sustainable resources, social collective action in sustainability, culture and relative power in debate, scale and mobility in defining common resources, and barriers and possibilities in complex conversations about the environment. Commentaries cover such topics as disciplinary perspectives and their influence on policy. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The concise companion to American fiction, 1900-1950.

Editors Stoneley (English, U. of Reading) and Weinstein (English, California Institute of Technology) have compiled a series of essays intended as an overview of American fiction from 1900-1950. They focus on the literature that grew out of the social, political, cultural, and other formative changes that took place during the period, such as the Depression and world wars. Many of the essays can be considered to be related, as they may approach the same author from different perspectives. Topics vary widely as issues of race, cosmopolitanism, gender, language, critical interpretations and re- definitions of modernism, and book production itself. The collection explores the original context of the works discussed, and examines how those works are now perceived to determine how the literature of the 20th century is being reinterpreted today. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The contemporary Hollywood film industry.

Twenty-one chapters, presented by McDonald (film and television studies, U. of Portsmouth, UK) and Wasko (communication research, U. of Oregon, US), provide an overview of the contemporary organization of the Hollywood film industry. They review the structure of the industry in chapters covering the historical evolution of the conglomerate system, financing and production, marketing and distribution, exhibition, the relationship between the television and film industries, the home video market, and interactions between the film industry and the video game and music industries. Four chapters then discuss industry dynamics such as the effects of media concentration, the star system in the post-studio era, the role of intellectual property in the performance of the industry, and the relationship between the Motion Picture Association of American and the US government. Finally, involvement of Hollywood in foreign markets is explored in chapters that examine the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Latin America, East Asia, India, and Australia and New Zealand. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Contributions of agricultural economics to critical policy issues; proceedings.

Papers and invited panels from an August 2006 conference shed light on recent work on the economics of natural disasters, trade and marketing of agricultural commodities in a globalizing world, and food safety and risk. Two opening lectures look at agricultural growth and economic development through the lens of globalization, and discuss ways of empowering rural people for their own development. Some paper and panel topics include food regulation and trade under the WTO, food safety as a global public good, the impact of droughts and floods on food security, the economics of biofortification, and tariff line analysis of US and international dairy protection. The editors are affiliated with the National Graduate Research Institute for Policy Studies, Japan. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Contesting the German Empire 1871-1918.

In recent years studies of the German empire have become increasingly more complex, bigger, and prone to controversy. Jeffries (German history, U. of Manchester) sorts out the diversity of current thinking about the period in German history from unification in 1871 to the end of the war, and includes research and insights from over a century in his mix. He examines the work of leading historians, analyzes historians' claims about Bismark and Kaiser Wilhelm II, and looks at conflicts over the politics and governance of the period. He also describes the different perspectives on society and culture of the German empire, and shows how foreign policy and colonialism related to the onset of the Great War. The result is accessible, well-organized and objective. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Construction UK; introduction to the industry, 2d ed.

This overview offers an understanding of how the construction industry and its markets, principal players, and ways of working. Discussion encompasses sustainability, safety, efficiency, employment practices, and procurement. This second edition is updated with the latest health and safety statistics, a new section on the influence of European initiatives, an enlarged section on labor resources and the skills gap, and expanded coverage of sustainability and the environmental drivers affecting construction. There is also a new look at the role of information technology and how it is changing the design, construction, and operation of buildings. New case studies on Holyrood and Wembley Stadium are also included, along with b&w photos. Morton was professor and director of the School of the Built Environment at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)