May/June 2009
Bookshelf
Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew by Jules Witcover ’49. Witcover delves into the intrigue and backstabbing that marked Nixon and Agnew’s unlikely political union (PublicAffairs, $15.95).
An Egyptian Primer To Learn To Read Egyptian Hieroglyphics by Robert Cowen Jr. ’51. Cowen has produced a student-friendly guide to Egyptian hieroglyphs, complete with practice exercises and lessons about the structure of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Turning Blood Red: The Fight for Life in Cooley’s Anemia by Dr. Arthur Bank ’56. The author explains the causes of, and possible treatments for, this severe blood disorder (World Scientific Publishing Co., $39.95).
Dancing with Bears: A Novel by William Borden ’60. A writer working on a piece about bears, accompanied by a specialist assigned to aid him in his research, encounters not just bears but strange happenings and enigmatic women in this fictional drama (Livingston Press, The University of West Alabama, $16.95).
New York State Society of the Cincinnati: Histories of New York Regiments of the Continental Army by Frank Sypher ’63. Histories of each New York regiment that fought in the Revolutionary War, along with many other historical details about the Revolution (New York State Society of the Cincinnati, $200).
Against Joie de Vivre: Personal Essays by Phillip Lopate ’64. In this collection of short pieces, Lopate reflects on childhood memories, modern life and the art of the essay (Bison Books, $18.95).
Two Marriages by Phillip Lopate ’64. The author’s focus in these two novellas is the complexity of marriage and the ways in which outside factors can alter the dynamics of romantic relationships (Other Press, $24.95).
Le Corbusier: A Life by Nicholas Fox Weber ’69. Weber’s biography explores the personal and political life of Le Corbusier, a Swiss-born designer and engineer who pioneered a socially conscious modernist movement in European architecture during the early 1900s (Knopf, $45).
The Burden of the Past: Martin Walser on Modern German Identity by Thomas Kovach ’71 and Martin Walser. The authors analyze several of Walser’s writings about the difficulties of defining German identity in the wake of the Holocaust (Camden House, $29.95).
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2008 edited by Jerome Groopman ’72 and Tim Folger. Groopman and Folger have selected the year’s most interesting articles about natural phenomena and scientific research (Mariner Books, $14).
New York Nocturne: The City After Dark in Literature, Painting, and Photography 1850–1950 by William Chapman Sharpe ’73. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, gas lamps and electrical lighting altered the landscape of New York City after dark, literally and figuratively. Sharpe outlines the ways in which these innovations were manifested in the work of artists and authors, including Whitman, Hopper and O’Keeffe (Princeton University Press, $35).
The Enemy Combatant Papers: American Justice, the Courts, and the War on Terror by Karen J. Greenberg and Joshua L. Dratel ’78. Using five recent high-profile legal battles as case studies, the authors explore the complexities presented, and the compromises necessitated, by questions of national security in the modern era (Cambridge University Press, $85).
The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility edited by Donald S. Siegel ’81 et al. Siegel and his fellow editors have compiled 28 articles about the ethical and practical concerns that modern corporations must weigh when dealing with questions of social accountability (Oxford University Press, $150).
Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia by Victor D. Cha ’83. Cha details the political implications of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games for China and the world (Columbia University Press, $27.95).
Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North by Thomas J. Sugrue ’84. The author recounts the key events that marked the civil rights struggles of the American North (Random House, $35).
The Upper West Side by Michael V. Susi ’85. Susi has collected hundreds of postcards from the early 1900s, all featuring images of New York’s Upper West Side and accompanied by explanatory descriptions and historical notes (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99).
All You Can Eat: How Hungry Is America? by Joel Berg ’86. The author suggests ways to provide immediate alleviation and long-term solutions to the problem of hunger among children and families in the United States (Seven Stories Press, $22.95).
Auras by Douglas Nordfors ’88. The poet writes about his childhood experiences with an adult’s understanding of the world (Plain View Press, $14.95).
Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City by Michelle Nevius ’91 and James Nevius. Nevius and her husband, longtime New York City tour guides, describe the city’s most fascinating sites in a historical context (Free Press, $16.95).
Scraping By: Wage Labor, Slavery, and Survival in Early Baltimore by Seth Rockman ’93. Rockman chronicles the lives of low-wage laborers and the consequences of joblessness in Baltimore during the 18th and 19th centuries (The Johns Hopkins University Press, $50).
The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today’s Game by Adam Waytz ’03 et al. Waytz, along with the other members of FreeDarko, a Web-based group of basketball-loving intellectuals, offers readers in-depth statistics and insights into the outsized personalities of the game’s most famous players (Bloomsbury USA, $23).
Legal: The First 21 Years by Jonathan Walton ’08. Walton incorporates the themes of social justice and religious faith into this book of poetry (Tate Publishing and Enterprises, $16.99).
Breeding: A Partial History of the Eighteenth Century by Jenny Davidson, associate professor of English and comparative literature. Davidson examines the interrelation of theories about biology, social stratification and human perfectibility during the Enlightenment (Columbia University Press, $32.50).
The Almanac of New York City edited by Kenneth Jackson, the Jacques Barzun Professor in History and the Social Sciences, and Fred Kameny. The authors have gathered a wealth of New York facts and statistics, including crime rates, real estates costs and voter turnout records from each of the five boroughs (Columbia University Press, $19.95).
Melancholy Order: Asian Migration and the Globalization of Borders by Adam M. McKeown, associate professor of history. McKeown posits that border control in Asia is inextricably linked with issues of globalization as well as economic and cultural power structures (Columbia University Press, $32.50).
Grace Laidlaw ’11