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Library Bookwatch

Volume 16, Number 1 January 2021 Home | LBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Health/Medicine Shelf Education Shelf
American History Shelf World History Shelf Civil War Shelf
Military Shelf Literary Fiction Shelf Western Fiction Shelf
Mystery/Suspense Shelf Graphic Novel Shelf Library CD Shelf
Economic Studies Shelf Political Science Shelf Religious Studies Shelf
Library Science Shelf Pets/Wildlife Shelf Jobs/Careers Shelf
Photography Shelf Biography Shelf Literary Studies Shelf
Psychology Shelf    


Reviewer's Choice

Black Firsts, fourth edition
Jessie Carney Smith
Visible Ink Press
43311 Joy Rd., #414, Canton, MI 48187-2075
www.visibleinkpress.com
9781578597413, $74.95, HC, 704pp

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Firsts-Trailblazing-Achievements-Ground-Breaking/dp/1578597412

Synopsis: A celebration of achievement, accomplishments, and pride, this newly updated and expanded fourth edition of "Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events" showcases the first African American president, U.S. senator, and the first black lawyer in the Department of Education. The first black chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first African American commissioned officer in the Marine Corps. The first black professors in a variety of fields. The first African American advertising agency. The first African American Olympian. The first black pilot for a scheduled commercial airline. The first recorded slave revolt in North America. The first African American cookbook writer.

Readers will revel and rejoice in the renowned and lesser-known, barrier-breaking trailblazers in all fields including the arts, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government, invention, journalism, religion, science, sports, music, and more. "Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events, Fourth Edition" bears informed witness to the long and complex history of African Americans!

Expanded, updated, and revised for the first time in over eight years, this new fourth edition of "Black Firsts" collects more than 500 all-new achievements and previously unearthed firsts. This massive tome proves that African American accomplishments are wide-ranging and ongoing, documenting thousands of personal victories and triumphs.

Critique: Simply stated, this new fourth edition of "Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events" is an essential and core addition to family, highschool, community, college, and university library Black Studies and American Biography collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781578596881, $29.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).

Editorial Note: Distinguished in the library profession and recognized educator, author and scholar Jessie Carney Smith is dean of the library and holds the Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She completed her undergraduate work at North Carolina A&T State University and holds master's degrees from Michigan State University and Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Among Dr. Smith's numerous awards are the National Women's Book Association's Award, the Candace Award for excellence in education, Sage magazine's Anna J. Cooper Award for research on African American women, and the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries. Her work includes Black Firsts, Black Heroes, The Handy African American History Answer Book, and with co-author Linda T. Wynn, Freedom Facts and Firsts all published by Visible Ink Press.

The Global Age-Friendly Community Movement
Philip B. Stafford, editor
Berghahn Books
20 Jay Street, Suite 512, Brooklyn, NY 11201
www.berghahnbooks.com
9781785336676, $135.00, HC, 286pp

https://www.amazon.com/Global-Age-Friendly-Community-Movement-Transformations/dp/1785336673

Synopsis: The age-friendly community movement is a global phenomenon, currently growing with the support of the WHO and multiple international and national organizations in the field of aging. Drawing on an extensive collection of international case studies, "The Global Age-Friendly Community Movement: A Critical Appraisal" provides an introduction to the movement. The contributors (both researchers and practitioners) touch on a number of current tensions and issues in the movement and offer a wide-ranging set of recommendations for advancing age-friendly community development. "The Global Age-Friendly Community Movement: A Critical Appraisal" concludes with a call for a radical transformation of a medical and lifestyle model of aging into a relational model of health and social/individual well being.

Critique: Knowledgeably compiled and deftly edited by Philip B. Stafford (Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University in Bloomington, and was Director of the Indiana University Center on Aging and Community until 2017), "The Global Age-Friendly Community Movement: A Critical Appraisal" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended as a core addition to community, college, and university library Gerontology Social Sciences and in Public Policy collections, as well as Social Services & Welfare supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, governmental policy makers, social workers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Global Age-Friendly Community Movement: A Critical Appraisal" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781789207996, $29.95) and in a digital book format (eTextbook, $28.45).


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine
Consensus Study Report
National Academies Press
500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001
www.nap.edu
9780309682244, $70.00, PB, 260pp

https://www.amazon.com/Framework-Equitable-Allocation-COVID-19-Vaccine/dp/030968224X

Synopsis: In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the societal disruption it has brought, national governments and the international community have invested billions of dollars and immense amounts of human resources to develop a safe and effective vaccine in an unprecedented time frame. Vaccination against this novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), offers the possibility of significantly reducing severe morbidity and mortality and transmission when deployed alongside other public health strategies and improved therapies.

Health equity is intertwined with the impact of COVID-19 and there are certain populations that are at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19. In the United States and worldwide, the pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on people who are already disadvantaged by virtue of their race and ethnicity, age, health status, residence, occupation, socioeconomic condition, or other contributing factors.

Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine offers an overarching framework for vaccine allocation to assist policy makers in the domestic and global health communities. Built on widely accepted foundational principles and recognizing the distinctive characteristics of COVID-19, this report's recommendations address the commitments needed to implement equitable allocation policies for COVID-19 vaccine.

Critique: Timely, comprehensive, expertly written, organized and presented, "Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, governmental, college and university library COVID-19 medical policy collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine" is also readily available in a digital book format (eBook, $54.99).

Dead Epidemiologists: On the Origins of COVID-19
Rob Wallace
Monthly Review Press
134 W. 29th Street, Suite 706, New York, NY 10001
www.monthlyreview.org
9781583679036, $89.00, HC, 260pp

https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Epidemiologists-COVID-19-Rob-Wallace/dp/1583679030

Synopsis: The COVID-19 pandemic surprised and shocked the world. It shouldn't have. Since this century's turn, epidemiologists have warned of new infectious diseases. Indeed, H1N1, H7N9, SARS, MERS, Ebola Makona, Zika, and a variety of lesser viruses have emerged almost annually and with one pandemic status approximately every decade.

But what of the epidemiologists themselves? Some bravely descended into the caves where bat species hosted coronaviruses, including the strains that evolved into the COVID-19 virus. Yet, despite their own warnings, many of the researchers appear unable to understand the true nature of the disease -- as if they are dead to what they've seen.

"Dead Epidemiologists: On the Origins of COVID-19" is an eclectic collection of commentaries, articles, and interviews revealing the hidden-in-plain-sight truth behind the current pandemic including global capital that drove the deforestation and development that exposed us to new pathogens. Rob Wallace and his colleagues (ecologists, geographers, activists, and, yes, epidemiologists) unpack the material and conceptual origins of COVID-19. From deepest Yunnan to the boardrooms of New York City, "Dead Epidemiologists" offers a compelling diagnosis of the roots of COVID-19, and a stark prognosis of what (without further intervention) may come.

Critique: Incredibly timely, "Dead Epidemiologists: On the Origins of COVID" is essential and unreservedly recommended reading for medical professionals, governmental policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject of the current COVID-19 pandemic. An absolutely essential addition to community, college, and university library Health/Medicine collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Dead Epidemiologists" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.00).

Editorial Note: Rob Wallace is an evolutionary epidemiologist with the Agroecology and Rural Economics Research Corps. He is author of Big Farms Make Big Flu and coauthor of Clear-Cutting Disease Control: Capital-Led Deforestation, Public Health Austerity, and Vector-Borne Infection. He has consulted with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


The Education Shelf

Teaching Dual Language Learners
Lisa M. Lopez & Mariela M. Paez
Brookes Publishing Company
PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD 21285-0624
www.brookespublishing.com
9781681253848, $39.95, PB, 200pp

https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Dual-Language-Learners-Childhood/dp/1681253844

Synopsis: As the number of dual language learners (DLLs) in early childhood settings continues to rise, educators need to know how to teach, engage, and assess children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. They'll have the effective strategies they need with "Teaching Dual Language Learners: What Early Childhood Educators Need to Know", a timely book and reader friendly guide that expertly connects research to practice for Preschool and Kindergarten teachers of young DLL students ages 4-6.

Early childhood educators will start with a detailed review of the demographics of today's DLLs and the latest research findings on supporting the learning and development of bilingual and multilingual children. Then they'll find practical guidance on the best instructional and assessment practices to integrate into their classrooms. Throughout the book, five in depth case studies of diverse children highlight the importance of considering each child's background, skills, and home experiences when designing effective learning environments.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, as well as extending the groundbreaking work of Patton O. Tabors and ideal for use as a textbook or in service guide, "Teaching Dual Language Learners: What Early Childhood Educators Need to Know" is a concise book that compiles everything classroom teachers need to know about working with young DLLs -- and setting them up for a lifetime of school success. While unreservedly recommended for school district, college, and university library Teacher Education instructional reference guides, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of educators and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Teaching Dual Language Learners: What Early Childhood Educators Need to Know" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $28.79).

Editorial Note: Lisa M. Lopez is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Her research agenda involves understanding and improving upon the educational and environmental opportunities of Latino dual language learner (DLL) children in the United States. Her main research objective is to identify the developmental trajectory of school readiness skills for Latino DLL children while applying an ecological perspective to better understand this developmental trajectory. Her research has been published in journals focused on both education and developmental psychology.

Mariela M. Paez is an Associate Professor at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College. She has a doctorate in human development and psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her primary research interests include bilingualism, children's language and early literacy development, and early childhood education.

Improving Student Learning One Teacher at a Time
Jane E. Pollock & Laura J. Tolone
ASCD
1703 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311-1714
www.ascd.org
9781416629696, $27.95, PB, 144pp

https://www.amazon.com/Improving-Student-Learning-Teacher-Time/dp/1416629696

Synopsis: This "Big Four" approach effectively showcases in this newly updated and expanded second edition of "Improving Student Learning One Teacher at a Time" offers an easy-to-follow process that helps teachers build better curriculum documents with: Curriculum standards that are clear and well-paced, and describe what students will learn; Instruction based in research, from daily lessons to whole units of study; Assessment that maximizes feedback and requires critical and creative thinking; Feedback that tracks and reports individual student progress by standards.

In the pages of this new edition of "Improving Student Learning One Teacher at a Time" academicians Jane E. Pollock and Laura J. Tolone continue to collaboratively demonstrate how consistent, timely feedback from multiple sources can help students monitor their own understanding and help teachers align assignments, quizzes, and tests more explicitly to the standards. The Big Four shifts the focus away from the basics of what makes a good teacher toward what makes good learning happen for every student every day.

Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, this newly published second edition of "Improving Student Learning One Teacher at a Time" continues to be a welcome, insightful, and practical contribution to the growing body of instructive educational literature. While an especially recommended addition to school district, college and university library Teacher Education collections and supplemental curriculum textbook studies lists, it should be noted for student teachers, academia, and school district in-service trainers that "Improving Student Learning One Teacher at a Time" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $20.49).

Editorial Note #1: Jane E. Pollock, PhD, coauthor of the ASCD bestseller Classroom Instruction That Works (2001), works worldwide with teachers, coaches, and principals on instruction and supervision. Her work results in improved student achievement at the classroom and school levels.

Editorial Note #2: Laura J. Tolone has served students for the past 25 years in U.S. and worldwide school communities as a teacher, an athletic coach, a librarian, an administrative leader, and a consultant. She specializes in building student-centered cultures that improve learning. Laura spent the past 15 years in the Dominican Republic working with teachers to incorporate standards-based strategies into daily practices of teaching and learning.

Promoting Inclusive Classroom Dynamics in Higher Education
Kathryn C. Oleson
Stylus Publishing, Inc.
22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012
www.styluspub.com
9781620368992, $32.50, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Promoting-Inclusive-Classroom-Dynamics-Education-dp-1620368994/dp/1620368994

Synopsis: "Promoting Inclusive Classroom Dynamics in Higher Education: A Research-Based Pedagogical Guide for Faculty" by Professor Kathryn C. Oleson is powerful, practical resource that will help faculty create an inclusive dynamic in their classrooms, so that all students are set up to succeed. Grounded in research and theory (including educational psychology, scholarship of teaching and learning, intergroup dialogue, and social justice theory), "Promoting Inclusive Classroom Dynamics in Higher Education" provides practical solutions to help faculty create an inclusive learning environment in which all students can thrive.

Each individual chapter focuses on palpable ideas and adaptive strategies to use right away when teaching. Chapter 1 consider professors' intersecting personal and social identities and their expectations for themselves and their students.

Chapter 2 considers students' backgrounds, including class, race, disability, and gender, and focuses on what students bring to the classroom, exploring their basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and belonging; their approaches to learning; and their self-doubts and uncertainties.

Chapter 3 draws on universally-designed learning in combination with educational design rooted in social justice and multiculturalism to describe ways to design spaces in which students flourish academically. Two chapters focus on classroom dynamics.

Chapter 4 primarily focuses on preparation for having difficult conversations in the classroom, considering how instructors can create a shared understanding between themselves and their students.

Chapter 5 focuses on in-the-moment strategies to both create and manage discomfort about sensitive and controversial topics while supporting students of various social identities (such as gender, race, disability).

In the closing Chapter 6, Professor Oleson integrates all the elements in the preceding chapters, and also presents more general college-wide programs to help faculty develop and improve their teaching.

Critique: Expertly written, organized and presented, "Promoting Inclusive Classroom Dynamics in Higher Education: A Research-Based Pedagogical Guide for Faculty" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended curriculum textbook and will prove to be a welcome addition to school district, college, and university library Contemporary Education collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of education students, academia, classroom teachers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Promoting Inclusive Classroom Dynamics in Higher Education: A Research-Based Pedagogical Guide for Faculty" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $21.75).

Editorial Note: Kathryn C. Oleson is Professor of Psychology and the former Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Reed College. As inaugural Director of Reed College's Center for Teaching and Learning, she began an Inclusive Practices Professional Development Series, and continues to co-lead workshops on promoting inclusive practices and fostering inclusive classroom dynamics.


The American History Shelf

Boosting a New West: Pacific Coast Expositions, 1905-1916
John G. Putman
Washington State University Press
PO Box 645910, Pullman, WA 99164-5910
www.wsupress.wsu.edu
9780874223811, $34.95, PB, 306pp

https://www.amazon.com/Boosting-New-West-Expositions-1905-1916/dp/0874223814

Synopsis: The west coast cities of Portland, Seattle, San Diego, and San Francisco all held fairs between 1905 and 1915. "Boosting a New West: Pacific Coast Expositions, 1905-1916" by academician and historian John G. Putman explores the fairs' cultural and social meaning by focusing on and comparing the promotions that surrounded them. The marketing campaigns and vendor and exhibit choices expose biased racial attitudes and reveal western leaders' perceptions of their city and region, as well as how they attempted to shape a new western identity.

Critique: A meticulous work of original and seminal historical scholarship, "Boosting a New West: Pacific Coast Expositions, 1905-1916" is enhanced for the reader and for academia with the inclusion of illustrations, forty-six pages of notes, a twenty page bibliography, and a nine page index. Impressively informative, exceptionally well organized and presented, "Boosting a New West: Pacific Coast Expositions, 1905-1916" is an exemplary example of regional history and a highly recommended cored addition to community, college, and university library American History collections.

Editorial Note: John C. Putman is an Associate Professor at San Diego State University and is an historian of the modern American West, particularly California and the Pacific coast states, and the author of "Class and Gender Politics in Progressive-Era Seattle."

Freedom on Trial
Scott Farris
The Lyons Press
www.lyonspress.com
c/o The Globe Pequot Press
246 Goose Lane, Suite 200, Guilford, CT 06437
www.globepequot.com
9781493046355, $27.95, HC, 392pp

https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Trial-Post-Civil-Battle-Suppression/dp/1493046357

Synopsis: The Confederacy lost the Civil War but quickly began to win the peace when a mysterious organization arose called the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux, as it was then called, sought to restore white supremacy by terrorizing the formerly enslaved to prevent them from voting or owning firearms. To support Black resistance to the KKK's campaign of murder and mayhem, President Ulysses S. Grant suspended the writ of habeas corpus in large portions of South Carolina and sent the famed 7th Cavalry to make mass arrests.

Grant's new attorney general, the first former Confederate to serve in a presidential Cabinet and an ardent advocate for Black equality, Amos T. Akerman, aggressively prosecuted the Ku Klux in a series of sensational trials that shocked the nation and forced a reckoning regarding just how much the Civil War and the recently enacted Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution had changed America and its notions of citizenship.

Highlighting forgotten Black and white civil rights pioneers and weaving in the story of the author's own great-grandfather's crimes as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, Freedom on Trial tells a gripping story of a moment pregnant with promise when race relations in the United States might have taken a dramatically different turn. It is a story that also offers a sober lesson for those engaged in the ongoing work of fulfilling the American promise of equality for all.

Critique: A timely and timeless study, "Freedom on Trial: The First Post-Civil War Battle Over Civil Rights and Voter Suppression" is an impressively meticulous work of historical research and one that helps to explain current 2016-2020 voter suppression efforts by some southern states such as Georgia and Mississippi with respect to their black voters. Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of twenty-four pages of Notes, an eight page Bibliography, and a sixteen page Index, "Freedom on Trial" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library 19th Century American History collections in general, and Civil Right/Voter Suppression supplemental curriculum studies lists in particular. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Freedom on Trial" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $19.99).

Editorial Note: Scott Farris is the author of "Kennedy & Reagan: Why Their Legacies Endure" and "Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation". A former bureau chief for United Press International and a political columnist, he has interviewed most of the men and women who have sought the presidency over the past thirty years, and has managed several political campaigns. He appeared on the 2011 C-SPAN television series The Contenders, and has appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and "Melissa Harris-Perry." His work has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.

A Lincoln Legacy
David Gardner Chardavoyne, author
Hugh W. Brennemann Jr., author
Wayne State University Press
4809 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201-1309
http://wsupress.wayne.edu
9780814348048, $44.99, HC, 416pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Legacy-History-District-Michigan/dp/0814348041

Synopsis: "A Lincoln Legacy: The History of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan" by David Gardner Chardavoyne and with the assistance of Hugh W. Brenneman, Jr. provides the first and only comprehensive examination of the history of the United States federal courts in the Western District of Michigan.

The federal courts were established by the U.S. Constitution to adjudicate disputes involving federal laws, disputes between litigants from different states involving state and federal laws, and to punish violations of criminal laws passed by Congress. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating two federal districts in the state of Michigan: the Eastern and Western Districts-the latter of which is headquartered in Grand Rapids and which now encompasses the western half of the Lower Peninsula and all of the Upper Peninsula.

With the rapid expansion of legislation passed by Congress, the increasing mobility of society, and the growth of interstate commerce, the federal courts have assumed an important and sometimes dominant role in major litigation today.

In "A Lincoln Legacy", Chardavoyne tracks the history of these courts over eleven chapters, from their creation by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to 2020. He discusses the changes in society that drove the evolving federal litigation and some significant cases heard in the Western District. Additionally, fifteen appendices are included in the book, listing of all the federal circuit and district judges in the Western District; commissioners; magistrate judges and bankruptcy judges; U.S. Attorneys; clerks of the courts; and more.

Chardavoyne also identifies auxiliary offices and organizations revolving around the federal court that play a major role in its activities (e.g., the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Federal Public Defender's Office, the Federal Bar Association, etc.).

Simply stated, "A Lincoln Legacy" provides a thorough examination of the history of the federal courts of Western Michigan and will have a special appeal to those learning and practicing law, as well as anyone with an interest in Michigan history.

Critique: Unique, comprehensive, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "A Lincoln Legacy: The History of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan" is a part of the outstanding Wayne State University Press 'Great Lakes Books' series and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library American Judicial History collections in general, and supplemental curriculum studies lists in U.S. Civil War Women's History, U.S. Immigrant History, and Legal History in particular. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "A Lincoln Legacy" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $42.74).

Lewis & Clark Reframed
David L. Nicandri
Washington State University Press
PO Box 645910, Pullman, WA 99164-5910
www.wsupress.wsu.edu
9780874223804, $32.95, PB, 156pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lewis-Clark-Reframed-Examining-Vancouver/dp/0874223806

Synopsis: Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 - October 11, 1809) and William Clark (August 1, 1770 - September 1, 1838) benefitted from Spanish, British, and French explorers who reached the Pacific Northwest before them. James Cook, George Vancouver, and Alexander Mackenzie (and to a lesser extent fur traders John Meares and Robert Gray) directly and indirectly influenced the expedition. Based on new material as well as revised essays from popular history journals, "Lewis & Clark Reframed: Examining Ties to Cook, Vancouver, and Mackenzie" by historian David L. Nicandri deftly examines several curious and seemingly inexplicable aspects of the journey after the Corps of Discovery crossed the Rocky Mountains.

Critique: An impressively informative and seminal work of meticulous and detailed scholarship, "Lewis & Clark Reframed: Examining Ties to Cook, Vancouver, and Mackenzie" is an extraordinary and welcome addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American History collections in general, and Lewis & Clark supplemental studies reading lists in particular.

Editorial Note: Former Washington State Historical Society Director David L. Nicandri is an expert in Pacific Northwest exploration history. His epilogue presents further opportunities to place the Lewis and Clark story and the Enlightenment era into historical context. Nicandri is the author of "River of Promise: Lewis and Clark on the Columbia" and co-editor of two volumes on Captain James Cook.

Patriots Twice
Stephen M. Hood
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611215151, $32.95, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Twice-Confederates-Building-America/dp/1611215153

Synopsis: The long and bloody American Civil War claimed the lives of more than 700,000 men. When it ended, former opponents worked to rebuild their reunified nation and moved into the future together. Many contemporary readers may find that hard to believe -- especially in an era witnessing the destruction or removal of Confederate monuments and the desecration of Confederate cemeteries, the latest being the removal of a Confederate statue from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

In the unique and timely study, "Patriots Twice: Former Confederates and the Building of America after the Civil War", author and historian Stephen M. Hood identifies more than three hundred former Confederate soldiers, sailors, and government officials who reintegrated into American society and attained positions of authority and influence in the federal government, the United States military, academia, science, commerce, and industry. Their contributions had a long-lasting and positive influence on the country we have today.

Many of the facts in Patriots Twice will surprise modern Americans. For example, ten postwar presidents appointed former Confederates to serve the reunited nation as Supreme Court justices, secretaries of the U.S. Navy, attorneys general, and a secretary of the interior. Dozens of former Southern soldiers were named U.S. ambassadors and consuls, and eight were appointed generals who commanded U.S. Army troops during the Spanish-American War. Former Confederates were elected mayors of such unlikely cities as Los Angeles, CA, Minneapolis, MN, Ogden, UT, and Santa Fe, NM, and served as governors of the non-Confederate states and territories of Colorado, West Virginia, Missouri, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alaska, and the Panama Canal Zone.

Ex-Southern soldiers became presidents of national professional societies including the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, to name only a few. Others paved the way in science and engineering by leading the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Geological Society of America. One former Confederate co-founded the environmental and preservation advocacy group Sierra Club, and another intellectual and scholar was president of the Society for Classical Studies.

Former soldiers in gray founded or co-founded many of our nation's colleges and universities -- some exclusively for women and newly freed African-Americans. Other former Rebels served as presidents of prominent institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley, and taught at universities outside the South including Harvard, Yale, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Johns Hopkins, the University of San Francisco, and Amherst College. Several others served on the governing boards of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

Every reader of "Patriots Twice" has benefitted from the post-Civil War reconciliation when former combatants put down their swords, picked up their plowshares, and accepted the invaluable contributions of these (and thousands of other) former Confederates. The men who carried the bayonets found common cause and moved on together. This is an important concept everyone must -- embrace to keep the American nation united, strong, and free.

Critique: An impressive work of meticulous, original, and detailed scholarship, "Patriots Twice: Former Confederates and the Building of America after the Civil War" is a timely and timeless contribution to the current and on-going national discussion about the legacy and aftermath of the American Civil War in terms of the Confederacy and how it is to be interpreted in our current state of dramatic and divisive political polarization. While an invaluable and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library 19th Century American History collections and Post-Civil War supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, history buffs, political activists, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Patriots Twice: Former Confederates and the Building of America after the Civil War" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.29).

Editorial Note: Stephen M. "Sam" Hood is a graduate of Kentucky Military Institute and Marshall University, and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Sam is the author of The Lost Papers of Confederate General John Bell Hood and John Bell Hood: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Confederate General, winner of the 2014 Albert E. Castel and Walt Whitman Book of the Year Awards. He is also a past president of the board of directors of the Confederate Memorial Hall Museum Foundation in New Orleans.

Indian Raids and Massacres
Jeff Boone, author
Caxton Press
312 Main Street, Caldwell, ID 83605-3299
www.caxtonpress.com
9780870046353, $24.95, PB, 520pp

https://www.amazon.com/Indian-Raids-Massacres-Essayss-Central/dp/0870046357

Synopsis: "Indian Raids and Massacres: Essays on the Central Plains Indian War" by Jeff Broome covers incidents of conflict in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska from 1864-1870. Each individual chapter is a story unto itself and can be read in any order as well as from the beginning directly to end.

There are two sides to each of these violent events, and while the focus is on the Euro-American perspective, the contrary perspective of the Native American is also presented. Broome relies on primary-source documents usually ignored by other authors. Untapped Indian depredation claims housed in Washington DC give the reader a deeper understanding of the terrors of Indian raids, especially when experienced by new settlers to the region.

What emerges represents a bold and new history not found in other published accounts with chapters that accurately reflect more than 20 years of Broome's research and writing on the Central Plains Indian War.

Critique: Comprised of thirteen specific incidences of Native American conflict with encroaching Americans forces, "Indian Raids and Massacres: Essays on the Central Plains Indian War Paperback - August 24, 2020" is enhanced for academia and the non-specialist general reader with the inclusion of a twenty-eight page Bibliography and a fourteen page Index. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Indian Raids and Massacres: Essays on the Central Plains Indian War Paperback - August 24, 2020" is an extraordinary work of original scholarship and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Native American History and Western American History collections and supplemental curriculum reading lists.

Editorial Note: Jeff Broome holds a doctoral degree in philosophy and is a long-tenured professor (and now professor emeritus) from a state community college in Metro-Denver. He has also published four previous books dealing with the conflicts on the central plains.


The World History Shelf

How the West Won
Rodney Stark
ISI Books
3901 Centerville Road, Wilmington, DE 19807-1938
www.isibooks.org
www.tantor.com
9781610171397, $18.00, PB, 464pp

https://www.amazon.com/How-West-Won-Neglected-Modernity/dp/161017139X

Synopsis: Modernity developed only in the West -- in Europe and North America. Nowhere else in the world did science and democracy arise. Nowhere else was slavery outlawed. Only Westerners invented chimneys, musical scores, telescopes, eyeglasses, pianos, electric lights, aspirin, and soap. The question is, Why?

Unfortunately, that question has become so politically incorrect that most scholars avoid it. But in the pages of "How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity", author and historian Rodney Stark provides the answers in this sweeping new look at Western civilization.

"How the West Won" demonstrates the primacy of uniquely Western ideas -- among them the belief in free will, the commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, the notion that the universe functions according to rational rules that can be discovered, and the emphasis on human freedom and secure property rights.

Taking readers on a thrilling journey from ancient Greece to the present, Stark challenges much of the received wisdom about Western history.

Critique: A work of exhaustive and meticulous scholarship throughout, "How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity" is a seminal study that is as informative as it is thought-provoking. While an especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library World History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99) and as a complete and unabridged audio book (Tantor Audio, 9781494552497, $34.99, MP3-CD).

Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars, 336 BC - 31 BC
John D. Grainger
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781526782328, $26.95, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Hellenistic-Roman-Naval-Wars-BC-31/dp/1526782324

Synopsis: The period covered by author and historian John D. Grainger in "Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars, 336 BC - 31 BC" is well known for its epic battles and grand campaigns of territorial conquest, but Hellenistic monarchies, Carthaginians, and the rapacious Roman Republic were scarcely less active at sea. Huge resources were poured into maintaining fleets not only as symbols of prestige but as means of projecting real military power across the Mediterranean arena.

Taking the period between Alexander the Great's conquests and the Battle of Actium, historian Grainger analyzes the developments in naval technology and tactics, the uses and limitations of sea power and the differing strategies of the various powers. He shows, for example, how the Rhodians and the Romans eschewed the ever-larger monster galleys favored by most Hellenistic monarchs in favor of smaller vessels.

Critique: An inherently fascinating and impressively informative study of a heretofore neglected and obscure aspect of ancient warfare, "Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars, 336 BC - 31 BC" is an extraordinary work of exceptionally thorough and painstaking research. While very highly recommended as an addition to community, college, and university library Ancient Greek & Roman History collections in general, and Naval Military History supplemental curriculum studies reading lists in particular, it should be noted for students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars, 336 BC - 31 BC" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: John D. Grainger is a former teacher turned professional historian. He has over thirty books to his name, divided between classical history and modern British political and military history. His previous books for Pen & Sword are Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars; Wars of the Maccabees; Traditional Enemies: Britain's War with Vichy France 1940-42; Roman Conquests: Egypt and Judaea; Rome, Parthia and India: The Violent Emergence of a New World Order: 150-140 BC; a three-volume history of the Seleukid Empire and British Campaigns in the South Atlantic 1805-1807.

The Norman Commanders: Masters of Warfare 911-1135
Paul Hill
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781783462285, $39.95, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Norman-Commanders-Masters-Warfare-911-1135/dp/1783462280

Synopsis: Robert Guiscard, William the Conqueror, Roger I of Sicily, and Bohemond Prince of Antioch are just four of the exceptional Norman commanders who not only led their armies to victory in battle but also, through military force, created their own kingdoms in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Their single-minded and aggressive leadership, and the organization, discipline and fighting qualities of their armies, marked them out from their Viking forebears and from many of the armed forces that stood against them.

Their brilliant careers, and those of Robert Curthose, William Rufus, Richard I of Capua and Henry I of England, are the subject of "The Norman Commanders: Masters of Warfare 911-1135", historian Paul Hills latest study of medieval warfare. In a narrative packed with detail and insight, and with a wide-ranging understanding of the fighting methods and military ethos of the period, he traces the course of their conquests, focusing on them as individual commanders and on their achievements on the battlefield.

The military context of their campaigns, and the conditions of warfare in France and England, in southern Italy and Sicily, and in the Near East, are vividly described, as are their decisive operations and sieges among them Hastings, Brmule, Tinchebrai, Civitate, Misilmeri, Dyrrhachium and the Siege of Antioch. There is no doubt that the Normans success in war depended upon the leadership qualities and military capabilities of the commanders as well as the special strengths of the armies they led. Paul Hills accessible and authoritative account offers a fascinating portrait of these masters of warfare.

Critique: A masterpiece of historical research, "The Norman Commanders: Masters of Warfare 911-1135" is an extraordinary and impressive work of meticulous scholarship that is further enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a four page Bibliography and an eight page Index. While an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library English/French Medieval History collections in general, and Norman Military History studies in particular, it should be noted for students, academia, military history buffs, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Norman Commanders: Masters of Warfare 911-1135" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781526782014, $32.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.99).

Editorial Note: Paul Hill, formerly curator of Kingston Upon Thames Museum in Surrey, is well known as a lecturer, author and expert on Anglo-Saxon and Norman history and military archaeology, and he has written several books on these subjects, among them The Age of Athelstan: Britain's Forgotten History, The Viking Wars of Alfred the Great and The Anglo-Saxons at War 800-1066.

The Wars of the Maccabees
John D. Grainger
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781526782267, $26.95, PB, 208pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wars-Maccabees-John-D-Grainger/dp/152678226X

Synopsis: By the early second century BC, Israel had long been under the rule of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. But the policy of deliberate Hellenization and suppression of Jewish religious practices by Antiochus IV, sparked a revolt in 167 BC which was led initially by Judah Maccabee and later by his brothers and their descendants.

Relying on guerrilla tactics the growing insurrection repeatedly took on the sophisticated might of the Seleucid army with mixed, but generally successful, results, establishing the Maccabees as the Hasmonean Dynasty of rulers over a once-more independent Israel. (It is Judah Maccabee's ritual cleansing of the Temple after his victories over the Seleucids that is celebrated by Jews every year at Hanukkah). Internal disputes weakened the revived state, however, and it eventually fell victim to the Romans who replaced the Seleucids as the local superpower.

In his in-depth study, "The Wars of the Maccabees", historican John D. Grainger explains the causes of the revolt and traces the course of the various campaigns of the Maccabees, first against the Seleucids and then the Romans who captured Jerusalem in 63 BC and partitioned the kingdom. The last chapters consider the continued Jewish resistance to Roman rule and factional fighting, until the crowning of Herod, marked the end of the Hasmonean dynasty.

Critique: As informed and informative as it is inherently interesting and expertly presented, "The Wars of the Maccabees" is an extraordinary and detailed introduction to the ancient Judaic/Hellenistic conflict that would result in the independence of Israel until the coming of the Romans. While an especially prized and recommended addition to community, college, and university library collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Wars of the Maccabees" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: John D. Grainger is a former teacher turned professional historian. He has over thirty books to his name, divided between classical history and modern British political and military history. His previous books for Pen & Sword are Hellenistic and Roman Naval Wars; Wars of the Maccabees; Traditional Enemies: Britain's War with Vichy France 1940-42; Roman Conquests: Egypt and Judaea; Rome, Parthia and India: The Violent Emergence of a New World Order: 150-140 BC; a three-volume history of the Seleukid Empire and British Campaigns in the South Atlantic 1805-1807.

Medieval Maritime Warfare
Charles D. Stanton
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781781592519, $39.95, HC, 368pp

https://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Maritime-Warfare-Charles-Stanton/dp/1781592519

Synopsis: Following the fall of Rome, the sea is increasingly the stage upon which the human struggle of western civilization played out. In a world of few roads and great disorder, the sea is the medium on which power is projected and wealth sought. Yet this confused period in the history of maritime warfare has rarely been studied. It is little known and even less understood.

In his historical studies, "Medieval Maritime Warfare", Charles Stanton uses an innovative and involving approach to describe this fascinating but neglected facet of European medieval history. He depicts the development of maritime warfare from the end of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance, detailing the wars waged in the Mediterranean by the Byzantines, Muslims, Normans, Crusaders, the Italian maritime republics, Angevins and Aragonese as well as those fought in northern waters by the Vikings, English, French and the Hanseatic League.

This pioneering study will be compelling reading for everyone interested in medieval warfare and maritime history.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, impressively organized and presented, "Medieval Maritime Warfare" is a seminal study that should be considered a core addition to community, college, and university library Medieval History collections in general, and Naval Military History supplemental curriculum studies lists in particular. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of student, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Medieval Maritime Warfare" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781526782199, $34.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.59).

Editorial Note: Dr Charles D. Stanton is a former US naval officer and airline pilot who, after retirement, studied medieval Mediterranean history at Cambridge under David Abulafia. His particular focus is the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Sicily on which he has published several well-received articles in scholarly journals. His recent book, "Norman Naval Operations in the Mediterranean", has also been highly praised.

Religion & Classical Warfare: Archaic and Classical Greece
Matthew Dillion, author
Christopher Matthew, author
Michael Schmitz, author
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781473834293, $50.00, HC, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/Religion-Classical-Warfare-Archaic-Greece/dp/1473834295

Synopsis: Religion was integral to the conduct of war in the ancient world and the Greeks were certainly no exception. No campaign was undertaken, no battle risked, without first making sacrifice to propitiate the appropriate gods (such as Ares, god of War) or consulting oracles and omens to divine their plans. Yet the link between war and religion is an area that has been regularly overlooked by modern scholars examining the conflicts of these times.

Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by Christopher Matthew (who has just completed his doctoral thesis on hoplite warfare at MacQuarie University in Sydney), Matthew Dillon (who is an Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia), and Michael Schmitz (who is a lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia), "Religion & Classical Warfare: Archaic and Classical Greece" addresses that omission by drawing together the work of experts from across the globe. The chapters have been carefully structured by the editors so that this wide array of scholarship combines to give a coherent, comprehensive study of the role of religion in the wars of the Archaic and Classical Greek world.

Aspects considered in depth include: Greek writers on religion and war; declarations of war; fate and predestination, the sphagia and pre-battle sacrifices; omens, oracles and portents, trophies and dedications to cult centers; militarized deities; sacred truces and festivals; oaths and vows; religion & Greek military medicine.

Critique: Comprised of ten erudite and impressively informative articles by experts in the field of Greek antiquity, "Religion & Classical Warfare: Archaic and Classical Greece" is enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a listing of Abbreviations of Ancien Sources, a listing of Abbreviations of Modern Works, a listing of Spelling of Ancient Names and Terms; a listing of the contributors and their credentials, figures, and informative introduction (New Perspectives on Classical Greek Religion and Warfare), and a thirteen page Index.

A work of meticulous and detailed scholarship, "Religion & Classical Warfare: Archaic and Classical Greece" must be considered as a core addition to community, college, and university library Antiquarian Greek History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non- specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Religion & Classical Warfare: Archaic and Classical Greece" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $30.00).


The Civil War Shelf

The Maps of the Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign
Bradley M. Gottfried
Savas Beatie
PO Box 4527, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
www.savasbeatie.com
9781611214796, $34.95, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Maps-Cavalry-Gettysburg-Operations-Military/dp/1611214793

Synopsis: "The Maps of the Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign: An Atlas of Mounted Operations from Brandy Station Through Falling Waters, June 9 - July 14, 1863" continues Civil War historian Bradley M. Gottfried's efforts to study and illustrate the major campaigns of the Civil War's Eastern Theater. This is his seventh book in the on-going Savas Beatie Military Atlas Series.

"The Maps of Gettysburg", Gottfried's inaugural and groundbreaking atlas published in 2007, covered only a small portion of the cavalry's actions during the seminal campaign. "The Maps of the Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign" addresses that topic in-depth in a way that no other study has ever achieved. Gottfried covers the opening battle of the campaign at Brandy Station in detail, followed by the actions at Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville, where Jeb Stuart's cavalry successfully halted Alfred Pleasonton's probes toward the Blue Mountain passes in an effort to determine the location of Robert E. Lee's army.

The movements toward Gettysburg are covered in a series of maps, including the actions at Westminister, Hanover, and Hunterstown. The five major actions on July 2-3 at Gettysburg take up a considerable portion of the book and include the fight at Brinkerhoff Ridge, and four more on July 3 (Stuart against David Gregg northeast of the town, Wesley Merritt's fight along Emmitsburg Road, Judson Kilpatrick's actions near the base of Big Round Top, and Grumble Jones's near-destruction of the 6th U.S. Cavalry near Fairfield).

The cavalry also played a vital role during Lee's retreat to the Potomac River. The numerous fights at Monterrey Pass, Smithfield, Boonsboro, Funkstown, and Hagerstown were of critical importance to both sides and are covered in detail. "The Maps of the Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign" concludes with the fight at Falling Waters and ends with an epilogue recounting events occurring in Virginia through the end of July.

"The Maps of the Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign" also plows new ground by breaking down the entire campaign into sixteen map sets or "action sections," enriched with 82 detailed full-page color maps. These cartographic originals bore down to the regimental and battery level, and include the march to and from the battlefield and virtually every significant event in between. At least two (and as many as ten) maps accompany each map set. Keyed to each piece of cartography is a full-facing page of detailed text describing the units, personalities, movements, and combat (including quotes from eyewitnesses) depicted on the accompanying map, all of which make the cavalry actions come alive.

This presentation allows readers to easily and quickly find a map and text on virtually any portion of the campaign. Serious students will appreciate the extensive and authoritative endnotes and complete order of battle, and take it with them on trips to the battlefields. A final bonus is that the maps unlock every other book or article written on any aspect of the cavalry's actions during this important campaign.

Critique: A seminal work of meticulous, detailed, and exhaustive scholarship, "The Maps of the Cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign: An Atlas of Mounted Operations from Brandy Station Through Falling Waters, June 9 - July 14, 1863" is an essential and core addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Civil War collections.

Editorial Note: Dr. Bradley M. Gottfried serves as a board member of the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust. Brad and his wife Linda have four children and five grandchildren. He has recently finished his manuscript on The Maps of Spotsylvania, North Anna, and Cold Harbor Campaigns. He is hard at work on two projects: The Maps of Petersburg and Appomattox and the story of the creation and consecration of the Gettysburg National Cemetery that will be published as part of the Emerging Civil War Series. An avid Civil War historian, Dr. Gottfried is the author of eleven books, including Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade (1999), Brigades of Gettysburg (2002), Kearny's Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade (2005), and five previous Savas Beatie Military Atlas Titles (First Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station/Mine Run, and Wilderness). Brad and his wife recently published a history of the Point Lookout Civil War Prisoner of War Camp for Confederates.

Women Making War
Thomas F. Curran
Southern Illinois University Press
1915 University Press Drive, SIUC Mail Code 6806, Carbondale, IL 62901
www.siupress.com
9780809338030, $26.50, PB, 274pp

https://www.amazon.com/Women-Making-War-Confederate-Prisoners/dp/0809338033

Synopsis: During the American Civil War, more than four hundred women were arrested and imprisoned by the Union Army in the St. Louis area. The majority of these women were fully aware of the political nature of their actions and had made conscious decisions to assist Confederate soldiers in armed rebellion against the U.S. government. Their crimes included offering aid to Confederate soldiers, smuggling, spying, sabotaging, and, rarely, serving in the Confederate army. Historian Thomas F. Curran's extensive research highlights for the first time the female Confederate prisoners in the St. Louis area, and his thoughtful analysis shows how their activities affected Federal military policy.

Early in the war, Union officials felt reluctant to arrest women and waited to do so until their conduct could no longer be tolerated. The war progressed, the women's disloyal activities escalated, and Federal response grew stronger. Some Confederate partisan women were banished to the South, while others were held at Alton Military Prison and other sites. The guerilla war in Missouri resulted in more arrests of women, and the task of incarcerating them became more complicated.

The women's offenses were seen as treasonous by the Federal government. By determining that women (who were excluded from the politics of the male public sphere) were capable of treason, Federal authorities implicitly acknowledged that women acted in ways that had serious political meaning. Nearly six decades before U.S. women had the right to vote, Federal officials who dealt with Confederate partisan women routinely referred to them as citizens. Federal officials created a policy that conferred on female citizens the same obligations male citizens had during time of war and rebellion, and they prosecuted disloyal women in the same way they did disloyal men.

The women arrested in the St. Louis area are only a fraction of the total number of female southern partisans who found ways to advance the Confederate military cause. More significant than their numbers, however, is what the fragmentary records of these women reveal about the activities that led to their arrests, the reactions women partisans evoked from the Federal authorities who confronted them, the impact that women's partisan activities had on Federal military policy and military prisons, and how these women's experiences were subsumed to comport with a Lost Cause myth -- the need for valorous men to safeguard the homes of defenseless women.

Critique: Focusing on a heretofore obscure aspect of the American Civil War, "Women Making War: Female Confederate Prisoners and Union Military Justice" is an extraordinary and seminal study of original, meticulous, and detailed scholarship. Enhanced for academia with thirty-four pages of Notes, an eighteen page Bibliography, and a nine page Index, "Women Making War: Female Confederate Prisoners and Union Military Justice" is an especially valued and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library American Civil War History collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all Civil War buffs that "Women Making War: Female Confederate Prisoners and Union Military Justice" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.31).

Editorial Note: Thomas F. Curran has taught in the department of social studies at Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis since 2003, and before that he taught at Saint Louis University and the University of Notre Dame. For eight years he served as managing editor of the Journal of Policy History. Curran is the author of Soldier of Peace: Civil War Pacifism and the Postwar Radical Peace Movement.

The Impulse of Victory
David A. Powell
Southern Illinois University Press
1915 University Press Drive, SIUC Mail Code 6806, Carbondale, IL 62901
www.siupress.com
9780809338016, $34.50, HC, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Impulse-Victory-Ulysses-Grant-Chattanooga/dp/0809338017

Synopsis: Union soldiers in the Army of the Cumberland, who were trapped and facing starvation or surrender in the fall of 1863, saw the arrival of Major General Ulysses S. Grant in Tennessee as an impetus to reverse the tides of war.

"The Impulse of Victory: Ulysses S. Grant at Chattanooga" by author and American civil war historian David A. Powell is a sophisticated strategic and operational analysis of Grant's command decisions and actions shows how his determined leadership relieved the siege and shattered the enemy, resulting in the creation of a new strategic base of Union operations and Grant's elevation to commander of all the Federal armies the following year.

Powell's detailed exploration of the Union Army of the Cumberland's six-week-long campaign for Chattanooga is complemented by his careful attention to the personal issues Grant faced at the time and his relationships with his superiors and subordinates. Though unfamiliar with the tactical situation, the army, and its officers, Grant delivered another resounding victory. His success, explains Powell, was due to his tactical flexibility, communication with his superiors, perseverance despite setbacks, and dogged determination to win the campaign.

Through attention to postwar accounts, Powell reconciles the differences between what happened and the participants' memories of the events. He focuses throughout on Grant's controversial decisions, showing how they were made and their impact on the campaign. As Powell shows, Grant's choices demonstrate how he managed to be a thoughtful, deliberate commander despite the fog of war.

Critique: An impressively informative and deftly written work of meticulous and descriptively detailed scholarship, "The Impulse of Victory: Ulysses S. Grant at Chattanooga" is a welcome contribution to the growing library of American War Histories. Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of illustrations, and informative Prologue, and Appendix (Order of Battle, Chattanooga Campaign, twenty-two pages of Notes, a twelve page Bibliography, and a seven page Index, "The Impulse of Victory: Ulysses S. Grant at Chattanooga" is an essential, core addition to community, college, and university library American Civil War collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, and American Civil War buffs that "The Impulse of Victory: Ulysses S. Grant at Chattanooga" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $18.98).

Editorial Note: David A. Powell, an expert on the battle of Chickamauga, is the author of nine books on the Civil War, including The Chickamauga Campaign trilogy as well as Battle above the Clouds: Lifting the Siege of Chattanooga and the Battle of Lookout Mountain, October 16 - November 24, 1863.


The Military Shelf

Baker Bandits: Korea's Band of Brothers
Emmett Shelton Jr., author
Cynthia Shelton, editor
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781612008981, $34.95, HC, 384pp

https://www.amazon.com/Baker-Bandits-Koreas-Band-Brothers/dp/1612008984

Synopsis: B-1-5 was a unique company in the Korean War. Tagged 'The Baker Bandits' they fought at Inchon, Naktong, Chosin Reservoir, Guerrilla Hunts and the many numbered hills. They inspired one B Company Commander, Gen. Charlie Cooper, to the extent that when he became Commanding General of the Marines First Division in 1977, his time with B-1-5 inspired his "Band Of Brothers Leadership Principles" used widely in the Corps for many years.

Emmett Shelton was a 19-year-old Marine Reservist in 1950. He was called to duty after graduating Austin High School and, within six months, he was a rifleman in Korea. The Korean winter of 1950 was brutal and Emmett was evacuated shortly after Chosin due to frostbite. After the war, Emmett got on with life, then in the 1980s he attended a Chosin Few Reunion. He was overwhelmed by a need to reconnect with his old Company, his Baker Bandits.

Emmett tracked down B Company members one-by-one and started a newsletter, The Guidon, to share stories and reconnect. For 20 years Emmett published The Guidon, monthly. The contributing readership grew to a high of 300, including a number of young B Company Marines fighting in Afghanistan. The Baker Bandits brings together firsthand accounts from The Guidon, written by the men of B-1-5 about their time in Korea: their battles, their fallen commanders, death in the foxhole, lost platoons, injuries, and what happened to them after the war.

Critique: Deftly edited by Cynthia Shelton (the daughter of Emmett Shelton, who served in Korea and died in 2015), "Baker Bandits: Korea's Band of Brothers" is an invaluable and singularly appreciated addition to community, college, and university library 20th Century American Military History collections in general, and Korean War supplemental curriculum studies lists in particular. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and dedicated military history buffs that "Baker Bandits: Korea's Band of Brothers" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.49).

Invading Hitler's Europe
Roswell K. Doughty
Frontline Books
c/o Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781526773227, $32.95, HC, 328pp

https://www.amazon.com/Invading-Hitlers-Europe-Salerno-Intelligence/dp/1526773228

Synopsis: On the day that Roswell K. Doughty graduated from Boston University he also received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army of the United States of America. That, though, was in 1931 and it was not until 1942 that he was called to active duty to face some of the toughest fighting of the Second World War.

With the rank of 1st Lieutenant, Doughty became an Intelligence Officer with the US 36th (Texas) Division. He subsequently saw action in North Africa, then at the disastrous Salerno landings in Italy where the Allied divisions involved suffered 4,000 casualties about which he reveals that suspected intelligence breaches led to the Allies plans becoming known to the Germans.

Doughty was involved in the grueling battles against the formidable German defenses of the Gustav Line, particularly in the tragic failed attempt to cross the Gari river (Battle of the Rapido River, January 1944) and the struggle to conquer Monte Cassino. After the Anzio landings and the liberation of Rome, Doughty and his infantry regiment, the 141st, took part in the invasion of Southern France in Operation Dragoon, fighting its way up the Rhone River and advancing up to the River Moselle in December 1944. In March 1945, his unit breached the Siegfried Line and crossed into the Germany itself.

Promoted to captain and later to major, Doughty led an Intelligence and Reconnaissance unit, the role of which was to learn what it could of enemy strengths, minefields, useable roads and so on, which involved going behind enemy lines to observe enemy movements firsthand. As an Intelligence Officer, it was also part of Doughty's duties to interrogate enemy prisoners, which led him to being involved in the capture and detention of Reichsmarschall Goring and in negotiating the surrender of the still-armed and hostile German First Army in May 1945.

"Invading Hitler's Europe: From Salerno to the Capture of Goring - the Memoir of a US Intelligence Officer" is the fascinating and diverse account of one officer's part in the liberation of Europe in the Second World War, one which led him from North Africa through Italy and France into the heart of the Third Reich.

Critique: Impressively informative, expertly presented, and inherently interesting read that will be especially appreciated by both academia and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in the World War II European Theatre operations, "Invading Hitler's Europe: From Salerno to the Capture of Goring - the Memoir of a US Intelligence Officer" is an especially recommended, core addition to personal reading lists, as well as community, college, and university library World War II History & Memoir collections.

Editorial Note: Roswell K. Doughty graduated from Boston University in 1931 with an Army ROTC second lieutenancy. He was called up for active duty as an S-2 (Intelligence) officer with the 36th (Texas) Division after the Pearl Harbor attack. He was shipped out April 1, 1943 and served in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany until after VE Day. Doughty later served as a G-1 (staff) officer in Korea from 1952-1953. Returning to civilian life, he worked for the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, residing primarily in New York State. He died residing in Vermont in 2001 at the age of 91.

The CIA War in Kurdistan
Sam Faddis
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781612008349, $34.95, HC, 241pp

https://www.amazon.com/CIA-War-Kurdistan-Untold-Northern-ebook/dp/B086KJFBVT

Synopsis: In 2002, Sam Faddis was named to head a CIA team that would enter Iraq to facilitate the deployment of follow-on conventional military forces numbering over 40,000 American soldiers. This force, built around the 4th Infantry Division, would, in partnership with Kurdish forces and with the assistance of Turkey, engage Saddam's army in the North as part of a coming invasion. Faddis expected to be on the ground in Iraq within weeks, the entire campaign likely to be over by summer. Over the course of the next year, virtually every aspect of that plan for the conduct of the war in northern Iraq fell apart.

The 4th Infantry Division never arrived, nor did any other conventional forces in substantial number. The Turks not only refused to provide support, they worked overtime to prevent the United States from achieving success. And an Arab army that was to assist US forces fell apart before it ever made it to the field.

Alone, hopelessly outnumbered, short on supplies, and threatened by Iraqi assassination teams and Islamic extremists, Faddis's team, working with Kurdish peshmerga, miraculously paved the way for a brilliant and largely bloodless victory in the North and the fall of Saddam's Iraq. That victory, handed over to Washington and the Department of Defense on a silver platter, was then squandered. The decisions that followed would lead to catastrophic consequences that continue to this day.

"The CIA War in Kurdistan: The Untold Story of the Northern Front in the Iraq War" is the true and heretofore untold story of the brave and effective team of men and women who overcame massive odds to help end the nightmare of Saddam's rule. It is also the story of how incompetence, bureaucracy, and ignorance threw that success away and condemned Iraq and the surrounding region to chaos.

Critique: An impressively detailed, documented, and presented study of a major American military operation, "The CIA War in Kurdistan: The Untold Story of the Northern Front in the Iraq War" is deserving of the widest readership possible -- especially when we as a nation are still dealing with the consequences of this troubled and troubling conflict. While very highly recommended, especially for community, college, and university library American Military and Iragi War History collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, military history buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The CIA War in Kurdistan: The Untold Story of the Northern Front in the Iraq War" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Sam Faddis is a retired CIA operations officer, published author, and national security commentator. In addition to writing, speaking, and teaching, he consults for the US military, US government, and private industry.

Clipped Wings
Molly Merryman
New York University Press
838 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10003
www.nyupress.org
9781479805761, $85.32, HC, 280pp

https://www.amazon.com/Clipped-Wings-Airforce-Service-Pilots/dp/1479805769

Synopsis: During World War II, all branches of the military had women's auxiliaries. Only the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, however, was made up entirely of women who undertook dangerous military missions more commonly associated with and desired by men.

Within military hierarchies, the World War II pilot was perceived as the most dashing and desirable of servicemen. "Flyboys" were the daring elite of the United States military. More than the WACs (Army), WAVES (Navy), SPARS (Coast Guard), or Women Marines, the WASPs directly challenged these assumptions of male supremacy in wartime culture. WASPs flew the fastest fighter planes and heaviest bombers; they test-piloted experimental models and worked in the development of weapons systems. Yet the WASPs were the only women's auxiliary within the armed services of World War II that was not militarized.

In "Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II", author and academician Molly Merryman draws upon military documents (many of which weren't declassified until the 1990s) congressional records, and interviews with the women who served as WASPs during World War II to trace the history of the over one thousand pilots who served their country as the first women to fly military planes. She examines the social pressures that culminated in their disbandment in 1944 (even though a wartime need for their services still existed) and documents their struggles and eventual success, in 1977, to gain military status and receive veterans' benefits.

In the preface to this reissued edition of "Clipped Wings", Merryman also reflects on the changes in women's aviation in the past twenty years, as NASA's new Artemis program promises to land the first female astronaut on the moon and African American and lesbian women are among the newest pilot recruits. Updating the story of the WASPs, Merryman reveals that even in the past few years there have been more battles for them to fight and more national recognition for them to receive. At its heart, the story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots is not about war or planes; it is a story about persistence and extraordinary achievement. These accomplished women pilots did more than break the barriers of flight; they established a model for equality.

Critique: An impressively informative and comprehensive military history, "Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II" is a seminal work of meticulous research and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library World War II Military & Aviation history collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, military buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Clipped Wings" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781479805785, $30.00) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $1.99).

Editorial Note: Molly Merryman is the founding director of Kent State University's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality and an associate professor of Sociology. She is also a documentary filmmaker and the Historic Research Producer for the WASP documentary Coming Home (2020). Merryman is the research director for Queer Britain, the UK's national LGBTQ+ Museum.


The Literary Fiction Shelf

A Small Earnest Question
J. F. Riordan
Beaufort Books
27 West 20th Street, Suite 1102, New York, NY 10011
www.beaufortbooks.com
9780825308925, $24.95, HC, 375pp

https://www.amazon.com/Small-Earnest-Question-North-Tension/dp/0825308925

Synopsis: It's spring on Washington Island. Despite her concerns about Roger's desire to bartend, Elisabeth is eager to plan a grand opening for their newly remodeled hotel, but she quickly realizes that she may also need to make accommodations for Roger's proposed goat yoga classes.

Bored and lonely, Oliver Robert joins bartender Eddie in forming a great books club at Nelsen's, and Emily Martin, determined to make her mark on the community, forms a new Committee of the Concerned.

When Emily decides that the Island needs a literary festival, complete with a famous author, she imprudently seeks out a notorious celebrity, hoping, as always, to enhance her own prestige.

Real estate agent Marcie Landmeier confides that an unknown someone is buying up the Island's shoreline, newly-appointed Fire Chief Jim Freeberg contends with a string of suspicious fires, and Pali and Ben have a spiritual encounter that will change them both.

Meanwhile, drawn once more into local controversy, and awash in suspicion herself, Fiona Campbell must determine the answers to questions that will affect her future, and the future of the entire Island.

Critique: Set on a remote island in the Great Lakes,"A Small Earnest Question" is Book Four in the outstanding North of the Tension Line series from novelist J. F. Riordan. A deftly crafted and engagingly entertaining story from beginning to end, "A Small Earnest Question" will be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Contemporary American Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of dedicated Riordan fans that "A Small Earnest Question" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.99).

Mademoiselle de Malepeire
Fanny Reybaud, author
Barbara Basbanes Richter, translator
Bancroft Press
PO Box 65360, Baltimore, MD 21209
www.bancroftpress.com
9781610885201, $17.95, HC, 188pp

https://www.amazon.com/Mademoiselle-Malepeire-Fanny-Reybaud-Translated/dp/1610885201

Synopsis: Originally published in1854, "Mademoiselle de Malepeire" is a novel by Fanny Reybuad that focuses on a portrait of the portrait of the real life Mademoiselle de Malepeire, which hung in Dom Gerusac's home in the countryside of southern France just before the first French Revolution.

Noted for her beauty, Mademoiselle de Malepeire had been painted by her well-to-do suitor, who was enthralled with her beauty and able to disregard her cold and haughty demeanor. Her eventual love story is pieced together in Dom Gerusac's home as many unexpected guests join him, and Mademoiselle de Malepeire's dramatic new identity is revealed.

A fast-paced and delightful mystery, Reybaud's novel, in Richter's hands, is a clever, inspiring gem that can still pull at the hearts of 21st century people, and perhaps, in this newest translation, will revive interest in Reybaud, once a bestselling French female novelist and considered the equal of fellow female French novelist George Sand.

Critique: An inherently fascinating and entertaining read, "Mademoiselle de Malepeire" has been rescued from obscurity and ably translated into English for an American readership by Barbara Basbanes Richter. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Mademoiselle de Malepeire" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.69).

Editorial Note: Fanny Reybaud was a 19th Century French writer who, at her zenith, authored no fewer than thirty novels, in addition to numerous short stories and poems, and saw many of her works translated into Spanish, English, and German. She frequented literary salons with the likes of Honore de Balzac, Frederic Mistral, and Alphonse Daudet. In her writing, Reybaud remains faithful to the written tradition of Proven‡al storytelling-an oral, conversational tale with opposing voices and differing opinions that is at once accessible and immensely readable.

By November of 1870, when Reybaud quietly died unmourned and unnoticed in a remote corner of southwestern France, Napoleon III had already suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of Otto von Bismarck in the Battle of Sedan, assuring a Prussian victory and the fall of the Second Empire. In short, she lapsed into literary obscurity because there were other pressing national issues on the eve of her death, yet twenty-seven years earlier, Reybaud made the rounds of the glittering Parisian literary circuit and was beloved by all she met.

Suburban Souls
Maria Espinosa
Tailwinds Press
http://www.tailwindspress.com
9781732848023, $14.00, PB, 232pp

https://www.amazon.com/Suburban-Souls-Maria-Espinosa/dp/1732848025

Synopsis: Against the vibrant and liberated backdrop of 1970's San Francisco, a husband and wife (both Jewish immigrants) are indelibly traumatized by their childhoods in Nazi Germany and face the turbulence of an increasingly sterile marriage.

Saul, an emotionally withdrawn scientist, escapes into New Age mysticism with Shivaya, a self-styled clairvoyant Danish healer. Gerda drifts in and out of psychiatric care as her loosening grip on reality leaves its mark on their teenage daughter, Hannah.

"Suburban Souls" by Maria Espinosa is an unflinching portrait of a woman's downward spiral into the nightmare of modern domesticity, as the author deftly weaves a deceptively simple tale about the terror of abandonment and the mysterious nature of suffering.

Critique: An inherently compelling read from cover to cover, "Suburban Souls" showcases the author Maria Espinosa's genuine flair for originality, the creation of distinctively remarkable characters, and the kind of narrative storytelling that will engage and retain the reader's rapt attention from first page to last. While especially and unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Suburban Souls" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.49).

Editorial Note: Maria Espinosa is the author of five novels, including "Longing", which won the 1996 American Book Award; two collections of poetry (one of which was praised by Anais Nin as being very sincere and direct and rich in feeling); and a translation of George Sand's "Lelia". The 2010 winner of the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, she has also taught creative writing and contemporary literature at New College of California and English as a Second Language at City College of San Francisco.

Lazarus Rising
Joseph Caldwell
Delphinium
https://www.delphiniumbooks.com
9781883285999, $24.95, HC, 244pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lazarus-Rising-Novel-Joseph-Caldwell/dp/1883285992

Synopsis: "Lazarus Rising" takes place during 1992, when AIDS was still an incurable scourge and death casualties were every day events. One cold winter night, when the artist, Dempsey Coates, is on the way home to her loft, she encounters a several alarm blaze, water jetting every which way from hydrants and ends up offering several fireman a place to get warm.

One of them is Johnny Donegan, a passionate lad who falls madly in love with her and is determined, through prayer and sheer perseverance, to make a life with Dempsey that will be unimpeded by the specter of her illness. But when the couple is finally blessed with an unexpected stroke of good luck, this very twist of fate that promises an enduring future ends up coming between them in a very tragic and unforeseen way.

Critique: "Lazarus Rising" is a dark, propulsive novel and the crowning literary masterwork by the 92-year-old Caldwell. A gritty, gripping, emotionally intense and impressively original novel by a master of the kind of narrative storytelling style that is essential of a memorable work of literary excellence, "Lazarus Rising" is unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections.

Editorial Note: Joseph Caldwell is an acclaimed playwright and novelist who was awarded the Rome Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the author of five novels in addition to The Pig Trilogy, a humorous mystery series featuring a crime-solving pig. His most recent memoir, "In the Shadow of the Bridge", was published by Delphinium in 2019.


The Western Fiction Shelf

A Dark Dawn in Texas
Richard Smith
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444845365, $20.99, PB, Large Print, 240pp

https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781444845365

Synopsis: On her deathbed in the spring of 1875, Laura Peters shocks her son Paul by belatedly revealing that his uncle did not die alongside his father in the bloody confrontation at Gettysburg twelve years before. She urges Paul to ride west in a quest to find this long lost relative who holds a guilty secret from those dreadful Civil War days. With mixed emotions he takes up the challenge, eventually arriving in the Texas town of Ongar Ridge -- only to find himself accused of murdering the man he has been seeking!

Critique: Another deftly scripted western novel with an unforseen and surprising finale, "A Dark Dawn in Texas" by Richard Smith has a crooked mayor, a powerful rancher, ruthless gunfighters, a possibly crooked sheriff and deputy, a sympathetic landlady, a violent blacksmith, and a seemingly never ending mystery to solve. This large print edition from the Linford Western Library will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Western Fiction collections and is especially commended to the personal reading lists of western novel fans who like a little mystery along with their action/adventure!

Day of the Hired Gun
Ethan Flagg
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444845402, $20.99, PB, Large Print, 248pp

https://www.ulverscroft.com/title.php?sqlCmd=isbn%3D9781444845402

Synopsis: Hired gunfighter Cole 'Kingpin' Jardine is planning to retire when he receives a mysterious job offer from the Colorado town of Red Mesa. He's all set to ignore it when his partner Waco Santee arrives to announce that the army are hot on their heels. Evading them and separating from Santee, Cole rides to Red Mesa, only to find himself being challenged to a shoot-out by a old rancher who claims the hired gun's employer wants to steal his land. What will he decide - especially when Santee arrives to back the opposing side?

Critique: Once again veteran western novelist Ethan Flagg has created a non-stop, action-packed, guns blazing adventures complete with a lovely and headstrong young woman, a lethally jealous ranch foreman, and a cattle drive with unexpected and decidedly dangerous difficulties for all hands. A terrific entertainment from cover to cover, "Day of the Hired Gun" is one of Ethan Flagg's best to date and this large print paperback edition from the Linford Western Library is very highly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Western Fiction collections.

Riding High
T. T. Flynn
Sagebrush Large Print Westerns
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781785418617, $35.59, PB, Large Print, 252pp

https://www.amazon.com/Riding-High-T-Flynn/dp/1785418610

Synopsis: When the tall stranger rides quietly into town, nobody pays him much mind. Another drifter, they think, on his way to St. Jo. But Mike Shafter is anything but a drifter -- he means to stay in Azul. And before the night ends, he will challenge the power of the Wolcotts, who own Azul lock, stock and gun barrel. He will defy their order to leave town, and furthermore, he will slap down the vicious Wolcott nephew, contemptuously refusing to go for his gun. Finally, he will take on Con McCloud, who has beaten and killed on Wolcott orders. For that matter, Mike Shafter will take on the whole town, because he knows that somewhere nearby lies the answer to his father's death and the murder of his best friend.

Critique: A fully action packed western with more gun blazing twists, disastrous turns and lethal surprises than a raging Colorado River in full flood, "Riding High" is a riveting read and this large print edition will prove to be a very special and popular addition to both the reading lists of dedicated western fans and community library western novel collections.

The Fury Of Zococa
Roy Patterson
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444844436, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 200pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fury-Zococa-Roy-Patterson/dp/1444844431

Synopsis: Enraged by the actions of ruthless hired gun Holt Danvers in killing rancher Frank Carver and leaving his young daughter Mary on the verge of death, flamboyant Mexican bandit Zococa and his mute Apache sidekick Tahoka vow vengeance against the heartless and murderous assassin for hire. After leaving the severely injured Mary in the care of the monks at the San Maria mission, Zococa and his silent friend ride in pursuit of Danvers. The trail leads to the lawless town of Diablo. There they encounter two governments agents on the same mission -- kill Holt Danvers by any means possible. Can Zococa honor his vow of gun vengeance before the giant Tahoka wreaks his own brand of Apache vengeance?

Critique: A rivetingly entertaining read from beginning to end, "The Fury Of Zococa" is still another simply outstanding western action/adventure from the imaginative pen of author Roy Patterson and will prove to be a memorable and enduringly welcome addition to both personal reading lists and community library western novel collections.

Valeron's Justice
Terrell L. Bowers
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444844382, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Valerons-Justice-Terrell-L-Bowers/dp/1444844385

Synopsis; Brother and sister Nash and Wendy Valeron didn't expect that starting up a doctor's practice would be so lively. But when a young woman rushes in and begs them to hide her, their lives are turned upside down. What begins as protecting Trina from a couple of bullies turns out to include land grabbing, murder, and a corrupt asylum. Only the combined strength and savvy of several members of the Valeron family can foil the wrong-doers' sinister plans. Who will be left standing after the blood and gunsmoke finally clear?

Critique: Another fun read featuring the Valeron clan, "Valeron's Justice" by Terrell L. Bowers is another original action/adventure western by a true master of the genre. This large print paperback edition is unabashedly recommended for the personal reading lists of all dedicated western fans, and will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Western Fiction collections.

The Wizard Of War Smoke
Michael D. George
Linford Western Library
c/o Ulverscroft Large Print (USA), Inc.
PO Box 1230, West Seneca, NY 14224-1230
www.ulverscroftusa.com
9781444844412, $21.49, PB, Large Print, 200pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wizard-War-Smoke-Michael-George/dp/1444844415

Synopsis: Marshal Matt Fallen and his young deputy Elmer Hook have never seen the western town of War Smoke so busy. People are gathering for the opening night of the Tivoli theatre, and top of the bill is the famed Mezmo, an illusionist who can reputedly mesmerize anyone into doing his bidding. When a series of murders targeting the town's four wealthiest men occurs before the show begins, Fallen is convinced that Mezmo is to blame. But as more men fall victim to the mysterious assassin, can Marshal Fallen outwit the Wizard of War Smoke and discover the truth behind the slayings?

Critique: Another riveting read from the prolific and accomplished western novelist Michael D. George, "The Wizard Of War Smoke" deftly combines elements of detective work, gun play, and a bit of magical hocus pocus leading to a completely unexpected finale. The result is a unique western novel that will prove to be an enduringly popular addition to community library Western Fiction and Large Print collections.


The Mystery/Suspense Shelf

Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons
James Lovegrove
Titan Comics
https://titan-comics.com
9781789094695, $19.99, HC, 384pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Beast-Stapletons-Lovegrove/dp/1789094690

Synopsis: By 1894 the monstrous Hound of the Baskervilles has been dead for five years, along with its no less monstrous owner, the naturalist Jack Stapleton. Sir Henry Baskerville is living contentedly at Baskerville Hall with his new wife Audrey and their three-year-old son Harry.

Until, that is, Audrey's lifeless body is found on the moors, drained of blood. It would appear some fiendish creature is once more at large on Dartmoor and has, like its predecessor, targeted the unfortunate Baskerville family.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are summoned to Sir Henry's aid, and our heroes must face a marauding beast that is the very stuff of nightmares. It seems that Stapleton may not have perished in the Great Grimpen Mire after all, as Holmes believed, and is hell-bent on revenge!

Critique: A deftly crafted and worthy addition to the ever growing library of Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, "Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons" by James Lovegrove will prove to be an immediately welcome and enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of all dedicated Sherlock Holmes fans that "Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of the Stapletons" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: James Lovegrove is the author of The Age of Odin. He was short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1998 and for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 2004, and also reviews fiction for the Financial Times. He is the author of Firefly: Big Damn Hero with Nancy Holder and Firefly: The Magnificent Nine, and several Sherlock Holmes novels for Titan Books.

Sherlock Holmes: The Spider's Web
Philip Purser-Hallard
Titan Comics
https://titan-comics.com
9781785658440, $14.95, PB, 400pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Spiders-Philip-Purser-Hallard/dp/1785658441

Synopsis: It is 1897, and Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate a mysterious death at a society ball, hosted by a family with a remarkable past.

After an unidentified man pitches to his death from a balcony during a party hosted by the famed Ernest Moncrieff, Viscount Goring asks Holmes and Watson to prove the innocence of his wife, who is suspected of the crime. But members of this elite circle, including the indomitable Lady Bracknell, are just as concerned with their interference as they are the identity of the murderer.

For though the history of Ernest Moncrieff, alias Jack Worthing, is well known, there may be more to the story of his discovery as a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station. And why did the dead man give his name as 'Mr Bunbury'? Soon Holmes and Watson are on the trail of a mysterious blackmailer who trades in the shameful secrets of an elite circle.

Critique: A gem of a Sherlock Holmes mystery that pays true homage to Conan Doyle's legendary detective, "The Spider's Web" is an original mystery that will have a very special appeal to all Sherlock Holmes fans. While very highly recommended for community library Mystery/Suspense collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists of all dedicated mystery buffs that "The Spider's Web" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99).

Editorial Note: Philip Purser-Hallard is the author of the trilogy of urban fantasy thrillers beginning with The Pendragon Protocol, and the editor of a series of anthologies about the City of the Saved. As well as writing various other books and short stories, Phil edits The Black Archive, a series of monographs about individual Doctor Who stories published by Obverse Books.

The Book of Extraordinary New Sherlock Holmes Stories
Maxim Jakubowski, editor
Mango Publishing
9781642504323, $18.95, PB, 281pp

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Extraordinary-Sherlock-Holmes-Stories/dp/1642504327

Synopsis: In the pages of "The Book of Extraordinary New Sherlock Holmes Stories: The Best New Original Stores of the Genre", the world's most famous detective once again returns in a wealth of new short stories. An icon of detective fiction, readers have come across Sherlock Holmes and his mythical stories of crime and adventure for generations. In this new short story anthology from Maxim Jakubowski, fans will reunite with their beloved British detective, and once again marvel at his powers of deduction and his unerring quest for the truth.

A cornucopia of British detectives, dark deeds, and derring-do and collected by one of the detective fiction genre's eminent editors, "The Book of Extraordinary New Sherlock Holmes Stories" features the timeless detective alongside favorite characters, friends and enemies alike, including the infamous Professor Moriarty and faithful companion Doctor Watson.

Critique: Expertly compiled and edited by Maxim Jakubowski, the fifteen original short stories, each by a dedicated author in full support of Conan Doyle's iconic detective, "The Book of Extraordinary New Sherlock Holmes Stories: The Best New Original Stores of the Genre" is certain to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community, college, and university library collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of the legions of Sherlock Holmes fans that "The Book of Extraordinary New Sherlock Holmes Stories: The Best New Original Stores of the Genre" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $14.24).

Editorial Note: Currently residing in London, England, Maxim Jakubowski is a novelist and editor. He opened the world-famous Murder One bookshop in London in 1988. He has compiled two acclaimed annual series for the Mammoth list, Best New Erotica and Best British Crime. He is also a recipient of the Anthony and Karel awards, a frequent TV and radio broadcaster, crime columnist for the Guardian newspaper, and Literary Director of London's Crime Scene Festival.


The Graphic Novel Shelf

Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia Part 1
Steven Moffat, author
Mark Gatiss, author
Jay, illustrator
Titan Comics
https://titan-comics.com
9781787733169, $19.99, PB, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Scandal-Belgravia-Jay/dp/1787733165

Synopsis: Fresh from confronting Moriarty in the end of The Great Game, Sherlock Holmes and his trusty companion John Watson are called to save the royal family from blackmail at the hands of Irene Adler, an infamous dominatrix known as "The Woman". Once again Adler pulls Sherlock into a complex web of mysteries involving the CIA and the MOD, with secrets that could threaten to threaten international security and topple the monarchy.

Critique: Pure entertainment for all Sherlock Holmes fans, "Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia Part 1" is a deftly crafted graphic novel that will leave its readers looking eagerly toward the next installment from Titan Comics. Herein are all the elements that have made the world's greatest detective so popular, generation after generation of mystery/suspense enthusiasts. While fully recommended for community library graphic novel collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that this graphic novel edition of "Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia Part 1" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle/comiXology, $12,34).


The Library CD Shelf

Jingle Bell Rock: Special Nashville Edition
Bobby Helms
Country Rewind Records
$9.98 CD / $1.29 MP3

https://www.amazon.com/Jingle-Bell-Rock-Special-Nashville/dp/B07JZ5BMK6

Originally recorded in the 1980's and produced by Charlie Ammerman, Jingle Bell Rock: Special Nashville Edition showcases talented American country music singer Bobby Helms (1933-1997) performing classic Christmas songs. Grammy-winning record producer Robby Turner updated these tracks in 2018 with vocal backing and instrumentation, creating a high-quality holiday celebration for the twenty-first century. Jingle Bell Rock: Special Nashville Edition is a treasure for household and public library collections alike, highly recommended! The tracks are "Jingle Bell Rock", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Winter Wonderland", "White Christmas", "Another Christmas Without You", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Silver Bells", "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer", "I Want To Go To Santa Claus Land", and "Jingle Bells".


The Economic Studies Shelf

Capitalism and Freedom
Milton Friedman
University of Chicago Press
1427 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
www.press.uchicago.edu
9780226734798, $18.00, PB, 287pp

https://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Freedom-Milton-Friedman-dp-022673479X/dp/022673479X

Synopsis: How can we benefit from the promise of government while avoiding the threat it poses to individual freedom? "Capitalism and Freedom" is Milton Friedman's classic study in which he provides the definitive statement of an immensely influential economic philosophy -- one in which competitive capitalism serves as both a device for achieving economic freedom and a necessary condition for political freedom.

Critique: First published in 1962, this newly published edition of "Capitalism and Freedom" from the University of Chicago Press features a new foreword by Binyamin Appelbaum and continues to be one of the most significant works of economic theory ever written and is an essential, core edition to all community, college, and university library Economic Theory collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Capitalism and Freedom" is also readily available in a digital book format (eTextbook, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 - November 16, 2006), was a Nobel Prize winner for excellence in economics, was a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and the Paul Snowden Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago. His many published books include Essays in Positive Economics, Monetary Trends in the United States and the United Kingdom, and Milton Friedman on Economics, all published by the University of Chicago Press.


The Political Science Shelf

Strongman
Kenneth C. Davis
Henry Holt & Company
www.henryholt.com
9781250205643, $19.99, HC, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Strongman-Rise-Five-Dictators-Democracy/dp/1250205646

Synopsis: What makes a country fall to a dictator? How do authoritarian leaders (known as strongmen) become capable of killing millions to acquire their power? How are they able to defeat the ideal of democracy? And what can we do to make sure it doesn't happen again?

By profiling five of the most notoriously ruthless dictators in history (Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Saddam Hussein) in the pages of "Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy ", author and historian Kenneth C. Davis seeks to answer these questions, examining the forces in these strongmen's personal lives and historical periods that shaped the leaders they'd become.

Meticulously researched and complete with photographs, "Strongman" provides useful insights into the lives of five leaders who callously transformed the world and serves as an invaluable resource in an era when democracy itself seems in peril.

Critique: With the existential threat to democracy that the Trump administration (including the political impotence of Congressional Republicans in the House and especially in the Senate) presented on an almost daily basis over the past four years, "Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy" is an incredibly timely contribution to our on-going national dialogue with the coming to power of the Biden administration. Clearly Donald J. Trump and his more than 71 million supporters and the spinelessly subservient elected Republicans in the Congress show that the demise of a functioning democracy and the rise of an authoritarian strongman could very well happen here.

While unreservedly recommended for all community, college, and university library Contemporary Political Science collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, political activists, elected politicians, governmental policy makers, judges, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Strongman: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy" is also readily available in a digital book format ($9.99).

Editorial Note: Kenneth C. Davis is a frequent media guest and has appeared on hundreds of television and radio shows, including NPR, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, and CNN. He has been a commentator for All Things Considered, and has written for the New York Times Op-Ed page, Smithsonian, Washington Post, CNN.com and other national publications.

Civil Liberties in Real Life
Timothy C. Shiell, editor
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
www.cambridgescholars.com
9781527557086, $105.00, HC, 245pp

https://www.amazon.com/Civil-Liberties-Real-Timothy-Shiell/dp/1527557081

Synopsis: "Civil Liberties in Real Life" is comprised of contributions by eight US authors who break new ground with multidisciplinary perspectives and an exciting range of real-life topics concerning the central question, What is civil liberty? The individual contributions collectively dive into such contemporary political issues as freedom of speech, religious freedom, freedom of assembly, and much more, while also examining how and why marginalized groups such as African Americans, women, and queers used civil liberties in their struggle for equality.

The topics covered in this impressive volume of seminal scholarship range from considering how we can moderate the corrupting influences of luxury and consumerism promoted by private property rights to the dilemma of teaching politically controversial civil liberty topics and the role of free speech in the classroom.

Critique: Simply stated, "Civil Liberties in Real Life: Steven Studies" is essential reading for anyone interested in civil liberty, whether an expert, novice, or in-between. Thoughtful and thought provoking "Civil Liberties in Real Life" is a timely and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and university library Political Science, Contemporary Social Issues & Philosophy collections.

Editorial Note: Timothy C. Shiell is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He edited Legal Philosophy: Selected Readings (1993) and authored two editions of Campus Hate Speech on Trial (1998 and 2009, as well as African Americans and the First Amendment (2019). He has published dozens of book chapters, articles and book reviews, and is an activist defending civil liberties through policy development, shared governance, membership in national committees and organizations, and individual agitation and petition.

Democratic Theory Naturalized
Walter Horn
Lexington Books
c/o Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.rlpgbooks.com
9781793624956, $105.00, HC, 262pp

https://www.amazon.com/Democratic-Theory-Naturalized-Foundations-Distilled/dp/179362495X

Synopsis: With the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency, once again the term populism is prominent in the national political dialogue. To some, the word populism suggests the tyranny of the mob; to others, it suggests a xenophobic nativism. It is often even considered conducive to (if not simply identical to) fascism.

In "Democratic Theory Naturalized: The Foundations of Distilled Populism", Walter Horn uses his theory of "CHOICE Voluntarism" to offer solutions to some of the most perplexing problems in democratic theory and distill populism to its core premise: giving people the power to govern themselves without any constraints imposed by those on the left or the right. Beginning with explanations of what it means to vote and what makes one society better off than another, Horn analyzes what makes for fair aggregation and appropriate, deliberative representation. Through his examination of the American government, Horn suggests solutions to contemporary problems such as gerrymandering, immigration control, and campaign finance, and offers answers to age-old questions like why dissenters should obey the majority and who should have the right to vote in various elections.

Critique: Erudite, insightful, thoughtful and thought-provoking, "Democratic Theory Naturalized: The Foundations of Distilled Populism" is an extraordinarily timely contribution to our on-going national discussion and analysis of contemporary politics both nationally and regionally. Providing a useful analysis of native populism's threat to the democratic norms of American democracy as established over the past two centuries, as well as possible solutions to restoring and safe-guarding those political norms, "Democratic Theory Naturalized: The Foundations of Distilled Populism" is an especially an unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Political Science collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, political activists, politicians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject the Democratic Theory Naturalized" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $99.50).


The Religious Studies Shelf

The Church in the Roman Empire: Before A.D. 170
William M. Ramsay
Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 West 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401-2960
http://wipfandstock.com
9781725290167, $76.00, HC, 542pp

https://www.amazon.com/Church-Roman-Empire-William-Ramsay/dp/1725290162

Synopsis: Originally published by Baker Book House in 1897, "The Church in the Roman Empire: Before A.D. 170" by William M. Ramsay has been brought back into print for the benefit of a new generation of readers with an interest in the earliest accounts of the Christian movement for the first 170 years after the crucifixion of Jesus and the movement that would one day result in taking over the entire Roman Empire.

Organized into two major sections (St. Paul in Asia Minor; Being Lecutres At Mansfield College, Oxford, May And June 1892), "The Church in the Roman Empire: Before A.D. 170" is impressively informative both from an historical perspective and in terms of its intrinsic scholarship.

Critique: An exceptional compendium of historic import, "The Church in the Roman Empire: Before A.D. 170" is especially recommended for seminary, church, community, college, and university library Christian History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of seminary students, clergy, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The Church in the Roman Empire: Before A.D. 170" is also readily available in a photomechanically reproduced paperback edition (9781725290174, $51.00).

Editorial Note: Sir William M. Ramsay is acknowledged as the outstanding authority on the life of Paul and the history of the early church. Wilbur M. Smith spoke of him as "the greatest living authority on the historical, geographical and archaeological aspects of the life of the Apostle Paul." Ramsay for the greater part of his life was professor of humanity at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He carried on extensive research in Asiatic Turkey and the ancient Bible lands. Among the many books presenting the results of his study are St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen and The Cities of St. Paul.

Myth, Magic, and Morals
F. C. Conybeare
Andesite Press
c/o Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 West 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401-2960
http://wipfandstock.com
9781725289093, $62.00, HC, 396pp

https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Magic-Morals-F-Conybeare/dp/1725289091

Synopsis: F.C. Conybeare (1856-1924) was a British Orientalist, Fellow of University College, Oxford, and Professor of Theology at the University of Oxford. He was particularly noted for his attainments in Armenian and was a member of the Venetian Armenian Academy.

As stated by Professor Conybeare in the introduction to "Myth, Magic, and Morals: A Study of Christian Origins" -- Of all the great figures which look down upon us across the gulf and void of time, Jesus of Nazareth is the most gracious and winning of aspect; and, although his memory was soon associated with that policy of craft and exclusiveness, of cruelty and credulity, which in East and West styled itself orthodoxy, nevertheless his name has ever been for the poor and the oppressed, for the despised and disinherited of the earth, a bond and symbol in union of peace and charity.

It behooves us, then, more than ever in this age when old faiths are loosening their hold on us, and new superstitions, like Spiritualism, Occultism, and Christian Science, threaten to imprison our minds afresh, to inquire carefully who Jesus of Nazareth was, what were his real aims and ideas, what the means at his command for realizing them, how the great institutions connected with his name originated and grew up.

Critique: Originally published in 1909, "Myth, Magic, and Morals: A Study of Christian Origins" continues to be regarded as a seminal work of ecclesiastical scholarship. This photomechanically reproduced edition from Wipf and Stock Publishers is an ideal and especially addition to church, seminary, community, college, and university library Christian Theology collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for seminary students, clergy, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the origins of Christianity that "Myth, Magic, and Morals" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781725289079, $15.95).


The Library Science Shelf

Bold Minds
Margaret Weaver & Leo Appleton, editors
Facet Publishing
www.facetpublishing.co.uk
9781783304530, $108.84, PB, 244pp

https://www.amazon.com/Bold-Minds-Library-Leadership-Disruption/dp/1783304537

Synopsis: In this new ages of social media and computer search engines are librarians and libraries still relevant in the 21st century? This is a fundamental question and one that presents differing opinions across the many diverse information sectors. If there is a continuing need for libraries and for librarians, then how do library leaders obtain strategic support when there appears to be a lack of clarity or understanding about the very purpose of libraries at a time when economically, libraries are under pressure to develop new business models and be more commercially focused?

Compiled and edited by the team of veteran librarians Marget Weaver and Leo Appleton, "Bold Minds: Library Leadership in a Time of Disruption" brings together international leaders who frame many aspects of the current library provision and who carry responsibility for the library models of the future to consider how librarians and libraries can be a driving force in a time of disruptive economic, technological, and cultural change.

Each individual chapter critically presents a short leadership provocation regarding libraries and their purpose, encompassing impact, service delivery, collections, staff skills, and professional training and assessing what it means for leaders, their sectors and organizations, and how they have developed their personal leadership signature.

"Bold Minds: Library Leadership in a Time of Disruption" will be invaluable to library and information professionals in a range of public and private sector libraries as well as policy makers in services where libraries are a component. It will also be useful for students, educational establishments, and IT professionals with an information management element to their work.

Critique; An absolutely essential and core addition to public, private, college, and university Library Science collections, "Bold Minds: Library Leadership in a Time of Disruption" should be considered a mandatory addition to Library Science supplemental curriculum reading lists, as well as an ideal in-service training textbook for serving librarians.

Editorial Note: Margaret Weaver is former interim Head of Library Services at Brunel University London. A founding member of the Northern Collaboration group of academic libraries, she has also chaired the (North West Academic Libraries (NoWAL) collaboration and has contributed to the professional literature throughout her career on subjects such as management and leadership, strategic staff development, learning support models, technology rich learning spaces and latterly libraries and the student journey. She is an Associate of the Higher Education Academy and a Chartered member of CILIP, the Library and Information Association.

Leo Appleton is Director of Library Services at Goldsmiths, University of London and is a researcher for the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University, where he is currently undertaking research in the value and impact of public libraries in the UK. He has worked in numerous leadership and management roles in universities and further education colleges throughout his career and is a fellow of CILIP, the Library and Information Assocation. Leo is the editor of CILIP's Multimedia, Information and Technology journal, associate editor of the New Review of Academic Librarianship and co-editor of UKSG eNews.

Electronic Legal Deposit
Paul Gooding & Melissa Terras, editors
Facet Publishing
www.facetpublishing.co.uk
9781783303779, $121.99, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Legal-Deposit-collections-Information/dp/1783303778

Synopsis: Since legal deposit regulations were introduced in the United Kingdom and Germany in the 17th Century, societies have benefitted from the systematic preservation of our written cultural record by a small number of trusted national and academic libraries. Expertly compiled and co-edited by the team of Paul Gooding and Melissa Terras, "Electronic Legal Deposit: Shaping the library collections of the future" brings together some of the leading contemporary international authorities on legal deposit to explore two primary questions. First, what is the impact of electronic legal deposit on the 21st Century library? And second, what does the future hold for libraries as legal deposit collections meet the digital age?

The 2013 announcement of e-Legal Deposit brought, for the first time, written information online under the purview of the UK Legal Deposit Libraries, a trend evident across the world. This was heralded as a vital step in preserving the UK's digital universe , a grand assertion that requires careful interrogation. In particular, while the regulations allow for the systematic collection of digitised and born-digital texts, they also prescribe how these materials can be accessed by the public in the short to medium term. The interface between legal deposit as an activity for posterity, and open data-driven approaches to research and government, define the nature of this mooted digital universe.

The contributors to "Electronic Legal Deposit" draws on evidence gathered from real-world case studies produced in collaboration with world-leading libraries, researchers and practitioners, as well as provide a thorough overview of the state of legal deposit at an important juncture in the history of library collections.

"Electronic Legal Deposit" directly addresses issues such as: Contemporary user behavior with e-legal deposit collections; The relationship between e-legal deposit, digital library services, and the digital divide; Ways in which legal deposit legislation shape our use of library collections; The impact of digital scholarship on library services; The future of legal deposit in a changing information landscape; The long-term implications of how our digital collections are conceived, regulated and used.

Critique: Exceptionally well organized and presented, in addition to the ten erudite and informative essays, "Electronic Legal Deposit: Shaping the library collections of the future" also includes a complete listing of the contributors and their credentials, as well as an informative Foreword by Bethany Nowviskie, figures, tables, and a nine page Index -- making this volume an essential and core addition to college and university Library Science collections, and an ideal curriculum textbook for library in-service training programs.

Editorial Note: Paul Gooding is the Eastern ARC Research Fellow for Digital Humanities at the University of East Anglia, UK. A trained librarian with a background in Media Librarianship, his research explores the theoretical and practical impact of large-scale digitization in the cultural heritage sector. He currently serves as reviews editor for the journal Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, and as a member of the AHRC Peer Review College. He is currently working on an AHRC-funded project entitled Digital Library Futures which explores the impact of electronic legal deposit legislation in the academic library sector. His first monograph, on the impact of mass digitization on library services and users of newspapers, was published with Routledge in 2016.

Melissa Terras is the Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage at the University of Edinburgh's College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. With a background in Classical Art History, English Literature, and Computing Science, her doctorate (Engineering, University of Oxford) examined how to use advanced information engineering technologies to interpret and read Roman texts. Her publications include Image to Interpretation: Intelligent Systems to Aid Historians in the Reading of the Vindolanda Texts (2006, Oxford University Press) and Digital Images for the Information Professional (2008, Ashgate) and she has also co-edited various volumes such as Digital Humanities in Practice (Facet 2012) and Defining Digital Humanities: A Reader (Ashgate 2013). She is currently serving on the Board of Curators of the University of Oxford Libraries, and the Board of the National Library of Scotland, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and Fellow of the British Computer Society.


The Pets/Wildlife Shelf

Solving Equine Behaviour Problems
Rose M. Scofield
CABI
c/o Stylus Publishing, Inc.
22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012
www.styluspub.com
9781789244878, $40.00, PB, 176pp

https://www.amazon.com/Solving-Equine-Behaviour-Problems-Equitation/dp/1789244870

Synopsis: Horses can develop a range of behavioral problems, which if left untreated, could cause the relationship between horse and human to break down. With many different well-meaning opinions offered to solve such situations, it can be difficult to find the right path.

In "Solving Equine Behaviour Problems: An Equitation Science Approach", author and horse training expert Rose Scofield examines behavioral issues using the latest academic research. Offering practical solutions with useful diagrams and photographs throughout, "Solving Equine Behaviour Problems: An Equitation Science Approach" helps to protect and develop the horse-human relationship.

This throughly 'user friendly' instruction manual: Addresses issues by circumstance, making it easy to find solutions to all your handling, groundwork, and riding problems; Uses scientific research to investigate both the problems themselves and the methods tasked to solve them; Includes illuminating case studies illustrating problems and how solutions work in practice.

Beginning with an introduction to the main principles of equitation science, Solving Equine Behaviour Problems then covers over 30 major issues, including biting, kicking, separation anxiety, loading, shying, bucking and bolting. It provides key points, take home messages and scientific references, translating lessons from experimental science into practical help for both professionals and the horse enthusiast.

Critique: Profusely illustrated throughout, "Solving Equine Behaviour Problems: An Equitation Science Approach" is a thoroughly comprehensive and exceptionally well written, organized and presented manual that should be considered mandatory reading by anyone vested with the responsibilities of horse ownership and/or training. While highly recommended for community, college, and university library Equine Studies collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Solving Equine Behaviour Problems: An Equitation Science Approach" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $38.00).

Editorial Note: Rose M. Scofield has always been involved with horses when she eventually decided to start a degree in the subject of Equine Behavior and Training. While studying, she worked at a veterinary surgery and found a desire for discovering why horses act the way they do, and also how we as humans could intervene to improve their welfare in their relationships with us. Her career in research stemmed from this, and subsequently she has presented her research around the world. Her first foray into research looked at performance, but soon deviated into the world of equitation science, exploring the relationship between horse and rider/handler. Rose has completed three pieces of research into bitless bridles, and four in issues concerning the safety of horses and riders on our roads. She now intends to combine aspects of behavior and road safety, and is beginning to explore how our knowledge of the behaviors of horses on our roads can add to the profile of keeping them (and us) as safe as possible.

The Inside Out of Flies
Erica McAlister
Firefly Books Ltd.
www.fireflybooks.com
9780228102878, $24.95, HC, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Out-Flies-Erica-McAlister/dp/0228102871

Synopsis: "The Inside Out of Flies" by Erica McAlister is an informative study of the astonishing mechanics of fly anatomy that reveals the engineering miracles embodied in each species of fly and some of the fascinating implications they hold for human technology.

Readers will discover the physics of the mysterious "scuba diving fly," marvel at the venomous horsefly larvae which prey on frogs, and glimpse the golden ratio in these creatures' spiral flight patterns.

"The Inside Out of Flies" also touches on the emerging field of biomimetics (the study of evolutionary adaptations to devise new technology) and anticipates everything from medical needles based on the mosquito's proboscis to hearing aids inspired by Ormia ochracea, a tiny fly with ears on its thorax. At every juncture she uncovers unique and surprising science lessons encapsulated in the form and function of the humble fly.

Critique: Erica McAlister is an acknowledged expert at the top of her field and a skilled writer who masterfully imparts knowledge while entertaining the reader with her enthusiasm and wit. With immense value for students and non- specialist general raeders with an interest in the subject, "The Inside Out of Flies" is an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists, as well as community, college, university, and specialist/corporate library collections.

Editorial Note: Erica McAlister is Curator of Diptera (flies) at the Natural History Museum, London. She has studied in France, Australia and Costa Rica and her work with diptera has taken her all around the world. She has presented the popular BBC Radio 4 series Who's the Pest? and participated in a New York Times, Science Facebook Live interview which has been viewed over 134,000 times.


The Jobs/Careers Shelf

Best Resumes and Letter for Ex-Offenders
Wendy S. Enelow & Ronald L. Krannich
Impact Publications
14 Cotesworth Place, Savnnah, GA 31411
www.impactpublications.com
9781570234095, $29.95, PB, 272pp

https://www.amazon.com/Resumes-Letter-Ex-Offenders-Wendy-Enelow/dp/1570234094

Synopsis: Finding a good job is the best way to quickly transform the life of an ex-offender. That's especially true for ex-cons with red flags in their backgrounds. Knowing employers are reluctant to hire them, many ex-cons face rejections and lose hope. Indeed, lacking job search smarts (from properly writing resumes, networking for job leads, and acing job interviews) many go from one dead end job to another -- and then back to prison. For many, their odorous rap sheet becomes their resume!

But there is good news -- most ex-offenders ARE employable. Indeed, each year thousands of ex-cons find rewarding jobs that change their lives. They discover many employers are willing to give them a second chance. But these job seekers must first communicate their qualifications to prospective employers through powerful resumes and letters -- the most important step for getting a job interview.

Now in a fully updated and expanded second edition "Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders" effectively addresses the unique job search challenges facing ex-offenders as they prepare to communicate their qualifications to employers. Written by two of America's leading career experts, Wendy S. Enelow and Ronald L. Krannich, "Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders" packed from cover to cover with the latest information, tips, strategies, and examples of what you must do in order to get the critical job interview.

"Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders" includes: 25 things you must know about resumes; 35 writing mistakes you should avoid; 19 frequently asked questions and expert advice; Step-by-step resume writing instructions; 40 examples of 2 types of winning resumes; 8 types of job search letters; 42 examples of effective letters you should write; Resume and letter evaluation forms; Resume writing worksheets; 400+ action verbs and personality descriptors; Re-entry resources and digital skills for ex-offenders.

Follow the principles, tips, and examples outlined in "Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders" and you, too, will join the growing ranks of ex-offenders who have transitioned from rap sheet to resume. They began changing their broken lives by finding a good job. You'll quickly discover that a well-crafted resume and letter can open the doors of employers. Best of all, you'll get interviewed and hired, because you organized an effective job search according to the many principles outlined in this special and effective instruction manual and guide.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders" must be considered an essential and high priority addition to prison and community library Jobs/Careers instructional reference and college/university library Penology collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of ex-offenders seeking employment, prison reform advocates, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that this new second edition of "Best Resumes and Letters for Ex-Offenders" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $27.99).

Editorial Note #1: Wendy S. Enelow, CCM, MRW, JCTC, CPRW, is a recognized leader in the executive job search, career coaching, and resume writing industries. She is the author of more than 30 books and numerous articles and is frequently featured in leading publications and on numerous career-related websites. Her recent books include: Modernize Your Job Search Letters, Modernize Your Resume, and Best Keywords for Resumes, Letters, and Interviews.

Editorial Note #2: Ronald L. Krannich Ph.D., is a leading career writer who has authored more than 100 books (8+ million copies), including several recent bestsellers for ex-offenders: The Ex-Offender's Quick Job Hunting Guide, The Ex-Offender's Job Interview Guide, The Ex-Offender's Re-Entry Success Guide, and Overcoming Employment Barriers.


The Photography Shelf

Memories of Jewish Poland
NachumTim Gidal, photographer
Yosef Wosk, curator
Diane Evans, coordinator
Gefen Publishing House
c/o Storch
255 Central Ave #B-206, Lawrence, NY 11559
www.gefenpublishing.com
9789652295972, $19.95, HC, 118pp

https://www.amazon.com/Shtetle-Poland-Photo-Essay-Nahum/dp/9652295973

Synopsis: In 1932, the budding twenty-three-year-old photographer Nachum Gidalewitsch (who would later become known as the celebrated Israeli photographer Tim Gidal) set out from his hometown of Munich, Germany, to visit relatives and photograph what were to him the exotic locals in Jewish Poland. The extraordinary photographic record of that visit is here presented for the first time in book form, in a poignant testimony and remembrance of a community that had no way to know it was in its last years.

Gidal, who emigrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1936, was one of a select group of photographers who took advantage of new technology specifically the lightweight and portable nature of the Leica camera to found the pioneering field of photojournalism. He would go on to document World War II as a photo reporter and later to become a noted objective photographer.

In these photographs that comprise "Memories of Jewish Poland. The 1932 Photographs of Nahum Tim Gidal" and taken early in his remarkable career, Gidal captures the poignant ordinariness of a thriving community just before its annihilation. These straightforward, honest, and intimate portraits embody the mission the photographer himself once described as capturing variations on the everlasting tragicomedy of human life.

Critique: An inherently fascinating volume to simply browse through one careful page at a time, "Memories of Jewish Poland. The 1932 Photographs of Nahum Tim Gidal" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Photography collection. Proving to be of immense interest and value for students of 20th Century European Judaism, it should be noted that "Memories of Jewish Poland. The 1932 Photographs of Nahum Tim Gidal" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $4.69).


The Biography Shelf

Custer
Ted Behncke & Gary Bloomfield
Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781612008899, $34.95, HC, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Custer-General-Battle-Little-Bighorn/dp/1612008895

Synopsis: The collaborative project of authors and historians Ted Behncke and Gary Bloomfield, "Custer: From the Civil War's Boy General to the Battle of the Little Bighorn" introduces a little-known side of George Armstrong Custer -- a deeply personal side.

Custer grew up in an expanding young country and his early influences mirrored the times. Two aspects of this era dominate most works about him: the Civil War, and the war with the Indians, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. When mentioned, if at all, his early life and years as a cadet at West Point are brief, and then only enough to set some background for discussion of the mystery of the Little Bighorn. This is the first Custer biography to focus on these lesser-known parts of his life in great detail.

The approach uses all of Custer's known writings: letters; magazine articles; his book, My Life on the Plains; and his unfinished memoirs of the Civil War; along with materials and books by his wife, Elizabeth Custer; and reflections of others who knew him well.

The five chapters are Early Life (growing up and as a West Point cadet), The Civil War, The Indian Fighter, The Little Bighorn, and Conclusion. The theme of the book is not so much new historical information but the depth of his character development and lesser-known influences of his life. Custer draws together these elements in a succinct and accessible read.

"Custer: From the Civil War's Boy General to the Battle of the Little Bighorn" also includes illustrations (primarily from Harper's Weekly) and photos, such as Matthew Brady's Civil War collection, to accompany the text.

Critique: Exceptional in comprehensiveness and presentation, "Custer: From the Civil War's Boy General to the Battle of the Little Bighorn" is enhanced for academia with the inclusion of a six page Bibliography and a six page Index. While an invaluable and enduringly appreciated addition to community, college, and university library 20th Century American Biography & U.S. History collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Custer: From the Civil War's Boy General to the Battle of the Little Bighorn" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.99).

Editorial Note: Ted Behncke is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel having served 30 years in varied command and staff positions across the globe. While serving in the Army, he commanded an infantry rifle company in the 17th Infantry Regiment -- the same regiment that had two companies in the Little Bighorn Campaign. He was a training instructor and has a thorough knowledge of cavalry tactics and campaigns, including those from the Civil War and the Indian Wars. Stationed at both historic Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas he gained hands-on knowledge of the Custer residences, the weapons and accouterments used by cavalry soldiers in the 1800s and retraced the routes of the 7th Cavalry campaign against the Plains Indians. This included leading fellow Army officers and NCOS to the Little Bighorn battlefield and discussing the movements of both opposing forces. He has written numerous military papers and book reviews, including the prestigious Military Review, the Professional Journal of the U.S. Army.

Gary Bloomfield is a former Army Journalist of the Year, and managing editor for VFW magazine. He was the senior editor for the two-volume illustrated series on WWII titled Faces of Victory. He wrote Duty, Honor, Victory: America's Athletes in WWII followed by Duty, Honor, Applause: America's Entertainers in WWII which he co-wrote. His other books include Maxims of General Patton, the citizenship study guide, I Will be an American Someday Soon, illustrated bios on George Patton and Mark Twain (the latter co-written). He completed The Devil's Playground, about the Korean DMZ, in the Summer of 2019, and The One, a compilation of stories from military doctors and nurses, published in the Spring of 2020.


The Literary Studies Shelf

A Priest in 1835
Jules Verne, author
Daniele Chatelin, translator
George Slusser, translator
BearManor Media
www.bearmanormedia.com
9781593939359, $24.95, PB, 316pp

https://www.amazon.com/Priest-1835-Jules-Verne/dp/1593939353

Synopsis: "A Priest in 1835" by the 19th Century French author Jules Verne, has now been translated for an American readership with an informative introduction and notes by the team of Daniele Chatelain and George Slusser

"A Priest in 1835" is not only a re-discovered treasure, but a literary revelation. It is the very first novel written by Jules Verne. Finished by the age of twenty and under the influence of Edgar Allan Poe, "A Priest in 1835" was composed before Verne encountered any editors to hone his storytelling skills. Yet this tyro effort is a masterpiece, a gothic tale told in a modernist style with a nonlinear narrative.

In addition to being talented translators, Daniele Chatelain and George Slusser are also noted science fiction scholars and offer Jules Verne fans this first English translation, with extensive critical commentary. "A Priest in 1835" reveals that Verne not only had the prophetic skills that would render him the father of science fiction, but a technique that would win him a place among the vanguard of 21st century authors.

Vintage early engravings reveal the novel's actual settings, in Verne's home town of Nantes.

Critique: An absolute 'must read' for the legions of Jules Verne fans, this newly published edition of "A Priest in 1835" from BearManor Media is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to all community, college, and university library collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and Jules Verne fans that "A Priest in 1835" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.95).

Savage West: The Life and Fiction of Thomas Savage
O' Alan Weltzien
University of Nevada Press
Mail Stop 0166, Reno, NV, 89557-0166
www.unpress.nevada.edu
9781948908863, $40.00, HC, 257pp

https://www.amazon.com/Savage-West-Life-Fiction-Thomas/dp/1948908867

Synopsis: Thomas Savage (April 25, 1915 - July 25, 2003) was arguably one of the intermountain American West's best novelists. His thirteen novels received high critical praise, yet he remained largely unknown by readers. Although Savage spent much of his later life in the Northeast, his formative years were spent in southwestern Montana, where the mountain West and his ranching family formed the setting for much of his work.

"Savage West: The Life and Fiction of Thomas Savage" is O. Alan Weltzien's insightful and detailed literary biography chronicles the life and work of this neglected but deeply talented novelist.

Savage, a closeted gay family man, was both an outsider and an insider, navigating an intense conflict between his sexual identity and the claustrophobic social restraints of the rural West. Unlike many other Western writers, Savage avoided the formula western novel; so popular in his time; and offered instead a realistic, often subversive version of the region.

Each of his novels tell a hard, harsh story about dysfunctional families, loneliness, and stifling provincialism in the small towns and ranches of the northern Rockies, and his minority interpretation of the West provides a unique vision and caustic counter-narrative contrary to the triumphant settler-colonialism themes that have shaped most Western literature.

"Savage West: The Life and Fiction of Thomas Savage" seeks to claim Thomas Savage's well-deserved position in American literature and to reintroduce twenty-first-century readers to a major Montana writer.

Critique: Rescuing a major American author from an undeserved obscurity, "Savage West: The Life and Fiction of Thomas Savage" is an extraordinarily informative and seminal work of original scholarship. Exceptionally well organized and presented, "Savage West: The Life and Fiction of Thomas Savage" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library American Biography and American Literary Studies collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Savage West: The Life and Fiction of Thomas Savage" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $38.00).

Editorial Note: O. Alan Weltzien is an author and specialist in American and western American literatures. He worked forty years as a full-time academic, 29 of which were at the University of Montana Western, in Dillon Montana. He has published dozens of articles, two chapbooks, and nine books, including studies or collections of writers Rick Bass, John McPhee, and Norman Maclean.

Excavating Stephen King
James Arthur Anderson
Lexington Books
c/o Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4501 Forbes Blvd., Suite 200, Lanham, MD 20706
www.rlpgbooks.com
9781793628626, $105.00, HC, 258pp

https://www.amazon.com/Excavating-Stephen-King-Darwinist-Hermeneutic/dp/1793628629

Synopsis: "Excavating Stephen King: A Darwinist Hermeneutic Study of the Fiction" by James Arthur Anderson (who is a professor of writing and literature at Johnson & Wales University's North Miami campus) combines approaches from science and literary theory to examine the canon of Stephen King's fiction work in a single critical study.

Professor Anderson has devised the concept of Darwinist Hermeneutics as a critical tool to combine evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, biology, and literary Darwinism with other more conventional critical theory, including structuralism, narratology, semiotics, and linguistic analysis. Using this theory, Anderson examines King's works in terms of archetypes and mythology, human universals, affective emotions, and the organization of story to create maximum suspense.

This method brings new insights into King's stories and broader implications for storytelling as a whole.

Critique: Erudite, informatively insightful, impressively thoughtful and thought-provoking, "Excavating Stephen King: A Darwinist Hermeneutic Study of the Fiction" is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended acquisition selection for college and university library Hermeneutic Literary Studies collections in general, and Stephen King supplemental studies lists in particular. This well organized and presented curriculum style textbook would be a useful template for similar studies of other literary figures. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the life and work of Stephen King that "Excavating Stephen King: A Darwinist Hermeneutic Study of the Fiction" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $89.59).


The Psychology Shelf

Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy
Kathrin A. Stauffer
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
9780393714418, $35.00, HC, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Neglect-Adult-Therapy-Consequences/dp/0393714411

Synopsis: People who have experienced emotional neglect in the first months and years of life suffer negative consequences into adulthood. As adult psychotherapy clients, they require long-term work and delicate emotional attunement as well as a profound understanding of the experiences that have shaped their inner worlds. "Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement" by psychotherapist Kathrin Stauffer provides therapists with an in-depth view of the subjective experience of such "ignored children" and a range of possible theoretical models to help understand key features of their psychological functioning.

Stauffer presents the do's and don't's of psychotherapy with such clients. She draws on broad clinical experience to help psychotherapeutic professionals deepen their understanding of "ignored children" and outlines available neurobiological and psychological data to assist therapists in designing effective therapeutic interventions.

Critique: Enhanced for academia with the inclusion of an informative Introduction, twelve pages of Concluding Remarks, a two page listing of Acknowledgments, a twelve page listing of References, and a fifteen page Index, "Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement" is impressively well organized and presented, making it an ideal and unreservedly recommended addition to professional, college, and university library Psychology/Psychotherapy collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for psychology students, academia, and professional counselors that "Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.05).

Editorial Note: Kathrin A. Stauffer, PHD, was born and educated in Switzerland. Originally a biochemist, she retrained as a body psychotherapist and currently works in private practice in Cambridge and London as a body psychotherapist, biodynamic massage therapist, trainer, and supervisor.

Recognizing and Treating Hoarding Disorder
Carol A. Mathews
W. W. Norton & Company
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
www.wwnorton.com
9780393713572, $35.00, HC, 304pp

https://www.amazon.com/Recognizing-Treating-Hoarding-Disorder-Much/dp/0393713571

Synopsis: Everybody has heard the statements "she's a pack rat" or "he's a hoarder," but how many of us really know what that means? Pathological hoarding was first formally conceptualized as a syndrome separate from OCD in the early 1990s, yet it wasn't until 2013 that hoarding received formal psychiatric diagnostic criteria in the DSM.

How can a mental health professional who sees clients in an office determine if hoarding is a factor in a client's life? With the publication of "Recognizing and Treating Hoarding Disorder: How Much Is Too Much?", psychiatrist Carol Mathews provides readers with the first-ever comprehensive clinical book on hoarding, covering every aspect of the disorder. The topics covered include: epidemiology and impact; screening tools and clinical interview tools for assessment; differential diagnosis and co-occurring disorders; when to suspect mild cognitive impairment and dementia; hoarding behaviors in children; how to differentiate normal keeping of items from hoarding; animal hoarding; the neurobiology of hoarding disorder; treatments, both psychopharmacological and otherwise; self-help options; and the impact of hoarding on the family.

Critique: Anxiety Hoarders requiring treatment are those individuals who meet a diagnostic criteria of feeling anxiety or discomfort about discarding possessions they do not need. This discomfort arises from an emotional attachment to possessions and a strong belief that their possessions will be needed in the future. Possessions will take on a sentimental value that outweighs their functional value. This is no different from someone without hoarding disorder; the difference lies in the strength of this sentimental value and in how many items take on a sentimental value. Discarding can feel like they are throwing away a part of themselves.

In severe cases, a house may become a fire hazard (due to blocked exits and stacked papers) or a health hazard (due to vermin infestation, excreta and detritus from excessive pets, hoarded food and garbage or the risk of stacks of items collapsing on the occupants and blocking exit routes). Hoarding affects more than just the person who has the strong attachment to possessions, as other people living in the home and neighbours can be affected by the clutter. Individuals with hoarding disorder have a quality of life as poor as those diagnosed with schizophrenia. The disorder increases family strain, work impairment, and the risk of serious medical conditions.[Wikipedia]

Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Recognizing and Treating Hoarding Disorder: How Much Is Too Much?" is a comprehensive and unreservedly recommended addition to community, college, and university library Contemporary Psychology/Psychiatry collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students, academia, counseling practitioners, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Recognizing and Treating Hoarding Disorder: How Much Is Too Much?" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $16.05).

Editorial Note: Carol Mathews, MD, is the Brooke Professor and the Vice Chair for Strategic Development in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida, as well as the Director of the Center for OCD, Anxiety, and Related Disorders at U of F. She also serves on several advisory boards for non-profit organizations, including the Tourette Association of America, the International OCD Foundation, and the MHASF Task Force on Hoarding and Cluttering.


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Diane C. Donovan, Editor
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