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- By His Own Labor; Brings Dard Hunter to Life!
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By His Own Labor: The Biography of Dard Hunter
Cathleen Baker
Manufacturer: Oak Knoll Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1584560207 |
Customer Reviews:
By His Own Labor; Brings Dard Hunter to Life!.......2000-12-04
It is evident that Cathy Baker developed a close relationship with Dard Hunter while she labored through the endless research required to produce this thorough and engaging biography of one of America's outstanding graphic designers and scholors. She was able to establish the relationship without compromising her objectivity. Hunter's greatness is lavishly detailed without placing him among the gods. Here is a very human man who quietly achievied greatness. I'll read this one again.
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By His Own Labor: The Biography of Dard Hunter.(Review): An article from: Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada
Ann Douglas
Manufacturer: Bibliographical Society of Canada
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Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B0009FERF0
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
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This digital document is an article from Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada, published by Bibliographical Society of Canada on March 22, 2001. The length of the article is 873 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: By His Own Labor: The Biography of Dard Hunter.(Review)
Author: Ann Douglas
Publication:
Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2001
Publisher: Bibliographical Society of Canada
Volume: 39
Issue: 1
Page: 118
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Amazon.com
From its original publication in 1984, Creamer's superb portrait of one of the game's most cherished characters was quickly acknowledged as a masterwork of sports biography. Its opening line--"Casey Stengel naked was a sight to remember"--helped establish the complex and often contradictory personality that Creamer strips from its façade by work's end. Stengel worked to build his image as the game's crazy clown prince, but he was always crazy like a fox, remarkably resilient, quietly brilliant, and always entertaining, from the day he broke into the majors with Brooklyn in 1912 to the afternoon he finally hung up his uniform as the loveable manager of the hapless Mets in 1964. His record of success as manager of the Yankee juggernaut from 1949 to 1960 remains one of baseball's unapproachable legacies: 10 pennants and seven World Series titles, including five in a row. "Casey could be wildly amusing," Creamer writes, stating the obvious, "but," he continues, "there was a burning ambition in him too." By displaying the former--especially in the form of his own confusing use of words, dubbed Stengelese by the beat writers whose job it was to interpret him--Stengel was able to let the latter sneak up on the opposition undetected. It was part of his myth and part of his mystery, both of which Creamer exposes with great skill, real respect, and obvious affection. --Jeff Silverman
Customer Reviews:
Great Reading.......2007-04-19
Excellent. Well written, gives a good history yet moves right along.This guy had an amazing career and an amazing record.This is a must read for anyone interested in baseball.
Straightforward and Entertaining.......2005-11-27
This is a solid biography of one of baseball's most colorful characters. Charles "Casey" Stengel (1890-1975) spent parts of six decades in the big leagues in a career that lasted from 1912 until 1965. Stengel was a bit clownish and he spoke in a distinctly non-articulate style ("Stengelese"), but he was also an extremely intelligent man. The author details Stengel's youth in Kansas City and early ambitions to become a dentist. We get a descriptive look at his 14-year playing career with several national league teams. We get an equally effective look at his managerial tenure with the mediocre Brooklyn Dodgers (1934-36 )and Boston Braves (1938-1943), the powerhouse Yankee teams from 1949-1960, and the woeful expansion New York Mets from 1962-1965. There are many smiles (and a couple frowns) for readers as these pages examine a complex and colorful man.
Author Robert Creamer uses straightforward readable prose, and the result is a very good and informative biography. Readers should also like his biography on Babe Ruth, and his look at the 1941 baseball seasons.
New Insights on an Old Favorite.......2005-11-04
Growing up in NY in the early 1960's I remember Casey vaguely as the manager of the Yankees (really Ralph Houk was manager in my early years) but more as the comic elderly leader of those miserable Mets. While I learned later of his great career as manager of the Yankees, somehow he was always portrayed as the marginal player who excelled as a bench leader. Creamer works hard to dispel this perception (which maybe only I had) and repeatedly stresses Casey's fine playing career. I appreciated gaining this new insight and found it a valuable addition to our understanding of Casey's wonderful career as a manager and ambassador of the game.
Stengel was great and so is Creamer........2005-04-22
Picked up this book because I enjoyed Creamer's book on Babe Ruth and Stengel is just as good, maybe better.
You'd almost expect a book on Stengel to skip the earlier years in favor of his coaching years but this book doesn't. Stengel's early years are entertaining and provide a good look into the teens, 20's and 30's of baseball so if that's what you're after then you'll like this book. You'll probably also be surprised at the life that Stengel lived, there's so much more to this man than I expected - what a full life he lived. He was the Ulysses of baseball....as if the Gods of Baseball decided to pluck this Chaplin-like soul and make him wander through the game for a lifetime. Creamer really delivers.
Disappointing.......2000-05-03
I had read such glowing reviews of this book, and had enjoyed other Creamer works so thoroughly that I was suprised how uninspired I was while reading this. Perhaps I failed to be dazzled by Stengel the man. Perhaps I grew tired of the predictable retelling of Stengel's life, season by season, many of which held no remarkable events. Baseball in '41 is a much more rewarding book, full of wonderful anecdotes well recounted.
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Over the Rainbow: The Wizard of Oz As a Secular Myth of America (Mcgill Studies in the History of Religions)
Paul Nathanson
Manufacturer: State University of New York Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0791407098 |
Customer Reviews:
Still Ahead Of Its Time.......2000-01-04
Although OVER THE RAINBOW first appeared in print almost a decade ago, it continues to have no equal in the interdisciplinary study of religion, film, and popular culture. Nathanson's subtitle is THE WIZARD OF OZ AS A SECULAR MYTH OF AMERICA. He takes great care to define terms such as "secular" and "myth," as well as that elusive but crucial word "religion." Thus the reader is engaged in a stimulating conversation with theorists like Gregor Goethals, John Wiley Nelson, Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner, Robert Bellah, Roland Barthes, Elaide, John Dominic Crossan and many others around a familiar -- but via Nathanson, always surprising -- common text, the 1939 film THE WIZARD OF OZ.
While Nathanson himself is a great admirer of the film, the importance of this study goes far beyond that particular production; it sets a standard of scholarship that is unrivaled in the field.
I have used this book in undergraduate religion and popular culture courses at two colleges in the northeast and also at the University of Alabama. It has been exceedingly helpful in introducing students to the religious character that lurks just below the surface of secular American culture -- what some scholars have called the "implicit" religiosity of popular culture. The book has opened students' eyes to religion in places they least expected to find it (indeed, some students even expect to encounter the Devil in productions that emanate from Hollywood). But it has also introduced them to perennial religious themes and enduring problems in the study of religion, thereby demonstrating to them that the academic study of religion is not only fascinating, it is also fun.
Book Description
An Introduction to Cybercultures provides an accessible guide to the major forms, practices and meanings of this rapidly growing field. From the evolution of hardware and software to the emergence of cyberpunk, film and fiction, David Bell introduces readers to the key aspects of cyberculture, including email, the internet, digital imaging tecnologies, computer games and digital special effects. Each chapter contains 'hot links' to key articles in its companion volume, The Cybercultures Reader, suggestions for further reading, and details of relevant websites. Individual chapters examine: * Cybercultures: An Introduction * Storying Cyberspace * Cultural Studies in Cyberspace * Community and Cyberculture * Identities in Cyberculture * Bodies in Cyberculture * Cyber Subcultures * Researching Cybercultures
Customer Reviews:
Tries to see the future.......2004-03-04
So here you are in the 21st century. And you still don't look like the Jetsons. But perhaps you want to see what is coming down the pike?
The book offers suggestions on the future, by examining the so-called cyberculture. A nonlinear blend of fact and cyberpunk science fiction. The facts include trends in hardware and software engineering. Plus the social usages of these. Like the rise of massive multiplayer environments (Everquest etc). And how people voluntarily immerse themselves in these in an addictive wirehead mode. Where wirehead is a term borrowed from science fiction of the 1980s and earlier, when this behaviour was predicted.
The book examines the rise of a new type of community, mainly extent on the Web, comprised of people, most of whom will never meet in person. How exotic this would have seemed in the 1970s. Yet this has crept up on us. Is this a harbinger? Will people withdraw into themselves and their net connections? Such issues are speculated upon in the book.
As you can imagine, the book span many fields, including sociology, psychology, computer science and science fiction. Worth a perusal.
Customer Reviews:
Very useful.......2003-05-13
The Sorcerers Crusade Companion is different when compared to other general RPG source books. This book does not contain a lot of game mechanics or new powers. It provideds all the necessary information to run a historically accurate Renaissance game. Everyday details such as fashion, food, behavior, and culture were all presented in just the right amount. The art of swordfighting, plants, famous Renaissance figures, and Umbrood were discussed in the core book but was elaborated here. Most importantly, the book discussed the other cultures of the world during the Renaissance and their beliefs. This opens a lot of doors for games involving explorers and diplotmats. This book is a must for the average gamer who knows little about the world during the Renaissance and would like to add some accurate historical flavor to their games that might otherwise end up like generic D&D adventures.
downright great.......2002-02-28
the usual scenario involves a storyteller cracking his head to little pieces trying to find out whta to do about scourge in the renaissance. Tryin to get some ambientation cause the characters don't feel the renaissance and trying to run the chronicle. This book gives the in and outs about renaissance and works with scourge and scourgelings (paradox spirits) in a great way to add fun to your roleplaying, sure it's worth the money.
Basic principles for Renaissance roleplaying.......2001-03-12
For several of us players who love Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade but have had some trouble getting to "feel" life in Renaissance, this book is a must. It brings crucial information about life in Renaissance (what they ate, what they wore, how did they relate to each other), the most important reigns (Tuscany and Italy, Spain, England, etc.) and even the countries that the Age of Exploration has uncovered (or will uncover), such as Cathay (China), America and so on.
It's more intended towards ST than players, though (except for the first 2 chapters, which are a must for both players and ST), and it goes as far as describing Renaissance personalities, and giving some cool ideas about Scourgelings.
And excellent book!
Pretty Darn Good!.......1999-07-15
If you're looking for a guide to explain the intricate game mechanics of this often arcane RPG, better look elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you're eager to start playing Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade but know diddly about the Renaissance (a not-inconceivable problem given the state of education nowadays), this book is what you need. In fact, I would suggest it for anyone needing info about this wonderful period of history. If only regular textbooks were this exciting & interesting! There is also a nice little essay on period fencing and dueling which I recommend highly to the incipient swashbuckler out there. You can do no wrong with this little gem in your Mage collection. Avanti!
Book Description
Called "the leader in the Snort IDS book arms race" by Richard Bejtlich, top Amazon reviewer, this brand-new edition of the best-selling Snort book covers all the latest features of a major upgrade to the product and includes a bonus DVD with Snort 2.1 and other utilities.
Written by the same lead engineers of the Snort Development team, this will be the first book available on the major upgrade from Snort 2 to Snort 2.1 (in this community, major upgrades are noted by .x and not by full number upgrades as in 2.0 to 3.0). Readers will be given invaluable insight into the code base of Snort, and in depth tutorials of complex installation, configuration, and troubleshooting scenarios. Snort has three primary uses: as a straight packet sniffer, a packet logger, or as a full-blown network intrusion detection system. It can perform protocol analysis, content searching/matching and can be used to detect a variety of attacks and probes. Snort uses a flexible rules language to describe traffic that it should collect or pass, a detection engine that utilizes a modular plug-in architecture, and a real-time alerting capability. A CD containing the latest version of Snort as well as other up-to-date Open Source security utilities will accompany the book.
Snort is a powerful Network Intrusion Detection System that can provide enterprise wide sensors to protect your computer assets from both internal and external attack.
* Completly updated and comprehensive coverage of snort 2.1
* Includes free CD with all the latest popular plug-ins
* Provides step-by-step instruction for installing, configuring and troubleshooting
Download Description
Written by the same lead engineers of the Snort Development team, this will be the first book available on the major upgrade from Snort 2 to Snort 2.1 (in this community, major upgrades are noted by .x and not by full number upgrades as in 2.0 to 3.0).
Customer Reviews:
Snort 2.1.......2006-02-23
The information in this book was invalueable but sometimes it was hard to follow because it was poorly written
Good introductionto Snort.......2005-11-28
Snort 2.1 Intrusion Detection (2nd Edition) is useful as a general introduction to intrusion detection and Snort. If you already have a good understanding of IDS technology you may find the IDS discussion to be a bit general in nature. For someone who only wants to review the basic IDS principals quickly and without a great deal of extra detail the IDS coverage in this book is sufficient. Much of the information on Snort felt like a retelling of Snort Users Manual from the Snort web site. Part of this feeling may be due to the fact that members of the Snort development team who undoubtedly had a hand in the user's manual wrote this book. This book does go into more detail on some subjects than the Snort Users Manual. There is a good step by step set of instructions for installing Snort and associated software on either a Windows or a Linux system. Overall this book seems to be a pretty good overview of Snort for someone looking to use only one resource, but I do not see anything that is not also available in other documentation available.
Snort is moving fast.......2005-03-08
At the time of this review, the latest version of Snort is 2.3. However, the newest books(about two out there) on Snort, including this one, only covers up to version 2.1. And according to the Product Description, "in this community, major upgrades are noted by .x and not by full number upgrades as in 2.0 to 3.0". This pretty much means that this book is already out-dated, and it's printed in 2004, less than a year ago. This reminds me of when Linux was starting to get popular. Red Hat Linux went from version 6.2 to version 9.0 in just two years. Not to mention there are tons of books supposely dedicated to all those versions of Linux in the short two year period. Linux saved businesses a lot of money, and provided stability that MS Windows counterpart didn't. Snort will eventually replace or be at the same level as the current commercial Intrusion Detection Systems(IDS).
I think this time the publishers are smarter, and recognized the pattern from their Linux frenzy publishing experience, lol. The old Linux books litter the thousands of bookstore shelves with nobody buying, lol. That's why at the moment there are very few books on Snort.
Jay gets the job done.......2005-02-28
this is a great book on snort!!!!
Very, very valuable
A thorough and "user-friendly" introduction .......2004-08-07
Now in an updated and expanded second edition Snort 2.1 Intrusion Detection offers completely up-to-date information and instruction ranging from the basics of installation, preprocessor configuraton, and optimization of the Snort software system. Enhanced with an accompanying CD-ROM, Snort 2.1 Intrusion Detection combines explict instructions for applying the software along with a wealth of sample code, tips, tricks, and techniques, and the option to participate in the Snort mailing list. A thorough and "user-friendly" introduction to a software option tailored especially guarding privacy and integrity in the digital age
Book Description
Bestselling author of Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History now takes on the world! Skewering the nonsense we were all taught about the world's revolutions, religions, heroes, and inventors, Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of World History is a whirlwind tour of history from the Trojan War to World War II. Eclectic and fun, Richard Shenkman's well-documented revelations prove that muck of history is indeed "but a fable agreed upon."
- Queen Victoria may have usually worn black, but she loved to drink and party.
- During World War II the English were conned into believing it was Winston Churchill who broadcast the speech about this being their finest hour. But it wasn't Churchill, it was Norman Shelley, a radio actor hired as a stand-in.
- Marie Antoinette did not say, "Let them eat cake," Churchill didn't coin the phrase "the Iron Curtain," and Caesar never said, "Et tu, Brute?"
- Scandal in the English monarchy is nothing new: Fifteen kings fathered children out of wedlock. One queen helped depose her husband so her lover could take his place. Three English kings were gay.
Customer Reviews:
A Quick And Fun-Filled Read.......2007-09-07
Some people don't take this book in the way it was clearly written - with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The author obviously didn't mean for this to be a definitive account of all the events covered - that would have acquired volumes approaching a set of encyclopaedias!
What he does do, however, is cause you to pause, and think, about some of the things you might have believed for years based solely upon what some highly-dubious sources have passed off as legitimate history - such as Hollywood. There they;d have you believe that Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek were paragons of virtue in their roles as great Western allies. Or how about those "authentic" Spanish Civil War battle scenes - many shot on the back lots of Hollywood and some even shot in a bathtub in New Jersey.
What he might have included, as examples of manipulative history, was Frank Capra's unjustifiably renowned "why we fight" video series which shows, among other gross inaccuracies, the "gallant" Russians, prior to the Nazi invasion, toiling away in their wheat fields in Socialist bliss. Because Capra compiled this DURING the war, no mention was made, of course, of the murderous Stalinist purges that had already sent millions of his own people to their deaths or lifetimes of slavery in he Gulags. The problem is, the series is STILL being sold as "historical" accounts of the era.
Sure, you can poke holes in what author Shenkman writes. Isn't that the whole point of history? As George Santayana said [and who is quoted in the Conclusion of this book] "History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten."
One of my jabs is aimed squarely at the chapter "World War II" where the author attempts to justify the appeasement of Hitler by Britain - specifically Chamberlain. He says the Munich Accord [the sell-out of Czechoslovakia] not only produced peace [however temporarily], but that Britain was in no position to take on Germany in 1938.
Now while that is certainly true, what he completely overlooks are the relative strengths of France and Germany at that time. France had a pact with the Czechs, and a move by Daladier and the French Army, Navy and Air Force [which dwarfed the Germans at that time] would have caused Hitler to cave in. Indeed, his own generals were absolutely petrified at the prospect of going head to head with France in 1938 with inferior tanks and less aircraft! The fact is, France did not need Britain in 1938 - except for moral support and, perhaps, the Royal Navy and Air Force. What the French did NOT have in 1938 was the courage of their convictions. And THAT Hitler banked upon.
He counted on it again a year later when, in September 1939, he invaded Poland, leaving his Western flank virtually unprotected except for a few scattered lower-level units. And by this time Britain was stronger both from a manpower and a materiel aspect. And so was France. An attack then and again Hitler would have had no choice but to capitulate as he was in no position to fight a two-front war.
Not only does the author not even mention that possibility, he then goes on to punch a few holes in his own Munich argument later in the chapter when he says that, when Germany attacked France in May 1940, the latter were STILL better equipped than the Germans in almost every respect [although he does acknowledge that the reason for their quick collapse - quicker than the Poles by the way - was a lack of a will to fight.
But that's the fun of looking back. Opinions will vary widely on what should or should not have been done, and you can argue forever as to who was right and who was wrong.
I like the book because what it made me do was go out and seek the more straightforward, no-axes-to-grind historical accounts that simply present the facts and allow you to draw your own conclusions. THAT's the way history should always be presented.
A Wickedly Funny Debunking.......2005-05-03
So you think Catherine the Great was Russian, do you? Then you are a prime candidate for R. Shenkman's acid-tongued revelation of little known or seldom recognized historical fact. If there is a basic misapprehension, Shenkman is on it--much to the annoyance of those who thought they knew Cleopatra was Egyptian, the Gospels are consistent, and the Scots have always worn kilts.
In some respects the work is like buckshot: Shenkman basically goes after what interests him, darting from one item to another in a more or less chronological order, taking on everything from Alexander the Great to Hitler. Did Moses write the first five books of the Old Testament? Did Lady Godiva really ride naked through the streets of Coventry? Who was really responsible for having Joan of Arc burned at the stake? Did Winston Churchill really oppose appeasement of Germany?
Some of the material is stuff you would have known if you had paid attention in high school, but even so much of it will startle most readers, and Shenkman's wry style is sure to amuse. Recommended for the pure fun of it!
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
A good compliment to the "Myth America" TV series........2005-04-18
As with most TV series you get statements with out support. So I tracked down the Richard Shenkiman book to get some background to the statements about American myths. I was not disappointed. It is as if he was reading this book on the TV with more graphic representations for the different media.
The book is worth reading. However the format may not be to some peoples liking as it is short choppy statements and the chapters are divided into subjects as, Discoverers and Inventors, Presidents, Sex, and Art.
There is a fair set of footnotes to lead you to further reading. You may need this as he sometimes stretches a point.
Final analysis, you are better off reading this to give a better perspective on reality. Read it to your kids and save them a lifetime of "Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of American History".
Terrible, terrible, terrible.......2005-01-20
As a professional historian I was appalled by this book. I have a pretty generous sense of humor, but Shenkman's weak attempts at debunking popular conceptions and his "breezy" wit were too much. He propogates just as much bad history as he purports to correct, oversimplifying such complex subjects as Alexander's conquests and the fall of Rome, and his section on Judaism could easily be called anti-Semitic. It should come as no surprise that he skips over relgions that it's not okay to ridicule--only Jews and Christians are the butt of jokes, here. As another reviewer said, Shenkman seems to like hearing himself talk--so true. His narrative style reminds of me those self-important people you hear dominating restaurant conversation so often.
If you really must have something historical to laugh at, check out The Lowbrow's Guide to History, which, at least, doesn't pretend to be telling the truth.
Shenkman's Book a Must for Everyone!.......2003-12-29
Rick Shenkman is a talented historian whose skill at writing makes his understanding of history all the easier to comprehend. Witty and irreverant, democratically short and readable, this book is useful to both the historical novice and the more sophisticated student of things past. Anecdote after anecdote, Shenkman humourously points to the narrow line that separates myth from history. A must for everyone!
Book Description
The truth and nothing but the truth--Richard Shenkman sheds light on America's most believed legends:
- The story of Columbus discovered that the world was round was invented by Washington Irving.
- The pilgrims never lived in log cabins.
- In Concord, Massachusetts, a third of all babies born in the twenty years before the Revolution were conceived out of wedlock.
- Washington may have never told a lie, but he loved to drink and dance, and he fell in love with his best friend's wife.
- Independence wasn't declared on July 4 (and the Liberty Bell was so little regarded that Philadelphia tried to sell it for scrap metal but nobody wanted it).
- After World War II, the U.S. Government concluded that Japan would have surrendered within months, even if we had not bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Customer Reviews:
Good Read.......2007-05-13
I like this book for when I am on the train...not so in-depth that it requires a lot of concentration.
Sophmoric.......2006-06-04
Your sixth grader might find it revealing, but nobody with any knowledge of history will learn much from this disconnected, purposeless collection of factoids. Shenkman acts like an annoying twelve-year old who's memorized 50 state capitals and wants you to listen as he recites them -- and thereby proves how smart he is.
Many of the facts he "reveals" here were things most people would learn from a comptent high-school or college American History class, or else are too irrelevant to be included even there. e.g. pointing out that Paul Revere had two companions, or that Molly Pitcher was not the only woman to fight in the Revolution.
Yes, it's true that most people aren't aware that John Paul Jones later served as a mercenary to Catherine the Great ... but what's the point? Are they supposed to know? Does not knowing reflect some sort of failing in their education? Shenkman certainly implies as much.
But even more annoying is his habit of attacking myths that nobody really believes. He refers to the "firmly held belief that premarital sex is a twentieth-century phenomenon." Firmly held by whom? Shenkman wants to pretend that there are people out there who think that there was no fornication pre-1900, so that he can show how wrong they are (and by contast, how smart and urbane he is). But of course nobody actually thinks this; what they actually think is that it was >less common
< in the past than it is now ... which his statistics confirm. Now it probably is true that many people misunderstand or exagerrate how much less common ... but that's a comparatively subtle distinction, and Shenkman doesn't do those.
To pick another, he alludes to the (putatively common) "belief that Presidents were freqently born poor." Excuse me? I highly doubt anyone out there actually under the misapprehension that the majority of Presidents were raised from poverty. People believe that it is >possible for a poor person to become Head of State, and that that possibility is more real in the US than in other countries.
It might be interesting to do a comparative study with, say British PMs or Soviet Politburo members, to see what percentage of them came from comparatively wealthy backgrounds. Alas, that sort of thing is beyond Shenkman. His brilliant idea is to list all the presidents and spin their life stories to make them sound bourgeois: the orphaned Hoover was "brought up by his maternal uncle, the head of a local academy;" Nixon's father owned a gas station; Eisenhower's mother went to college. Best of all is his pointing out that while Lincoln was poor, he was "not as dirt poor as his neighbors."
My guess is that Shnekman fancies himself another Howard Zinn, fearlessly deconstructing the bourgeois myths of America. He isn't. Zinn uses facts to make points; he constructs arguments. Some of those facts are slanted, some points are debatable and some of arguments weak, but it is at least the discourse of an educated adult. Shenkman's is not.
Legend & Lies.......2006-01-27
Legend, Lies & Cherished Myths of American history is a misleading title. Do not assume this book to among likes of James Lowen's publications. Some aspects of the book seem factual. However, many arguements he makes such as the American revolution was not revolutionary at all, are completly rediculous.
This is yet another book in this kind of genre based upon assumptions and poor research. Avoid it at all costs.
Brian DeDentro
(Rhode Island College)
Legends, Lies, and cherished Myths.......2005-08-06
Excellent source for my undergraduate students who are studying to become secondary social studies teachers.
thanks!!
Dave Kowalka
Nearly no primary sources.......2004-10-16
Television news reporter (now there's a credential) Shenkman attempts to debunk some widely-held but erroneous beliefs about American history from Columbus to the present day, covering topics such as sex, family, the so-called good old days, arts and quotations. It's a fine and admirable idea for a book. Unfortunately, this book does not deliver the idea's promise. Shenkman uses nearly no primary sources, relying on modern historians' research. This gives the result that in many instances, his "proof" of the falsity of one claim is simply another author's claim. Shenkman also has an odd idea of what constitutes American history, often resorting to 17th-century history to refute claims of what "American" life really is. He also quotes extensively but cites sources sproadically, often lumping a few paragraph's worth of sources together in one footnote. There are one or two nuggets of good stuff in here, like the origin of Paul Bunyan, or some of Harvard's history, but the lack of primary sources and generally non-scholarly approach make this book somewhat interesting at best.
Book Description
This second edition of TAKING SIDES: CLASHING VIEWS ON CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES IN WORLD HISTORY, VOLUME 2 presents current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. An instructor’s manual with testing material is available for each volume. USING TAKING SIDES IN THE CLASSROOM is also an excellent instructor resource with practical suggestions on incorporating this effective approach in the classroom. Each TAKING SIDES reader features an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites and is supported by our student website, www.dushkin.com/online.
Customer Reviews:
More modern examples of the historical process.......2007-01-04
These topics are charged but more importantly the articles which argue two sides of each topic demonstrate some of the historical approaches to any subject. The articles are relatively easy to understand but instructors may wish to use multiple pairs to explore various steps in the historical process. I use it in my "Learning Strategies of College History" course at Indiana University.
Book Description
This Expanded Edition of TAKING SIDES: CLASHING VIEWS IN WORLD HISTORY, VOLUME 2 presents current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. An instructor’s manual with testing material is available for each volume. USING TAKING SIDES IN THE CLASSROOM is also an excellent instructor resource with practical suggestions on incorporating this effective approach in the classroom. Each TAKING SIDES reader features an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites and is supported by our student website, www.mhcls.com/online.
Customer Reviews:
If Rush Limbaugh were to write a book about gender differences...........2005-09-15
It's actually too bad. There was some useful information in this book. But the political statements just got to be too much after a while. I lost track of the number of times "radical feminist" was used.
It's less a book about gender differences, and more a book about understanding men and how modern society is ruining boys and men. Those pesky "radical feminists" are the ones to blame.
If you want a less biased view of gender differences, try "Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps" by Barbara and Allan Pease.
Comprehensible and informative.......2004-07-24
What a relief to read a book based on science, instead of sociology. Why Men Don't Iron gives a comprehensive look at how human biology has been shaped through the ages by nature's harsh conditions, which determine most of our behavior today. Evolutionary psychology, or sociobiology, is always an interesting read, but the authors of Why Men Don't Iron make it especially enjoyable by their insightful and varied examples, and the way they combine scientific fact (and common sense) with clear explanations that the layman can understand. This is an opportunity to break free from the historical parenthesis that is today's Political Correctness and understand the conditions that the rest of the world has not forgotten.
Required Reading.......2004-05-29
The book is in essence a fascintating collection of gender studies research presented in straightforward and entertaining way. The differences between genders go far deeper than basic biology and socialization. Politically correct this book is not. However science rarely is. Although it isn't the end-all-be-all thesis for true gender thoughtful gender studies, it asks the right questions and provides thought provoking answers.
Didn't think people this dumb still existed..........2004-02-04
WOW! It is hard to believe that people in the world are so threatened by feminism and homosexual/lesbian rights movements that they would write such rediculous garbage and try to pass it off as legitimate. No, men and women cannot be essentialized, and yes, you do need to do research outside of your homophobic group of friends to write a book like this.
Unimpressed........2004-01-31
There might have been some good ideas in this book, but I couldn't find them. They were too buried in stereotypes. Not just stereotypes of "what is male", "what is female" and "what is normal", but also stereotypes of "what is sex", "what social research says", "what is popular culture" and, well, pretty much what is anything else. There isn't a single complex take on what is arguably one of our most complex issues - it is all presented in cartoonish, one-dimensional parody of human interaction and human understandings, presented somehow as the authors' remarkable insights.
Thankfully, we as a species are not quite as simple-minded as these authors obviously think we are. They have written a number of books on this subject, I note, but they still don't seem to grasp the fact that there is considerable variation in human behaviour _and_ in human understanding, that culture does have an effect on acceptable gender roles (as many comparative studies have demonstrated), and that what level of aggression or emotional wisdom an individual has is the result of the events that make up his or her life history as well as whatever baseline biology has given them. But the interplay of nature and nurture - and the fact that, unlike their stereotypes in this book, scientists are NOT so stupid that they will gleefully ignore this complexity - is hardly given a look in. It is, apparently, all down to hormone levels and rigid biological differences. Um, women have testosterone too, y'know.... If even the biology were as simple as these two make out, we wouldn't still be writing so many books trying to understand this subject.
Oh yes - I might add, my husband does all his own ironing, and I read maps better than he does. And as far as I can tell, neither of us feels particularly bad about this. But according to this book, people like us don't really exist.
There is a strong likelihood that there are some cognitive differences between the genders. But if you want to understand the subject better, this is NOT the book.
Average customer rating:
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An Inventory of Wetlands of the Lao P.D.R
Manufacturer: World Conservation Union
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 2831703190 |
Book Description
This publication is a compilation of up-to-date information on each wetland in the country. An overview of wetlands in Lao P.D.R. and management issues are also discussed in detail.
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