Greenwood Press

The postwar decline of American newspapers, 1945-1965.

Davies (mass communication and journalism, U. of Southern Mississippi) seeks to explain the slow and steady decline of American newspapers in the two decades following World War II. He argues that the country's publishers and editors failed to respond to the need for more long-term analysis in their reporting of such broad societal changes as the Civil Rights movement and failed to recognize the challenge posed by television. He also looks at the impact of rising costs, demographic change such as suburban migration, and changing government-press relations. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The power to legislate; a reference guide to the United States Constitution.

Levy (law, U. of Kansas School of Law) works on the complex issue of the separation of powers, focusing on the extent of the power of Congress, including the legislative authority conferred by the "necessary and proper" clause of Article I of the Constitution, the power of the legislature to relegate power to courts and executive agencies, and the power it exercises without explicit authorization in the Constitution, such as the power to investigate. He analyzes the history of federal legislative power from the time of the Articles of Confederation to the "new federalism," collective action and federal legislative power, "necessary and proper" laws such as the McCulloch test, the role of delegation in the separation of powers including the intelligible principle test, and deliberative powers and their external limitations. He includes a table of cases. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Programming our lives; television and American identity.

Television has become such an everyday presence in contemporary America that most people take it for granted, rarely considering the role it has played in the ways society has changed in the past 60 years, according to Cummins (English, Farleigh Dickinson U. College at Florham) and Gordon, a management consultant. They investigate television's impact on American news media, politics, and education; on attitudes toward law, crime, medicine, and sports; and on social interaction and perceptions. By shedding light on television's influence and suggesting ways to be more sophisticated viewers, the authors aim to encourage readers to be more effective parents, consumers, voters, and citizens. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The public press, 1900-1945; the history of American journalism.

Teel (communication, Georgia State U.) considers the nature of American journalism during the period 1900-1945. Drawing upon extensive archival research, he traces the movement of mainstream commercial journalism towards the vision of professionalism and public responsibility articulated by Joseph Pulitzer in 1904. Some attention is also given to minority newspapers and radio, as they also influenced the direction of the media establishment. The final chapter looks at propaganda, censorship, and struggles for freedom of the press during WWII. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Putting hope to work; five principles to activate your organization's most powerful resource.

Management consultants Hutson and Perry describe what the power of hope can do for an organization. They identify five main principles for promoting and sustaining hope — possibility, agency, worth, openness, and connection — and explain how leaders can promote a hopeful organizational culture. Dozens of in-depth examples from a wide variety of organizations illustrate the implementation of the principles discussed. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Race, ethnicity, and education; 4v.

Ross (curriculum studies, U. British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and Pang (teacher education, San Diego State U., Calif.) draw on their specialties to gather a collection of essays on issues and teaching methods applicable to the multicultural classroom. The four volumes are thematic, containing in turn articles on principles and practice, racism and antiracism, language and literacy, and racial identity, as each relates to education or teaching. Many of the articles incorporate case studies, grapple with current issues the reader will recognize, and often contain methods and approaches for the reader to apply in their own classroom. The articles are annotated. The editors provide a separate introduction to each volume. The authors are teachers and academics in the US and Canada. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Reality television.

Demonstrating that television's reputed decline may actually be a permanent conditions, Huff, the television editor and writer for the New York Daily News, discusses early examples of that genre, such as Queen for a Day and Try and Do It, as well as its current permutations. He uses interviews with network insiders, reality television producers and other experts to explain the transformations of reality programming and to provide insights into its past and future. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Real-world nuclear deterrence; the making of international strategy.

For Coleman (Miller Center of Public Affairs, U. of Virginia, US) and Siracusa (School of Global Studies, Social Science, and Planning; RMIT U.; Australia) the concept of nuclear deterrence is about more than preventing global thermonuclear war, "it is about pursuing and protecting national interests and preventing limited conflicts" and thus remains a topic of contemporary relevance, the end of the Cold War notwithstanding. Analyzing the history of nuclear deterrence policy, they discuss such topics as the inadequacy of the belief that the mere possession of nuclear weapons serves as a deterrent; US, British, and Soviet experiments with the concept of extended deterrence, in which nuclear guarantees are made to international allies; efforts to redress the overextension of the last concept with more credible deterrent forces; the question of how many nuclear weapons are enough; and the issue of controlling hostilities between nuclear-armed states. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Relationship sabotage; unconscious factors that destroy couples, marriages, and family.

Practitioner Matta describes how memories, repressed or not, can drive deep-seated feelings and emotions of which we may not be entirely aware, or may not actually relate directly to the situation, but still cause behaviors and emotions that can sink an otherwise reasonable relationship. One of the most compelling reasons for seeking out these hidden elements of our lives and dealing with them is that they can carry on generation after generation, always unspoken but always destructive. He describes the unconscious mind, lethal forces and childhood wounds, the effects on family, games people play to put off hidden problems or use them to their advantage and, with contributors, the self-disclosure of extramarital affairs, addictions and emotional detachment. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The right to a speedy and public trial.

Herman (law, Brooklyn Law School) analyzes the Sixth Amendment and why it is still in the process of intense and conflicting interpretation 215 years after its ratification. Unlike other Amendments, the Sixth contains conjoined rights in describing both a speedy and a public trial. She begins with the right to a public trial, describing the history of the concept and analyzing the development of the right and the state of the law today with attention to national security and military commissions, then describes the history of the right to a speedy trial and analyzes it through Supreme Court cases, the statutes and rules, and the state of the law today. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Ringside; a history of professional wrestling in America.

Beekman (history, Ohio U.) sets out to generate some respect for professional wrestling by fully examining the history of the sport in the US. He untangles the myths and legends of professional wrestling without skimping on the entertaining stories and the larger-than-life personalities. He provides a brief account of wrestling's global history before investigating the sport as a specifically American institution, focusing on the business of wrestling as well as the performers and their antics. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Same-sex marriage.

In recent years, same-sex marriage has become a major legal and political concern throughout the Western world. This resource for students and general readers places the issue within its historical context while aiming to present both sides of the current controversy as objectively as possible. Eight chapters address such topics as marriage and homosexuality in the religious traditions of the world, and the emergence of gay liberation movements. The volume concludes with an annotated bibliography and a list of mainstream movies that deal seriously with homosexuality. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Screens fade to black; contemporary African American cinema.

In this study, Leonard examines a sampling of recent African American films in order to assess the extent to which they reflect racial progress or help perpetuate racial inequality and white privilege. Most of the films analyzed were written, directed, and starred by black artists. These include (for example) Antwone Fisher, Prison Song, Drumline, Barbershop, and Bamboozled. Leonard teaches comparative ethnic studies at Washington State U. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Serial murder and media circuses.

Gibson (communication and journalism, U. of New Mexico) examines 12 cases of serial murder between the 1890s and 1990s that were heavily covered by the mass media. He argues that there is a complex and deep-seated inter-relationship between the two in contemporary American life, and that the American media plays a multi-dimensional and integral role in serial killings and the investigation into them. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The shifting frontiers of academic decision making; responding to new priorities, following new pathways.

This collection of eight essays focuses on changing ideas about academic decision making. Topics encompass challenges created by organizational structure, the changing environment of academe, the influence of research institutes and centers on an institution's decision making, the pursuit of revenue, using partnerships and alliances to create joint programs, and ad-hoc campus wide task forces. The roles of students, technology, and trustees are examined. Eckel directs senior executive leadership programs at the American Council of Education and is the author of several books. Contributors to the volume work in education, as both professors and administrators, in the US and West Indies. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The sports industry's war on athletes.

The sports industry in the United States is among the 11 largest industries in the United States. This gross commercialization of sports has led to a host of ills from the professional level down through high school athletics. Although these ills are typically blamed on athletes, the authors (professors of sport and recreation management at Nova Southeastern U. and sociology at Florida Atlantic U.) argue that the market-system of sports itself is to blame. They discuss such on-field issues as doping, playing while hurt, cheating and game violence. They then present chapters on recruiting scandals and academic fraud; hazing scandals; encouragement of racism, sexism, and classism; and the corrupt world of stadium financing. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Stage combat resource materials; a selected and annotated bibliography.

This volume describes hundreds of books, articles, videos, and other resources useful to fight directors engaged in the creation of aesthetically pleasing and safe combat for the stage and screen. The focus is on cut and thrust weapons and unarmed fighting techniques in the Western European tradition through 1799 C.E. All of the resources are written in English and are currently in circulation. Supplemental materials include a glossary and listings of suppliers of period stage weapons and accoutrements. Kirkland has been choreographing and teaching stage combat for 25 years. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Stand your ground; building honorable leaders the West Point way.

Drawing on research he conducted at the United States Military Academy at West Point and with business leaders in a variety of industries, Offstein (management, Frostberg State University) gives access to the process of leadership development at West Point and offers insights that can be applied in any type of organization that strives to operate on the principle of integrity. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The strange career of the black athlete; African Americans and sports.

Wigginton (college relations and former history professor, Rhodes College) considers the history of African Americans in sports, focusing on those that have not sustained integration attempts: horse racing, golf, hockey, and tennis; how black athletes have been categorized as heroes or villains, specifically William Henry Lewis, Paul Robeson, and Jack Johnson; athletes and their achievements during the civil rights movement; and African American women in sports. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Student companion to Willa Cather.

For high school students, college non-majors, and general readers, De Roche (English and American studies, Wesley College) examines the biography, influences, and major works of Willa Cather, following the format of the series, which emphasizes plot and character development, critical reception, and themes, while closing with alternative critical perspectives such as psychological, Marxist, or feminist readings. De Roche looks closely at The Troll Garden, Alexander's Bridge, O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, My Ántonia, The Professor's House, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and Shadows on the Rock. The bibliography includes reviews and criticism for each of the works discussed. (Annotation ©2006 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)