Meditation for Dummies by Stephan Bodian '69. Insisting that "meditation is power," the former editor of Yoga Journal offers simple approaches to quiet the mind, relax the body, improve health, promote inner peace, and bring about spiritual well-being (Dummies Press, $19.99 paper).

The Presence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American Life by Roy Rosenzweig '71 and David Thelen. A survey of 1,500 people reveals how Americans escape the strictures of dry history textbooks and embrace their own past--and the nation's legacy--through means ranging from genealogy to collecting to travel (Columbia University Press, $27.95).

A Little Corner of Freedom: Russian Nature Protection from Stalin to Gorbachëv by Douglas R. Weiner '72. Unlike filmmakers, poets or historians, whose work was viewed as overtly political, ecologists and "nature lovers" were regarded by Soviet authorities as harmless eccentrics who could be allowed unsupervised speech (University of California Press, $55).

Sentimental Democracy: The Evolution of America's Romantic Self-Image by Andrew Burstein '74. The author of The Inner Jefferson argues that America's underlying conception of nationhood developed not only from an Enlightenment emphasis on reason but also from an 18th-century moral rhetoric that cultivated notions of compassion, generosity and benevolence in the new republic (Hill & Wang, $28).

Beside Quiet Waters: Reflections on the Psalms in Our Everyday Lives by James D. Capozzi '77. A Manhattan-based orthopedic surgeon shares his avocation and guides other interested beginners through the Psalms, which explore the "entire gamut of human conditions" (Continuum, $16.95 paper).

Dawn Powell: A Biography by Tim Page '79. A thorough and sympathetic portrait of the "restless and troubled life" of the neglected author, wit, and self-described "permanent visitor" in Manhattan, who died penniless in 1965 despite having authored 16 books. Written by the Pulitzer prize-winning music critic of the Washington Post (Henry Holt, $30).

Distilling Democracy: Alcohol Education in America's Public Schools, 1880-1925 by Jonathan Zimmerman '83. The author, a former editor-in-chief of Columbia Daily Spectator, shows how the grassroots "scientific temperance movement" introduced into American public schools pitted educational experts against populist social agendas (University Press of Kansas, $29.95).

Books of the Century: A Hundred Years of Authors, Ideas and Literature from The New York Times, edited by Charles McGrath. Columbia luminaries featured in this compendium of essays, reviews and interviews from a hundred years of The New York Times Book Review include Herman Wouk '34, University Professor Emeritus Donald Keene '42, Jack Kerouac '44, Allen Ginsberg '48, Robert Nozick '59, Professor of English Kenneth Koch, University Professor Simon Schama, and Professor of English George Stade (Times Books, $30).

Hitler's Exiles: Personal Stories of the Flight from Nazi Germany to America, edited by Mark Anderson, Associate Professor of German. Three dozen personal accounts from the more than 130 thousand German refugees in America reveals the psychological and emotional toll of abandoning a dangerous but still-loved homeland for a new home (New Press, $30).

Milton and Republicanism, edited by David Armitage, Associate Professor of History, Armand Himy, and Quentin Skinner. Literary and historical perspectives illuminate not only the classical roots of John Milton's republicanism, but also its place within the context of the European republican tradition and the English Civil War and Restoration (Cambridge University Press, $59.95).

After Empire: Multiethnic Societies and Nation-Building. The Soviet Union and the Russian, Ottoman, and Habsburg Empires, edited by Karen Barkey, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Mark Van Hagen, Associate Professor of History. In addition to the editors, Columbia contributors to this comparative history of imperial decline and collapse in Eastern Europe include Seth Low Professor of History István Deák, Associate Director of the Harriman Institute Alexander Motyl, and Joseph L. Buttenwieser Professor of Social Sciences Charles Tilly (Westview Press, $24 paper).

The Body/Body Problem: Selected Essays by Arthur C. Danto, Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy Emeritus. A dozen essays spanning 25 years scrutinize the embodiments of representations--and misrepresentations--and illustrate the author's contention that philosophy and art are "facets of a single unitary philosophy" (University of California Press, $35).

Philosophizing Art: Selected Essays by Arthur C. Danto. In this companion to The Body/Body Problem (above), the Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy Emeritus brings philosophical thought to bear on concrete examples of modern art animated by philosophical concerns or agendas, including the 1997 Robert Motherwell exhibition at Columbia's Wallach Art Gallery (University of California Press, $35).

The Unpublished Lectures of Gilbert Highet, edited by Robert J. Ball '71 GSAS. These addresses by the late Anthon Professor of Latin Language and Literature, culled from his papers in Columbia's Rare Book and Manuscript Library, examine the sway of classical culture from the myth of Pandora's box to W. H. Auden's "The Shield of Achilles" (Peter Lang, $55.95).

System Effects: Complexity in Political and Social Life by Robert Jervis. Using insights of complexity theory, the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics argues that given the difficulty in predicting how complex systems--whether physical entities, social organizations or international alliances--will behave, it is impossible to anticipate all the consequences of our actions (Princeton University Press, $29.95 cloth, $16.95 paper).

Bachelors by Rosalind Krauss, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Modern Art and Theory. A provocative consideration of the contributions of nine female surrealist artists, "bachelors," whose work in a variety of media challenges aesthetic paradigms associated with male artists (MIT Press/An October Book, $29.95).

Talking About a Revolution: Interviews, edited by the South End Press Collective. Included among the nine writers and activists interviewed for this volume is Manning Marable, professor of history and director of Columbia's Institute for African-American Studies, who articulates his vision of a "just society that is deeply democratic" (South End Press, $14 paper).

State and Nation Building in East Central Europe: ContemporaryPerspectives, edited by John S. Micgiel, Director of the Institute on East Central Europe. Interdisciplinary proceedings from a 1995 Columbia symposium, mostly from doctoral candidates, that explore history, national identity, and state formation in Europe's most fragmented and fractious region (Columbia University Institute on East Central Europe, $19.95 paper).

Peace & War: Reminiscences of a Life on the Frontiers of Science by Robert Serber, Professor Emeritus of Physics, with Robert P. Crease. World War II recollections from the late Columbia physicist who, as a member of the Manhattan Project, led the team that assembled the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima--and was among the first Americans to inspect the city's ruins after Japan's surrender (Columbia University Press, $29.95).

Knowing Our Own Minds, edited by Crispin Wright, Professor of Philosophy, Barry C. Smith, and Cynthia Macdonald. Based on a 1995 conference, this collection includes Professor Wright's assessment of Wittgenstein's legacy and Akeel Bilgrami, Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy, on self-knowledge and resentment (Oxford University Press, $75).

T.P.C

Bookshelf continued

Columbia College Today features books by alumni and faculty as well as books about the College and its people. For inclusion, please send review copies to: Bookshelf Editor, Columbia College Today, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 917, New York, NY 10115.