Ashgate Publishing Co.

Anger in the air; combating the air rage phenomenon.

Even if they deplore it, anyone who has been on a plane in this century will identify with the anger of passengers who sometimes become violent. Hunter, who spent many years in the airline industry, states that the increased competition and lower profit margins have caused service to decline. No surprise there. However, Hunter posits some solutions. She differentiates among passengers who are angry because of perceived bad service, ones who are disruptive and interfere with the running of the flight and those who have severe mental problems or are incapacitated by alcohol or drugs. Obviously, these last must be treated differently. Hunter feels that the treatment of the passengers by airline employees on the ground and in the air makes a big difference to their willingness to tolerate small problems. Using the examples of Southwest and Jet Blue, Hunter argues that the attitude of the management toward their workers affects the way passengers in general are treated. This seems like common sense but few airlines seem to implement the policy. Hunter's straightforward prose makes the problems and solutions clearer than other, more academic studies. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Ars antiqua; organum, conductus, motet.

Part of a series that gathers notable scholarship on aspects of medieval music into one source, this volume presents 18 previously published articles on the music called ars antiqua, with separate sections on polyphony at Notre Dame of Paris, organum, conductus, and the motet. In his introduction, Roesner (New York University) describes these kinds of music, their development and history as an overview to the collection of 18 articles that follows. The articles are reproduced in facsimile of the original, with all the original notes, scores, and illustrations. An excellent index has been created for the volume, with the page numbers of musical examples noted in bold type. This is a superb resource, beautifully bound and published, that will be a necessary reference for students and scholars of music history and theory. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Autobiography and natural science in the age of Romanticism; Rousseau, Goethe, Thoreau.

Kuhn (English, Union College)deplores the current opposition between science and the humanities. As examples of how they can complement each other, he looks at the autobiographies of Rousseau, Goethe and Thoreau in tandem with their scientific writing. While the latter is much more rarely read, Kuhn demonstrates how the scientific observations of these three men permeate their introspective studies. Spanning the time covering the Enlightenment and the Romantic period, the reactions of their contemporaries to the work on chemistry, botany and geology is also examined. In the case of Goethe, particularly, his science was more impressive to those around him than his literature. This will be of interest to those who study the autobiographical form, the three authors, and the sources of the division between art and science. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

B-sides, undercurrents and overtones; peripheries to popular in music, 1960 to the present.

Plasketes (communication and journalism, Auburn U.) explores a variety of popular music and media texts over the last 40 years to uncover overlooked and underappreciated "B-side" cases, creators, patterns and productions. Written for students and scholars of popular culture, this volume chronicles "undercurrents and peripheral tastes" such as the work of music producer Terry Melcher, Ry Cooder's extensive and influential work in film soundtracks and profiles of artists such as David Lindley, Henry Kaiser and Hans Fenger. The author concludes with a chapter on the poignant and productive last months of singer-songwriter Warren Zevon before he succumbed to cancer in 2003. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Byzantine trade, 4th-12th centuries; the archaeology of local, regional and international exchange; proceedings.

The 2004 Oxford symposium of Byzantine studies brought together experts from several countries. This study of Byzantine trade from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages grew from that conference. Mango (Byzantine archaeology, St. John's College, Oxford) has arranged the book by subtopics, rather than date. The first discusses the mapping of trade. One article is on maps themselves, although not ones likely to ever have been used by mariners. The other two describe the ways in which modern archaeologists map ancient trade through shipwrecks and alien pottery. The next section is on local trade, focusing on the objects of trade and their productions. The topic moves on to regional markets, including the distribution of wine, which involved both official documentation and amphorae found in shipwrecks. Many of the papers combine historical and archaeological research effectively. Luxury items such as glass and silk are traced across continents. The final section looks at trade by regions. By moving smoothly through the centuries from the fourth to the twelfth, the authors discover a continuity that has often been denied. Along with consistent trade in items such as spices, silk and metals, it may not surprise the reader to learn that there were always officials to collect the tariffs. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The case for Congress; separation of powers and the War on Terror.

Hansen and Friedman (both New England School of Law) began with a discussion over lunch, then moved to a series of essays published in the on-line journal The Jurist, expanded their research into secret evidence and emergency power, and now produce this volume. Trying to take a purely doctrinal, non-partisan approach, they find that the Bush administration's policies and actions regarding The Global War on Terrorism, lacked constitutional support. They make the legal case for the national legislature in authorizing and supervising the defense of the nation against terrorists and maintaining national security. The resulting policies may be not better, they say, but can hardly be worse, and at least will have the virtue of democratic legitimacy. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Chatham Dockyard, 1815-1865; the industrial transformation.

Editor MacDougall, a naval dockyard historian, has assembled a considerable quantity of documents, correspondence, and other information to provide insight into the workings of a British naval dockyard during the transformative period between 1815 and 1865. The era saw the transition from building ships of wood to harnessing the power of steam to build them of iron. By chronicling the day-to-day activities of the Chatham Dockyard, he illustrates the profound changes in industrial production that occurred in terms of industrial relations, the dockyard environment, innovative systems of recruitment, and training and supervision of massive work force. The book will interest students, researchers, and readers of naval history. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Chiastic designs in English literature; from Sidney to Shakespeare.

Building on earlier works on death and memory, Engel (U. of the South, US) considers the point in early modern mnemonic culture when allegory and death intersect, begin to diverge, then pass beyond the horizon of representation. During that brief period, he says, mortality becomes momentarily intelligible, especially when the themes of melancholy and loss are involved, with the aid of mnemonic emblems such as momento more tags and tokens, and of emblematic conceits such as echo poems. He discusses Phlegyas and David, Sidney's legacy, Spenser's calling, and Shakespearean triads all within the context of chiasmus. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The clash of cultures on the medieval Baltic frontier.

While books and films have glorified and vilified the crusades to the Near East, the almost simultaneous crusades in the Baltic have received little attention. Murray (medieval studies, University of Leeds, UK) follows up on the 2001 collection on the Baltic Crusades with this group of essays that stress the cultural conflict in the newly-conquered lands. The first two essays in the section on culture and identity put these crusades within the larger picture of Europe and the crusading movement. The next section discusses the religious motivation for the invasion of Prussia and the Baltic lands by the Danes, Swedes and Germans, including papal indulgences as an incentive to join the crusade. The third part is on both religious changes and the ways in which the occupied country itself was changed through Western buildings, especially churches, and the establishment of towns. The depth of the (forced) conversion is explored along with the saints to whom the new churches were dedicated. The views of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox leaders in contemporary writing are recounted, along with data that suggests that the two religions coexisted more often than expected. Only the last section deals with the crusade from a military standpoint. Murray concludes the volume with a bibliography for further study in English but footnotes give sources and articles in other languages. This is an excellent companion to the previous volume. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Conceptualizing cruelty to children in nineteenth-century England; literature, representation, and the NSPCC.

In her study of the ways in which the plight of abused and neglected children was first recognized and then confronted, Flegel (English, Lakehead University, Canada) blends literary and social history. The growth of the idea of childhood as a separate realm that should be free of care is examined through the growth in Britain of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children as well as novels, articles and poetry showing the pitifulness of the lot of poor children. Throughout the book, Flegel conveys an uneasiness about the methods used for saving children from abuse and exploitation. The comparison between helpless children and animals, for instance, gives one the sense that children are being dehumanized. In her deconstruction of Nicholas Nickleby Flegel notes Dickens' portrayal of middle class parents who force their children into unwanted occupations or marriages for their own benefit. However, it was easier for poor parents to be seen as undeserving and, as her final anecdote suggests, even though the enactment 0f child safety laws was an important step, those laws released individuals from the responsibility of protecting the children of strangers and deflected the emphasis from the overall problem of poverty to the welfare of the voiceless child. Her chapter on the anomaly of the delinquent child is particularly perceptive, relevant to conditions then and now. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The crisis of food brands; sustaining safe, innovative and competitive food supply.

The success of the agri-food industry and many household brand names depends how well companies can deliver secure and competitive products in the face of consumers' changing expectations and attitudes about food safety and quality, the environment, human diet and nutrition, and animal welfare. This work gathers European contributors to present the latest research on controversies in food and agricultural marketing, especially in terms of the consequences for businesses and appropriate marketing strategy plans. A section on food crisis and responsibility looks at critical incidents which demonstrate that global brand power is no insulation against errors in judgment in food quality and safety. Chapters on agri-food systems, product innovation, and assurance detail controversial systems and ingredients such as genetically modified foods, organic wine production, and functional foods. A section on the consumer views looks at attitudes on animal welfare and food safety, and green consumerism. The final section offers chapters on the role of retailers, supply channel equity, and the role of fair trade in the global economy. The book will be of interest to anyone with responsibility for marketing food, communicating about the food industry, or engaging with consumers. Lindgreen is professor of strategic marketing at Hull University Business School, UK. The book is distributed in the US by Ashgate. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Crusaders and crusading in the twelfth century.

Constable (medieval studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) is one of the preeminent medievalists working today. He was one of the first historians to look at the Crusades from the point of view of those left behind in Europe, thereby leading to a new way of seeing the crusading period as part of society as a whole rather than as a political, religious or military event. Scholars will be delighted that these essays, written from 1951 to the present, are now in one volume. All previously published articles have been revised and brought up to date and there are five new ones, never before in print. Constable begins with a historiographical essay that emphasizes the emotional nature of Crusade studies. The attitude toward them has until very recently reflected the religious and political opinions of the author rather than the events themselves and the society of the Middle Ages. Constable adds that "popular" histories and fiction are far behind academic discoveries. The essays included here demonstrate the validity of this. They vary from specifics, such as the multifold sources for symbol of the cross that became associated with crusaders, the use of European charters for crusade history, the life of a single crusader, how the crusades were financed and how the crusades fit into medieval society. He points out that this was not a unified movement but a series of expeditions lasting at least four hundred years. Therefore, Constable also looks at the crusades in the Iberian Peninsula, the Northern crusades and the taking of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade. His seminal study of contemporary attitudes toward the Second Crusade has been expanded and refined. This book should be in every university library. It is an excellent introduction to the historiography of the topic as well as an example of thorough, objective scholarship. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Cultural seeds; essays on the work of Nick Cave.

Editors Welberry (communications, art and critical enquiry, La Trobe U., Australia) and Dalziell (English and cultural studies, U. of Western Australia) enlist the help of musical scholars and writers to create this appreciation of singer-songwriter Nick Cave, providing general readers and students of pop culture with a thorough survey of his work since his days with The Boys Next Door in the late 1970s. Each contributor focuses on a particular facet of Cave's impact on popular culture such as his distinct views on Australian humor and his thoughts on such subjects as religion, creativity in love songs and the myths surrounding Elvis Presley. These essays also cover Cave's work as a novelist, screenwriter, curator, critic and actor. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Empire, politics, and the creation of the 1935 India Act; last act of the Raj.

The Government of India Act, passed by British Parliament in 1935, was a complex scheme for a federated India of autonomous provinces and princely states, all ultimately under continued British rule. Muldoon (Metropolitan State College of Denver) examines the history of the inception and implementation of the India Act as a means of exploring larger questions in the history of British India and the British Empire more generally, particularly the nature of colonial government in India, the role of culture and perception in imperial policy-making, and the place of empire in British politics and public attitudes, as well as such subsidiary issues as the complex relations of some Indians to the colonial administration and the challenge of interpreting a mammoth colonial archive. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Enlightening romanticism, romancing the enlightenment; British novels from 1750 to 1832.

Wallace (British and American literature, New College, Florida) begins by decrying the determination, especially on the part of universities, to periodize literature. Her insightful essay sets the stage for this collection by both scholars of eighteenth century literature and Romanticism. Each author focuses on one work, often one largely forgotten today. Through that work both literary form and social context are discussed. It is soon clear that the works of many writers contain styles and philosophies reflecting more than one of these artificial categories. The definitions of Romantic, Gothic and Enlightenment are stretched. The articles also emphasize themes of interest to social historians such as gender, class structure and colonialism. Concluding essays respond to the collection as a whole. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The epigrams of Sir John Harington.

Elizabethan scholar Kilroy has compiled a new edition of the Epigrams of John Harrington, godson of Elizabeth I, faithful courtier at her court and gentleman scholar. The epigrams are witty, some little more than doggerel but, as Kilroy points out, they often contain a serious message cloaked in a studied foolishness. It is no wonder that Harrington has been overlooked by history. He apparently had a very happy marriage, liked his mother-in-law (His silly epigram on garlic is for her.) stayed on the right side in religion and had only one brush with the plots and treasons that beleaguered Elizabeth's reign. This last was when he accompanied Essex to Ireland. However, he seems not to have been at all involved in Essex's rebellion. What is a historian to make of such a man? Kilroy makes much of him and with good reason. The epigrams reflect sixteenth century courtly life, as well as being fun to read. The edition is prefaced with a biography of Harrington, followed by chapters on his sources and the epigrammatic form. The introduction closes with some comment by and about Harrington's contemporaries, his intended audience. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The ETTO principle; efficiency-thoroughness trade-off; why things that go right sometimes go wrong.

Accident investigation and risk assessment have always focused on the human factor, particularly human error. This bias towards the study of performance failures leads to the assumption that there is little to be gained from studying failure and success together. Hollnagel, professor and industrial safety chair at MINES ParisTech, proves this assumption false through analysis of how people at work adjust what they do to match conditions. He proposes that this efficiency-thoroughness trade-off (ETTO) may lead to adverse outcomes, but that it leads to the same processes that produce successes. The author hopes that the ETTO Principle will remove the need for specialized theories and models of failure and human error, and offer a viable basis for effective approaches to both reactive and proactive safety management. In order to be accessible to a broad readership, the book is not written in the style of an academic text. However, each chapter concludes with a short annotated bibliography. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Female voices from an Ewe dance-drumming community in Ghana; our music has become a divine spirit.(CD included)

Burns (music and Africana studies, Binghamton U.) has written this ethnography on Ewe female musicians from Ghana to provide students in African studies, gender studies and ethnomusicology with an explanation of the history and social processes behind these drumming communities. The author uses audio and video interviews as well as the performances themselves to study the Dzigbordi drumming community and their views of both gender relations and their relationship to the adekake music genre. A DVD is included that contains a documentary on Ewe music. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The framed world; tourism, tourists, and photography.

The gawking tourist with cameras dangling from his neck is a universal icon. Robinson and Picard, of Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, have gathered essays on tourists and photography. The views are both positive and negative. Several discuss the ways in which ethnic stereotypes were created and are perpetuated through tourist pictures, especially during the Colonial era. In Africa this is still exploited by relief agencies among others. Other authors are more sympathetic, describing how tourist photographs are a way of entering into and remembering other places. The strengthening of group solidarity is the subject of a report on Taiwanese students visiting England, and on American Jewish students discovering Israel. The idea of the past as another country is part of the Greek tourist board's use of pictures of ancient monuments in their advertising. Other countries have followed suit, using photos of tourists enjoying themselves in exotic locations. Underwater photography has made the Great Barrier Reef a prime tourist site. The final essay tries to pinpoint what it is that tourists actually see when they point their cameras. The intention behind the shot and the perceptions of the photographer underline all of these thoughtful essays. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Giacometti; critical essays.

This very rich collection of essays offers readers a wealth of information on the life, thought, and art of one of the 20th-century's great sculptors. Written by art historians based in the US and Europe, the essays describe topics that include Giacometti's studio and his attitudes towards the artist's studio, his numerous commissions for tombs and funerary sculpture, his surrealist work, individual sculptures, and his theory of making sculpture. The volume is well-illustrated with b&w photos of his finished works, studies, studio, and related works. Giacometti worked long and closely within the Paris art world, and this context is always a factor of the essays, making them a resource for anyone interested in the larger context of 20th-century art. (Annotation ©2009 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)