Moving Pictures: Contemporary Photography and Video from the Guggenheim Collection

Book Description

During the late 1960s and 70s, a paradigm shift occurred within visual culture: photography and the moving image were absorbed into critical art practices. In particular, these mediums were used to record ephemeral or performative events and to render visible conceptual systems or to question the supposed objectivity of representation itself. This volume focuses primarily on artworks from the last decade and proposes that the extensive use of reproducible mediums in today's art has its roots in an earlier formative period. By the end of the 70s, many artists turned to photography as a vehicle through which to critique photographic representation and to subvert an art system premised on the notion of the original. While this practice came to define much of the 80s postmodern art, its legacy for the 90s was essentially the license to indulge in photographic fantasy, image construction, and cinematic narrative. Artists working today freely manipulate their representations of the empirical world or invent entirely new cosmologies. They process their subject matter through conceptual systems or use digital processes to alter their images. Some directly intervene in the environment, subtly shifting components of the found world and establishing their quiet presence in it; others fabricate entire architectural environments for the camera lens. This current state of the arts and its recent history are represented via more than 150 works by 55 artists, including Nam June Paik, Kara Walker, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Marina Abramovic, Vito Acconci, Ana Mendieta, Bruce Nauman, Robert Smithson, Christian Boltanski, Sophie Calle, Fischli & Weiss, Ann Hamilton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Annette Messager, Cindy Sherman, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Elger Esser, Andreas Gursky, Candida H fer, Thomas Ruff, J rge Sasse, Thomas Struth, Olafur Eliasson, Roni Horn, Gabriel Orozco, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Matthew Barney, Gregory Crewdson, Anna Gaskell, Sam Taylor-Wood, Oliver Boberg, James Casebere, Thomas Demand, Vanessa Beecroft, Wolfgang Tillmans, Patty Chang, Trisha Donnelly, Stan Douglas, Pierre Huyghe, William Kentridge, Steve McQueen, Shirin Neshat, John Pilson and Gillian Wearing.

Customer Reviews:

Essays & Photography Great, But Hard to Appreciate Videos.......2004-02-21

This book accompanies a 2003-2004 exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. It begins with 30 pages of essays: "Introduction," "Picturing Movement, Past and Present," and "Art Photography after Photography." These essays do an excellent job of placing the exhibition in context. In addition, they mention works in a smaller 2002-2003 version of the exhibition in New York, which included some artists (e.g., Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, Nam June Paik, and Robert Smithson) not represented in the Bilbao exhibition.

The body of the book ("Catalogue Entries") consists of text about and photographs or video stills by 50 artists in alphabetical order (Marina Abramovic through Jane and Louise Wilson). Each of the artists is given up to one page of text. For most of the artists there is only one page of images, but Francis Alys, Matthew Barney, Miles Coolidge, Gregory Crewdson, Rineke Dijkstra, Olafur Eliasson, Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Anna Gaskell, Nan Goldin, Douglas Gordon, Andreas Gursky, Ann Hamilton, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Mariko Mori, Aika Noguchi, Catherine Opie, Gabriel Orozco, Pipilotte Rist, Michal Rovner, Thomas Struth, Sam Taylor-Wood, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Kara Walker have at least three pages. Some works by Dijkstra, Gaskell, Goldin, Gursky, Anthony Hernandez, Manglano-Ovalle, Mori, Orozco, Rovner, Thomas Ruff, Taylor-Wood, and Tillmans are not reproduced in the book but were in the exhibition (per the list on pages 205-216). Virtually all of the works are dated 1990-2002; some images of Goldin's were taken in the 1970s and 1980s but were published later. For each artist, 2-4 "selected readings" are listed in the back of the book.

The photography is mostly great, but the book does not really do the videos justice for a couple reasons. First, there are not enough stills to give the reader a good idea of the course of each video. I would have preferred a larger number of smaller-sized stills. Second, the one-page-of-text limit for each video artist gives the same amount of space for the massive Cremaster series by Barney as for a three-minute video by Patty Chang. You'll have to travel to Spain to fully appreciate the videos, but meanwhile buy the book from Amazon.com!

Book Description

When a child is born, a miracle happens -someone becomes a grandmother!

For first-time grandmas, beloved veterans, or grandmas-in-waiting, this warm, wonderful book captures all the joy and humor of one of a woman's most life-altering experiences. Heartwarming observations from such famous names as Margaret Mead, Jane Russell, and Margaret Thatcher; poems to copy and stick on the refrigerator; words of advice to "accidentally" leave on a daughter-in-law's kitchen table, suggestions to smooth the rough times or increase the joy, it's all here to read and treasure.

Don't miss...

Special things only a grandmother can do
Family history a grandmother can pass on
A precious gift every child needs from a grandmother
Secret satisfactions a grandmother feels
How a grandmother can act even wiser than she is
And more!

Customer Reviews:

Not impressed with this book.......2007-09-12

I was really disappointed after reading the great reviews. The quality of printing is not too great, and the content is nothing special - too trite.

Grandmothers Are Like Snowflakes...No Two Are Alike: Words of Wisdom, Gentle Advise, & Hilarious Observations.......2007-08-05

This is a delightful, easy-read, informative, enjoyable book. I'm awaiting the birth of my first Grandchild and have already quoted from the book, when I have my little "chats" with the little angel in Mommy's tummy! Good advice...great verses...A+

Grandma Words of Wisdom.......2006-03-09

Loved the book -- very inspiriational.

This is a wonderful gift to give to the other grandmother of your grandchild. Tells her you think she too is special and you will a good grandma, but not the same as you!

Charming book for grandmas!.......2004-03-04

The perfect gift for Grandma on her special day! This unique compilation of quotes, poems, lists and observations has been the #1 grandmother gift book for years.

Perfect for New Grandma's.......2000-05-18

My first grandchild was born on 12/22/99, I got this book at Christmas. It really describes what is the tremendous joy of being a grandma. I read it every few weeks and some of the stories or antedotes take on new meaning as she grows. This is and will continue to be one of my most treasured books and I have hundreds!

Book Description

"This book does a fine job at what it sets out to do—redefine the American gangster genre. It convincingly exposes and documents the exhausted nature of criticism on the genre, explores important overlooked material, and introduces new approaches."—William Luhr, Saint Peter's College

"Beyond The Godfather and Little Caesar this highly original anthology uncovers new aspects of the gangster genre, from its dress codes to its relation to government investigation, from gangsters on nickelodeon screens to HBO series, from tong wars in Chinatown to the African American gangster in race films."—Tom Gunning, University of Chicago

Sinister, swaggering, yet often sympathetic, the figure of the gangster has stolen and murdered its way into the hearts of American cinema audiences. Despite the enduring popularity of the gangster film, however, traditional criticism has focused almost entirely on a few canonical movies such as Little Caesar, Public Enemy, and The Godfather trilogy, resulting in a limited and distorted understanding of this diverse and changing genre.

Mob Culture offers a long-awaited, fresh look at the American gangster film, exposing its hidden histories from the Black Hand gangs of the early twentieth century to The Sopranos. Departing from traditional approaches that have typically focused on the "nature" of the gangster, the editors have collected essays that engage the larger question of how the meaning of criminality has changed over time. Grouped into three thematic sections, the essays examine gangster films through the lens of social, gender, and racial/ethnic issues.

Destined to become a classroom favorite, Mob Culture is an indispensable reference for future work in the genre.

Customer Reviews:

Beyond The Godfather.......2006-07-08

Here is an interesting collection of essays on American crime films going well beyond the usual treatment (i.e., Cagney, Robinson, Bogart, etc., up through Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, and Pulp Fiction). This time its the hidden underbelly of the Hollywood underworld and the emphasis is on issues of race, gender, and political and social influences on gangster films from various periods. Rather than beginning with Little Caesar and Scarface, it goes way back to the early silents, exploring early popular conceptions and misconceptions of urban ghetto life, the Black Hand, and Chinese tongs, covers early "race" films and the "blaxploitation" cycle of the Seventies, the Kefauver Committee and its influence upon the "Syndicate" films of the Fifties and brings it right up to date with the HBO treatment of The Sopranos. The articles on gender and sexuality explore the roles or nonroles of women in the gangster film as well as implied homosexuality in the traditionally exclusive male celluloid gangster world and one chapter is devoted to the FBI's mythologizing of Ma Barker and to the various wildly inaccurate Hollywood treatments of her legend. The intellectualizing may be a bit heavy here at times--after all, we're talking gangster movies, which are hardly aimed at the highbrow crowd--but there are some great perspectives here anyway and coverage of many obscure crime films. It's worth picking up.

Mob Culture: Hidden Histories of the American Gangster Film.

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Mob Culture: Hidden Histories of the American Gangster Film.
Lee Grieveson
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UYFJB6

Average customer rating:
A Generation in Motion: Popular Music and Culture in the Sixties
David R. Pichaske
Manufacturer: Ellis Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0944024122

Average customer rating:
A Generation in Motion: Popular Music and Cultures in the Sixties
David R. Pichaske
Manufacturer: Ellis Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0944024165

Amazon.com

Designed to foster team cooperation rather than competitive opposition, these games are an excellent reference for teachers, families, or any group of people, young or old; they can even be used by adults at the company picnic! They still do sack races, right? Why not instead try the "Emotional Relay Race," "Strike the Pose," or "Rope Raising," in which people seated in a circle must coordinate their efforts to all be able to stand. Try something different, so the kids, or the department staff, won't be able to practice ahead of time! The games are indexed according to age level, amount of activity, group size, and location.

Book Description

This new edition of the best-selling Parent Choice Award-winner Everyone Wins! collects more than 150 cooperative games and activities for enhancing conflict resolution and communication skills and building self-esteem. Encouraging collaboration over competition, activities such as "Spaghetti," "Rope Raising," and "Gyrating Reptile" foster team-building and positive group dynamics. With minimum effort and maximum fun, children (and adults) learn to recognize and appreciate each other's special abilities and take pride in their own.

All of the activities in Everyone Wins! have been thoroughly tested and are graded according to appropriate age level (age 1+ to adult), size of group, indoor or outdoor location, and activity level, and include special hints and variations for group leaders. Where extra materials or props are called for, they are always simple, readily available, and inexpensive.

Brimming with ideas and written in a clear, easy-to-understand style, Everyone Wins! is perfect for educators, parents, group leaders, camp counselors, and anyone who works with children.

Josette and Ba Luvmour created Natural Learning Rhythms, a family-oriented approach to human development, and are co-founders of EnCompass, the first holistic learning center for the whole family. They have written several previous books on family and childhood development, including Win-Win Games for All Ages.

Customer Reviews:

Great resource!.......1999-01-29

I had the pleasure of reading this book when a friend lent it to me for my girl scout troop meeting. We tried a couple of the activites and the kids had a wonderful time playing the games. I had to order a copy. The games promote cooperation and team work. The book is easy to read and appropriate for both young and old.

Book Description

Edward Cooper is a hard man to know.Dour and exuberant by turns, his moods dictate the always uncertain climate of the Cooper household. Balding, octogenarian, and partial to a polyester jumpsuit, Edward Cooper makes an unlikely literary muse. But to his son he looms larger than life, an overwhelming and baffling presence.

Edward's ambivalent regard for his son is the springboard from which this deeply intelligent memoir takes flight. By the time the author receives his inheritance (which includes a message his father taped to the underside of a safe deposit box), and sees the surprising epitaph inscribed on his father's headstone, The Bill from My Father has become a penetrating meditation on both monetary and emotional indebtedness, and on the mysterious nature of memory and love.

Download Description

"Bernard Cooper's new memoir is searing, soulful, and filled with uncommon psychological nuance and laugh-out-loud humor. Like Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life, Cooper's account of growing up and coming to terms with a bewildering father is a triumph of contemporary autobiography. Edward Cooper is a hard man to know.Dour and exuberant by turns, his moods dictate the always uncertain climate of the Cooper household. Balding, octogenarian, and partial to a polyester jumpsuit, Edward Cooper makes an unlikely literary muse. But to his son he looms larger than life, an overwhelming and baffling presence. As The Bill from My Father begins, Bernard and his father find themselves the last remaining members of the family that once included his mother, Lillian, and three older brothers. Now retired and living in a run-down trailer, Edward Cooper had once made a name for himself as a divorce attorney whose cases included "The Case of the Captive Bride" and "The Case of the Baking Newlywed," as they were dubbed by the Herald Examiner. An expert at "the dissolution of human relationships," the elder Cooper is slowly succumbing to dementia. As the author attempts, with his father's help, to forge a coherent picture of the Cooper family history, he discovers some peculiar documents involving lawsuits against other family members, and recalls a bill his father once sent him for the total cost of his upbringing, an itemized invoice adding up to 2 million dollars. Edward's ambivalent regard for his son is the springboard from which this deeply intelligent memoir takes flight. By the time the author receives his inheritance (which includes a message his father taped to the underside of a safe deposit box), and sees the surprising epitaph inscribed on his father's headstone, The Bill from My Father has become a penetrating meditation on both monetary and emotional indebtedness, and on the mysterious nature of memory and love. "

Customer Reviews:

only a little bit of this book is worth reading.......2007-08-30

I read the whole thing--but only little bits of the book were worth the time it to read it.

Good, Not Great.......2007-04-20

Although it's beautifully written , I didn't enjoy this ode to his father near as much as 'Truth Serum'. There are some lovely keen observations about life and parents in general, yet not enough that made me feel it was truly special.

Homo Sapiens.......2007-03-10

Why is it incumbent on this gay author to insert his love affair into a memoir about his father? Why does he need to tell us how he wants to have sex with Brian into old age and pepper the book with their amorous advances to each other? Is it a homage to his lover? Did he promise to include him in his book? How does this not distract from the story he is telling us about his grizzled old dad?

It is no surprise that his father would not object too terribly to the author's decision not to have an XY relationship, to have children, considering the genetic wreckage he has innocently passed down with three sons dying young, and relatively young of colon cancer, heart disease, etc. and the remaining one genetically mutated to not reproduce. The tragedy of this quadruple assault in providing heirs and heiresses must have been far more devastating to his mother and father than he seems capable of understanding. The author seems cold and callous to this thunderbolt from Zeus that has struck his parents and one wonders if that did not have a fatal influence on his mother. Would have liked to see him exercise a more empathetic approach to this life- changing travesty.

Great read, but a generous helping of deja vu.......2006-07-28

Too bad Walter Matthau is dead. Otherwise, he would be a natural to play Bernard Cooper's father in the movie version of this bittersweet memoir.
In fact, didn't I see the tall, loud-mouthed actor playing a variant of this very part in "Hanging Up" and, of course, "The Sunshine Boys" ??
Also, I know that I read the section about Cooper pere's ill-fated marriage before. Either Bernard Cooper had published it as a short memoir elsewhere (the New Yorker?) or the situation was reported by some other hapless son about his brain-addled father.
Even though so much of the book seemed familiar, I enjoyed the storytelling and the insights into the relationship between Bernard Cooper and his much put-upon therapist companion. And I really ached for him when I read about the horrible deaths of his three older brothers.
Perhaps the reason the situation with his father seem so familiar is that Cooper is telling the truth. And sometimes the truth isn't so unique.
He is a REALLY GOOD writer. I hope next time he will write something starring another actor.

Truly enjoyable.......2006-07-12

I loved the entire book...My favorite story is when Bernard's father goes through a "fictitious phase" of marriage.

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on the origins of war

War at the Heart of the Human Enterprise

War, the Predator Beast

mostly speculation

Very good. Is it too broad?

Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War
Barbara Ehrenreich
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
General | World | History | Subjects | Books
War & Peace | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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The Fifth Sacred Thing

ASIN: 0805057870

Amazon.com

In this ambitious work, Barbara Ehrenreich offers a daring explanation for humans' propensity to wage war. Rather than approach the subject from a physiological perspective, pinpointing instinct or innate aggressiveness as the violent culprit, she reaches back to primitive man's fear of predators and the anxieties associated with life in the food chain. To deal with the reality of living as prey, she argues that blood rites were created to dramatize and validate the life-and-death struggle. Jumping ahead to the modern age, Ehrenreich brands nationalism a more sophisticated form of blood ritual, a phenomenon that conjures similar fears of predation, whether in the form of lost territory or the more extreme ethnic cleansing. Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War may not offer a cure for human aggression, but the author does present a convincing argument for the difficulties associated with achieving peace.

Book Description

An ALA Notable BookA New York Times Notable BookIn Blood Rites, Barbara Ehrenreich confronts the mystery of the human attraction to violence: What draws our species to war and even makes us see it as a kind of sacred undertaking? Blood Rites takes us on an original journey from the elaborate human sacrifices of the ancient world to the carnage and holocaust of twentieth-century "total war." Sifting through the fragile records of prehistory, Ehrenreich discovers the wellspring of war in an unexpected place--not in a "killer instinct" unique to the males of our species but in the blood rites early humans performed to reenact their terrifying experience of predation by stronger carnivores. Brilliant in conception, rich in scope, Blood Rites is a monumental work that will transform our understanding of the greatest single threat to human life.

Customer Reviews:

on the origins of war.......2006-08-31

Blood Rites is a book about the origin of war. The author's thesis is that the origins of war stem back to a time when humanity was the prey of large animals. Eventually humans organized and developed weapons to fight off predatory animals but the memories of being prey lived on in us and manifested itself in sacrifice, human and otherwise and finally, up to this day, war. In the process of explaining the above the author goes into the history of war, writing of a time when the making of war was a sacred kind of thing reserved for the elite of each society and about the democratizing effect modern weapons had on war, first making the lower soldiers such as archers more important than the knights and samurai and then with the advent of guns making the idea of a knight or samurai class completely obsolete. Finally we enter modern times with nationalism forming the identity of each group of people and hence what we fight over. Although much is made of the actions of male soldiers the author emphasizes that war is a need of humankind. She points out that facing a common enemy brings us all together and that woman are as eager to send their sons to war as men are. I enjoyed reading this book and learned a lot about the practice of war. In the end she brings up the anti-war movement and says that this movement is fighting it's own kind of war. I found this a kind of depressing point to make. I wonder if we can ever get over our need to have an enemy, that need to be preyed on that this book is ultimately about.

War at the Heart of the Human Enterprise.......2006-05-30

In this deep and meticulously researched treatise on the origins of war Barbara Ehrenreich argues that 1.In our earliest history we were scavengers with no good defense mechanism, hardly the top of the food chain. 2.When humans developed the brain power to become an apex predator the wound inflicted by being a prey animal formed the basis of the first religious ceremonies as small bands of humans re-enacted the trauma of the predator prey relationship in sacrificial blood rites. 3.That about 12,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the agricultural revolution the large prey that consumed the attentions of the most violent segment of society had been all but hunted out. 4.Putting these men to work as warriors to replace their hunting niche was adaptative at the time. 5.War began as an organized human enterprise about 12,000 years ago as these new warriors captured people from other tribes to use in the blood rites and for slave labor.6.Finally, the fact that war was and is a social construct makes it no less real and no less dangerous as this formerly adaptative behavior has become inextricably intertwined with every aspect of our human lives over the last 12 millennia. In fact it has become the center of the human enterprise. Looking at the problem of war from the above perspective should alert those of us in the peace movement to the profound psychological transformation that must take place before we can make in headway at all. The fact that this close inspection of the earliest history is so timely today just proves Ehrenreich's central thesis as to the madness and intractability of war.

War, the Predator Beast.......2005-11-10

I loved Nickel and Dimed but was disappointed in For Her Own Good. Barbara Ehrenreich is a prolific writer and, I guess, not everything can be a gem. Blood Rites is well researched and exciting reading. Ehrenreich attacks the nature and origins of War, a subject on which she is admittedly not an expert. She brings a fresh eye, excellent research skills and the ability to put her conclusions in clear and compelling language.

Her key conclusion is that war grew out of our early experiences as prey turned predators. I don't know if that is as revolutionary an idea as she claims, but she convinced me. War is a religious experience based on the blood sacrifices of early humans to propitiate predator gods. It evolved with human society and now serves the new religion of nationalism, known in the US as patriotism.

While it is a human creation, like Frankenstein's monster, it has taken on a life of it's own and has become the new Beast. It is so enmeshed in our consciousness and culture that we may not be able to stop it. We find ourselves throwing young men and women into its merciless maw at a rate that makes even the bloodiest ancient rites seem tame in comparison.

Ehrenreich draws us to that frightening conclusion and then, apparently in search of a happy ending, suggests that perhaps the modern anti-war movement will grow powerful enough to actually put a stop to it; the war against war serving as the new but benign secular "religion".

mostly speculation.......2004-10-15

An imaginative attempt to understand the origins of war, an essay that relies primarily upon the author's sensitive, and often sensible, imagination.

The book's style favors an irritating, superfluous, and promiscuous use of quotation marks when not actually quoting. Thus, she places quotation marks around Long Gray Line and drive, for example. By frequently doing this, she distracts the reader from her argument.

Very good. Is it too broad?.......2004-05-23

Considered in its own narrowest terms -- a genealogy of the passions surrounding the human practice of war -- this is a compelling read. One can see this work as a real-world application of E.O. Wilson's idea of Consilience, as Ehrenreich uses her training in biology to elucidate and inform what is conventionally seen as a question for the humanities.

Starting from biology, Ehrenreich calls on experts from many disciplines, "soft" and "hard," as she lays out her case. This is both promising and perilous. A great deal of reading and study has gone in to this book, as is evident from her many citations. It would require an expertise deeper and broader than mine to assess whether she has truly "done her homework." What I found lacking, at times, was a sense of the contrast between her thesis and what had come before it. Is she synthesizing the likes of Toynbee, Weber, Fichte, Hegel, and the many others she mentions, or is she overturning them? I did not always get a clear sense of where previous thinkers had gone wrong on the topics she addresses.

In the end, this is not a damning criticism; a reader geninely interested in the issues covered in this book will find a deep mine of additional reading in Ehrenreich's index and bibliography. This book is represents a seemingly fresh start on a matter of great human importance.

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World Politics: Trend and Transformation, 2007-2008 Update
Charles W. Kegley
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Relations | International | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
International Institutions | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Understanding International Conflicts (6th Edition) (Longman Classics in Political Science)

ASIN: 049541073X

Book Description

WORLD POLITICS: TREND AND TRANSFORMATION is the best selling text in International Relations, because of its trusted balance in coverage and approach, unmatched by any other text for the course. By analyzing both historical and contemporary trends and developments, utilizing theoretical concepts, and weaving in the interactions of global actors, WORLD POLITICS: TREND AND TRANSFORMATION resists the temptation to overly simplify world politics, presenting the material in a thought-provoking yet accessible manner while preparing students to assess the possibilities for the global future and its potential impact on their lives. The major theories scholars use to explain the dynamics underlying international relations-realism, liberalism, and their variants-frame the text. At the same time, this book incorporates the reconstructed theories newly advanced to interpret contemporary developments (such as constructivism and feminist theory) and resists the temptation to oversimplify world politics with a superficial treatment that would mask complexities and distort realities. In addition, major actors and current issues such as global welfare, international economics, ecology, and the environment are covered, as well as issues of global conflict, including the changing face of terrorism, national security, warfare, and approaches to peace.

Average customer rating:

Disappointed...
verbose, vague, and biased
dull
Disappointed
Well Done

World Politics: Trend and Transformation
Charles W. Kegley
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0495187062

Book Description

Assess the possibilities for our global future and understand the impact of world politics on your everyday life with WORLD POLITICS: TREND AND TRANSFORMATION, the best-selling text for the international relations course. The author analyzes both historical and contemporary trends, as well as the major theories used to explain the dynamics underlying international relations--helping you to think critically about these topics by presenting rival views. From global development, the practice of terrorism, and the war in Iraq to peacekeeping operations and the transformations evident since 9/11, this thought-provoking textbook briefs you on the most recent indicators of global trends. An extensive map, figure, and photo program helps you visualize the significance of statistical data and the implications of global rivalries.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointed..........2007-01-08

I'm in the middle of reading this book for a test I have in two days and I cannot help but be completely distracted by Kegley's obvious bias against the Bush administration. It's one thing to write a book about your views about Iraq and the mistakes Bush made, however this is a TEXTBOOK; textbooks must present information without biases in order for the student to make up his/her own mind on the subject.

I'm incredibly disappointed in Kegley and the publishers who released this TEXTbook.

verbose, vague, and biased.......2006-07-19

The textbook provides an overview of basic theories, issues, and processes in the global system. However the chapters do not show very well how their subject matter relates to topics in the rest of the book.
The text is both verbose and vague. Definitions of terms given are of limited value because they are so technical and wordy. Conflicting theories are not examined very critically and are hidden among the fluff of speculation about the future and lists of facts, figures, and events too numerous to be of impact. Data is listed but not effectively interpreted. Frequently there will be pages in which only a few sentences are actually important. The challenge is seeing which paragraphs can be skipped.
The book is particularly good on great power rivalries and global conflicts. On political economy it is ambitious but cannot go into enough detail because it doesn't expect students to have taken economics. The chapters on NGOs and IGOs do not succeed at explaining what they actually do.
Although realist views are discussed, the book is ambitious in pushing for liberal views even without supporting evidence. It devotes much time to them but does not manage to be convincing. The book HATES Bush for rejecting multilateralism and does not hesitate to criticize him or other leaders
Most likely readers are forced to buy textbook for a class. It will induce sleep. Sifting through the material, not the material itself is the challenge.

dull.......2006-05-24

everytime i tried to read this gibberish i felt like passing out. one of those texts that keeps going and going and in the end you learn very little. as an introduction to IR, it killed my interest in the area.

Disappointed.......2006-04-17

I would expect a popular entry-level international relations book to have a good overview (which it had) and deal with current issues (which it did) - but not with the blatant superficial biases against US policy masked in glib rhetoric and without any consideration of alternative viewpoints. Furthermore, I found it to be extremely US-centric; presenting viewpoints of the world that only a leftist American would espouse and certainly not a thoughtful citizen of the world. The authors would have been better to disclose up front what eventually becomes obvious after the first few chapters. So much for intellectual honesty.

Well Done.......2006-02-04

I took an international relations course awhile ago, and this book was part of the required reading. While it does not provide a complete overview of IR, it does a very good job at the intro level. Specifically, the text does a very thorough job of adressing globalization, the global south, and introductory political economy. I would suggest buying this book and then reading the works of the political scientists upon which much of the theory is based (Mearsheimer, Nye, Waltz, Angell, Doyle, Morganthau, Carr, etc.)

World Politics: Trends and Transformation/Students

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World Politics: Trends and Transformation/Students
Charles W. Kegley , and Eugene R. Wittkopf
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312106580

European Transformations: Five Decisive Years at the Turn of the Century : An 'Innovation' Reader 1988-1992 (Contemporary Trends in European Social Sc)

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European Transformations: Five Decisive Years at the Turn of the Century : An 'Innovation' Reader 1988-1992 (Contemporary Trends in European Social Sc)

Manufacturer: Avebury
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Social History | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Instructor's manual to accompany World politics : trend and transformation, third edition [by] Charles W. Kegley, Jr., and Eugene Wittkopf

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Instructor's manual to accompany World politics : trend and transformation, third edition [by] Charles W. Kegley, Jr., and Eugene Wittkopf
Charles W Kegley
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Instructor's manual to accompany World politics: Trend and transformation, fourth edition

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Instructor's manual to accompany World politics: Trend and transformation, fourth edition
Charles W Kegley
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Study Guide for Kegley/Wittkopf's World Politics: Trend and Transformation, 10th

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Study Guide for Kegley/Wittkopf's World Politics: Trend and Transformation, 10th
KEGLEY/WITTKOPF
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

World Politics: Trend and Transformation

ASIN: 0495004944

Book Description

Includes chapter outlines, chapter summaries, key term definitions, fill-in-the-blank chapter reviews, and practice test questions.

World Politics 5th Edition: Trend and Transformation

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World Politics 5th Edition: Trend and Transformation
Charles W. Kegley Jr , and Eugene R. Wittkopf
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

World Politics Trend and Transformation : Instructor's Edition

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World Politics Trend and Transformation : Instructor's Edition
Charles W; Wittkopf, Eugene R. Kegley Jr
Manufacturer: Thomson Wadsworth
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NXYBEA

World Politics: Trend and Transformation with Book(s)

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World Politics: Trend and Transformation with Book(s)
Charles W. Kegley , and Eugene R. Wittkopf
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312196830

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