General Books - Page 3

Disappearing Palestine: Israel's Experiments in Human Despair

Jonathan Cook

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Editorial Review:

This book claims that Palestine is fast disappearing and fulfilling the objectives of Israel's founding fathers. Over many decades, Israel has developed and refined policies to disperse, imprison and impoverish the Palestinian people, in a relentless effort to destroy them as a nation. It has industrialized Palestinian despair through ever more sophisticated systems of curfews, checkpoints, walls, permits and land grabs. Cook analyzes how Israel has transformed the West Bank and Gaza into laboratories for testing the infrastructure of confinement, creating a lucrative "defense" industry by pioneering the technologies needed for urban warfare, crowd control and collective punishment.

Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story

Christina Thompson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

An extraordinary love story between a Maori man and an American woman, that inspires a graceful, revelatory search for understanding about the centuries-old collision of two wildly different cultures.
Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All is the story of the cultural collision between Westerners and the Maoris of New Zealand, told partly as a history of the complex and bloody period of contact between Europeans and the Maoris in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and partly as the story of Christina Thompson’s marriage to a Maori man. As an American graduate student studying literature in Australia, Thompson traveled on vacation to New Zealand, where she met a Maori known as “Seven.” Their relationship was one of opposites: he was a tradesman, she an intellectual; he came from a background of rural poverty, she from one of middle-class privilege; he was a “native,” she descended directly from “colonizers.” Nevertheless, they shared a similar sense of adventure and a willingness to depart from the customs of their families and forge a life together on their own.
In this extraordinary book, which grows out of decades of research, Thompson explores the meaning of cross-cultural contact and the fascinating history of Europeans in the South Pacific, beginning with Abel Tasman’s discovery of New Zealand in 1642 and James Cook’s famous circumnavigations of 1769–79. Transporting us back and forth in time and around the world, from Australia to Hawaii to tribal NewZealand and finally to a house in New England that has ghosts of its own, Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All brings to life a lush variety of characters and settings. Yet at its core, it is the story of two
people who, in making a life and a family together, bridge the gap between two worlds.

Addressing Cultural Complexities in Practice: Assessment, Diagnosis, and Therapy

Pamela A., Ph.D. Hays

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This engaging book helps readers move beyond one-dimensional conceptualizations of identity to an understanding of the complex, overlapping cultural influences that form each of us. Pamela A. Hays' "ADDRESSING" framework enables therapists to better recognize and understand cultural influences as a multidimensional combination of Age, Developmental and acquired Disabilities, Religion, Ethnicity, Socioeconomic status, Sexual orientation, Indigenous heritage, National origin, and Gender. Unlike other books on therapy with diverse clients, which tend to focus on working with one particular ethnic group, Addressing Cultural Complexities in Practice presents a framework that can be used with a person of any cultural identity.

This second edition has been updated throughout and has new sections on cross-cultural assessment of trauma, on psychotherapy with people living in poverty, and on ethical boundaries and complex relationships in rural and minority communities. A special section describes how to integrate cultural considerations into the evidence-based practice of cognitive-behavioral therapy. This stimulating book will be an important resource for counselors, clinicians, and mental health professionals working with clients from a variety of backgrounds.

How Race Survived US History: From the American Revolution to the Present

David R. Roediger

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Editorial Review:

An absorbing chronicle of the role of race in US history, by the foremost historian of race and labor.

How Race Survived US History explores how the idea of race was created and recreated in American history. From the late seventeenth century — the era in which Du Bois located the emergence of "whiteness" — through the American revolution and the emancipatory Civil War, to the civil-rights movement and the emergence of the American empire, David Roediger reveals how race did far more than persist as an exception in a progressive national history. Roediger examines how race intersected all that was dynamic and progressive in US history, from democracy and economic development to migration and globalization. Exploring the evidence that the USA will become a majority "nonwhite" nation in the next fifty years, this masterful history shows how race remains at the heart of American life in the twenty-first century.

Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle For Palestine

Jonathan Schanzer

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Subjects -> History -> Middle East -> Israel

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In June 2007 civil war broke out in the Gaza Strip between two rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah. Western peace efforts in the region always focused on reconciling two opposing fronts: Israel and Palestine. Now, this careful exploration of Middle East history over the last two decades reveals that the Palestinians have long been a house divided. What began as a political rivalry between Fatah’s Yasir Arafat and Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin during the first intifada of 1987 evolved into a full-blown battle on the streets of Gaza between the forces of Arafat’s successor, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ismael Haniyeh, one of Yassin’s early protégés. Today, the battle continues between these two diametrically opposing forces over the role of Palestinian nationalism and Islamism in the West Bank and Gaza.

In this thought-provoking book, Jonathan Schanzer questions the notion of Palestinian political unity, explaining how internal rivalries and violence have ultimately stymied American efforts to promote Middle East peace, and even the Palestinian quest for a homeland.

The Trouble With Black Boys: And Other Reflections on Race, Equity, and the Future of Public Education

Pedro A. Noguera

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Trouble With Black Boys and Other Reflections on... 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Once again Noguera is at his best in giving the readers something powerful to think about. I recommend this book to everyone who is serious about making a difference in the lives of Black males.

Dr. Ahmes Askia
Atlanta, GA

Editorial Review:

For many years to come, race will continue to be a source of controversy and conflict in American society. For many of us it will continue to shape where we live, pray, go to school, and socialize. We cannot simply wish away the existence of race or racism, but we can take steps to lessen the ways in which the categories trap and confine us. Educators, who should be committed to helping young people realize their intellectual potential as they make their way toward adulthood, have a responsibility to help them find ways to expand identities related to race so that they can experience the fullest possibility of all that they may become. In this brutally honest—yet ultimately hopeful— book Pedro Noguera examines the many facets of race in schools and society and reveals what it will take to improve outcomes for all students. From achievement gaps to immigration, Noguera offers a rich and compelling picture of a complex issue that affects all of us.        

Racial and Ethnic Groups, 10th Edition

Richard T. Schaefer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This acclaimed, comprehensive bestseller offers a broad perspective on diversity/multiculturalism/race and ethnicity/minority groups. While including basic sociological and historical material, the authors help readers understand and explore the issues confronting a variety of ethnic groups both in the U.S. and other countries. Provides chapters on each major group, examining that group's history, then exploring their current situation and concerns at the start of the 21st century. Includes the latest data from the Census throughout the text, and illustrated in charts and maps. Updates content throughout to reflect recent world and national events—Includes discussion of the impact of September 11 on the Arab and Muslim community; the growing political power by Latino Americans; the Black Church as change agent; and much more. Offers interactive Internet activities that explore race and ethnic concepts on the Internet. A thought-provoking reference for anyone interested in the subject of racial and ethnic groups in American society.

The White Masai: My Exotic Tale of Love and Adventure

Corinne Hofmann

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

An easy, worthwhile read 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I first came across this book at the Dar es Salaam airport on vacation in Tanzania. I made a point to read it when I arrived home, out of interest in the Masai and also wanting to more about the "compelling love" between these two vastly different people. As other readers have, I found it difficult to relate to Corinne's decision to move to Kenya, etc., etc. -- but isn't that the point of reading a biography--to learn about someone else? As fascinating as I am (lol), wouldn't it be terribly boring to read about people just like ourselves all the time. It is decently written and translated. It is an interesting tale about cross-cultural love and moving to a difficult, untame place. In the end, I personally felt that it wasn't a story of a great love that was destroyed by these cultural differences. Obviously Corinne felt great attraction, but I was never convinced there was mutual love (or even real love on her part). It seemed more that she was at a point in her life or mental status where she needed change so badly she made some drastic decisions. In any case, this is a worthwhile read because it is enjoyable to see other points of view and to learn more about a life so different from our own.

Editorial Review:

The runaway international bestseller is now an American must-read for lovers of adventure, travel writing, and romance. Corinne Hofmann tells how she falls in love with an African warrior while on holiday in Kenya. After overcoming severe obstacles, she moves into a tiny hut with him and his mother, and spends four years in his Kenyan village. Slowly but surely, the dream starts to crumble, and she hatches a plan to return home with her daughter, a baby born of the seemingly indestructible love between a white European woman and a Masai. Compulsively readable, The White Masai is at once a hopelessly romantic love story, a gripping adventure yarn, and a fine piece of meticulously observed social anthropology.

Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

James W. Loewen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Could have been so much better. 3 out of 5 stars.
11 of 13 people found this review helpful.

After the first one hundred pages, I was ready to give this five stars. I have lived or worked in most of the towns mentioned in Southern Illinois, and the book correctly presents a great deal of information. On the other hand, some of the oral histories were quite incorrect. Eldorado has not had a "sundown sign" since 1960 at least, if ever. But the author claims it had such a sign into the 1980's. The mayor of Benton, Illinois remarks were taken out of context and totally misrepresented her, and her comments. These errors and several similar ones could have easily been avoided, making the book much better. The tragedy is that his points are well made and accurate generally, but when errors creep in it allows those who are racist in their attitudes to mount a defense that the book is filled with inaccuracies. If this were the only problem, I would still give the book four and one half to five stars.
The greatest problem with this book is when the author allows his own political views to overshadow reality in assuming that race was the motivation for many southern whites to vote Republican for the past forty years. Saline County (Eldorado, IL), Franklin County (Benton, West Frankfort and Ziegler, IL) and Union County (Anna, IL) are some of the most racist communities in the United States. Yet, these communities rarely even have Republican candidates on the ballot for local elections. The Democrat Party reigns supreme in these communities. Party affiliation is not reflective of racist attitudes. This is the great blemish on what could have been a truly great book. It does shine light on a horrible problem. It is a common reality throughout the United States. Much of the analysis is excellent. But the author's personal biases tarnished the final product.

Editorial Review:

No blacks allowed, especially after dark. This was the unwritten rule in a "sundown" town. In his trademark revelatory style, bestselling author James W. Loewen explores one of America's best-kept secrets as he unearths the making of sundown towns and discloses the fact that many white neighborhoods and suburbs are the result of years of racism and segregation. Anna, Illinois; Darien, Connecticut; and Cedar Key, Florida, are just a few examples of the thousands of all-white towns established between 1890 and 1968, many of which still exist today. White residents of these towns used any means possible -- including the law, harassment, race riots, and even murder -- to keep African Americans and other minority groups out.

Powerful and unprecedented, Sundown Towns tells the story of how these towns came into existence, what maintains them, and what to do about them. It also deepens our understanding of the role racism has played and continues to play in our society.

Race, Incarceration, and American Values (Boston Review Books)

Glenn C. Loury

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Editorial Review:

The United States, home to five percent of the worlds' population, now houses twenty-five percent of the world's prison inmates. Our incarceration rate—at 714 per 100,000 residents and rising—is almost forty percent greater than our nearest competitors (the Bahamas, Belarus, and Russia). More pointedly, it is 6.2 times the Canadian rate and 12.3 times the rate in Japan.

Economist Glenn Loury argues that this extraordinary mass incarceration is not a response to rising crime rates or a proud success of social policy. Instead, it is the product of a generation-old collective decision to become a more punitive society. He connects this policy to our history of racial oppression, showing that the punitive turn in American politics and culture emerged in the post-civil rights years and has today become the main vehicle for the reproduction of racial hierarchies.

Whatever the explanation, Loury agues, the uncontroversial fact is that changes in our criminal justice system since the 1970s have created a nether class of Americans—vastly disproportionately black and brown—with severely restricted rights and life chances. Moreover, conservatives and liberals agree that the growth in our prison population has long passed the point of diminishing returns. Stigmatizing and confining of a large segment of our population should be unacceptable to Americans. Loury's call to action makes all of us now responsible for ensuring that the policy changes.

Praise for The Anatomy of Racial Inequality:


"Intellectually rigorous and deeply thoughtful.... The Anatomy of Racial Inequality is an incisive, erudite book by a major thinker."
—Gerald Early, New York Times Book Review

A Boston Review Book