To highlight the wide range of publications reviewed in Choice, each month Choice editors feature some noteworthy reviews from the current issue.

Auerbach, Robert D.  Deception and abuse at the Fed: Henry B. Gonzalez battles Alan Greenspan’s Bank.  Texas, 2008.  271p bibl index afp ISBN 0-292-71785-7, $24.95; ISBN 9780292717855, $24.95.
46-3949  HG2563  2007-51720 CIP
 
This book critically evaluates the administrative, personnel, and monetary policies of the Federal Reserve, especially under the leadership of Alan Greenspan, Fed chair from 1987 to 2006. Auerbach (currently, Univ. of Texas at Austin) worked at the Kansas City Fed and subsequently was on the staff of the House Banking Committee, whose chair, Henry Gonzalez, carried out the Fed investigation. He details 12 severe problems at the Fed, including “shielding of powerful Fed officials from individual accountability,” “shredding of official source records,” “corrupt accounting practices,” and “retaliation by the Fed against critical reporters.” At issue is when the Fed should disclose monetary policy objectives and whether Congress should have periodic Fed reports or oversight control. With 23,000 employees, it is not surprising there are glitches in Fed operation. Since electronic payments use has lagged, the author notes, the Fed is slower in processing payments than every other developed country, increasing the chance of fraud/forgery with check facsimiles. Auerbach suggests criticism should not be off-limits to those with political agendas, and he proposes various Fed reforms, e.g., that the organization reflect current population and that overlapping regulation be reduced. Readers learn from this accessible book that monetary policy is not a science. Summing Up: Recommended. All collections and levels. — E. C. Erickson, California State University, Stanislaus 

Bell, John.  American puppet modernism: essays on the material world in performance.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.  280p bibl index afp ISBN 1-4039-7981-2, $89.95; ISBN 9781403979810, $89.95.
46-3756  PN1978  2007-48665 CIP
 
Theater historians have typically dismissed puppetry as a separate or lesser form of theater unworthy of serious study, especially in context of more mainstream theater practices. A puppeteer, object-performance scholar, and author/editor of such works as Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History (2000), Landscape and Desire: Bread and Puppet Pageants in the 1990s (1997), and Puppets, Masks, and Performing Objects (2001), Bell (Center for Advanced Visual Studies, MIT) attempts to rectify this situation. Examining key moments within the last 150 years of US popular culture, he illustrates the evolution of puppets, masks, and other performing objects and contextualizes their influence on the development of “modern” performance practices. Using a standard definition of puppetry as a “theatrical figure moved under human control,” the author broadens his inquiry beyond the familiar puppet forms (marionette, rod, and hand puppets) to include mechanical devices, parade balloons, moving panoramas, and film animation. Bell’s survey is neither all-inclusive nor exhaustive but rather an in-depth examination of specific theater events, practitioners, and types of object performance (the Little Theater Movement, Remo Bufano, Bread and Puppet Theater)–a discussion that helps to contextualize the development of object performance into Bell’s notion of “puppet modernism.” Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. — R. A. Naversen, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Black women in Texas history, ed. by Bruce A. Glasrud and Merline Pitre with Angela Boswell et al.  Texas A&M, 2008.  248p bibl index afp; ISBN 9781603440073, $40.00; ISBN 9781603440318 pbk, $19.95.
46-4017  E185  2007-26474 CIP
 
This is the first statewide anthology to look at the lives and accomplishments of African American women through the lenses of race, class, time, and place. The first essay is a historiography of the field of African American women, and the following essays proceed in chronological order from before the Civil War to the present. These eras are broken into pre-1865 (slavery), 1865-1874 (Reconstruction), 1874-1900 (employment, education, and organization), 1900-1930 (poverty, urbanization, Jim Crow, and cultural achievements), 1930-1954 (Great Depression, WWII, and self-help), 1954-1974 (civil rights), and two essays on the period 1974 to 2000, one of which is historical and cultural, the other educational and political. Endnotes conclude each essay, showing the depth of research involved. While individual essays can stand alone, they also work well together, with topics overlapping slightly. The book as a whole would be good for upper-level collections in women’s history, African American history, and Texas history, and individual essays could be useful to lower-level undergraduates. The book is written for the general public, but the research and notes make it useful for historians, too. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — J. A Stuntz, West Texas A&M University  

Currinder, Marian.  Money in the House: campaign funds and congressional party politics.  Westview, 2009.  230p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780813343792 pbk, $30.00.
46-4118  JK1319  2008-13147 CIP
 
Currinder (Univ. of Georgetown) has produced a fine little primer that explains the importance of money in the House of Representatives. Money–“the mother’s milk of politics”–is central to getting elected, staying elected, and gaining and retaining positions of power in the House hierarchy. Currinder makes clear that money is the central focus of interest and activity for members; legislation takes a secondary role. Cynics in Washington define an honest politician as one who when bought stays bought. Currinder shows that even this adage is no longer true; the top bidder invariably wins out. Lobbyists, the fourth branch of government, play a central role. Practically every representative comes to Washington branded with a for-sale tag, but the House intramural buying and selling is an ongoing activity. This is a fascinating look at the inner workings of Congress, well written, and free from jargon. The book compares favorably to David Graham Philips’s 1906 classic The Treason of the Senate. Unfortunately for ideologues, party makes no difference; the “rule of money” prevails. Currinder neither nominates any heroes nor offers any panacea. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — S. L. Harrison, University of Miami 

Ebert, Roger.  Scorsese by Ebert.  Chicago, 2008.  297p index afp ISBN 0-226-18202-9, $25.00; ISBN 9780226182025, $25.00.
46-3735  PN1998  2008-15418 CIP
 
Well-known film critic Roger Ebert uses a series of reviews of Martin Scorsese’s work–beginning in 1967 with his first feature film, I Call First (released as Who’s That Knocking at My Door), and ending with his 2008 documentary Shine a Light–to provide a unique chronology of this director’s extraordinary film career. This approach reveals the growth not only of a filmmaker but also of a film critic who from the first saw in Scorsese the makings of a great American filmmaker. Ebert includes both his original reviews and reevaluations of those reviews, thus providing a 20/20-hindsight perspective that proves both interesting and enlightening. Though the book suffers from some redundancy, because of Ebert’s obvious admiration of Scorsese, it serves as a historical document of Scorsese’s career. Ebert’s insights into recurring themes and elements in Scorsese’s oeuvre show the maturation of the filmmaker over a 40-year period. This volume serves as both an invaluable, historical resource for the Scorsese scholar and an entertaining, informative document for the Scorsese fan. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers, all levels. — A. F. Winstead, Our Lady of the Lake University 

Fairlie, Robert W.  Race and entrepreneurial success: black-, Asian-, and white-owned businesses in the United States, by Robert W. Fairlie and Alicia M. Robb.  MIT, 2008.  240p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780262062817, $35.00.
46-3936  HD2358  2008-5535 CIP
 
This book should be on the shelves of anyone involved in any aspect of minority business development in the US for a number of reasons. First, it is easily accessible to the average reader yet has very sophisticated analysis. Second, it is a good resource on the available data sources for studying ethnic entrepreneurs and their limitations. Third, it provides good comparative analysis on ethnic entrepreneurs. Finally, it points to important policy advice for those wishing to help these entrepreneurs, considering the role of education, start-up capital, and relationship capital. It would have been helpful for the authors to have analyzed other ethnic groups in some depth; for example, what accounts for the success of female Native American entrepreneurs as reported in their analysis? Also, a key methodological issue raised by earlier researchers is not addressed–namely, that a good fit of the data is not necessarily a correct explanation of the phenomenon observed. See related, Handbook of Research on Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, ed. by Léo-Paul Dana (CH, Nov’08, 46-1583). Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections and levels. — B. P. Corrie, Concordia University

Guenin, Louis M.  The morality of embryo use.  Cambridge, 2008.  273p bibl index; ISBN 9780521872690, $90.00; ISBN 9780521694278 pbk, $29.99.
46-3765  BJ1469  2008-13429 CIP
 
Guenin (microbiology and molecular genetics, Harvard) develops and defends a compelling argument (the “argument from nonenablement”) for not only the moral permissibility, but also the moral obligation, of using donated extracorporeal embryos for humanitarian ends. These unenabled embryos Guenin also calls “epidosembryos” in so far as their use for humanitarian ends is directed by the intentions of the donors, and because, unlike enabled embryos, they would otherwise be wasted. Throughout this study, Guenin grants that one might compellingly argue that enabled embryos should be granted the moral status appropriate to potential persons, but that this makes no sense with respect to unenabled embryos. He develops the concepts of “person,” “possible person,” “individuation,” and “clone” with great analytic skill. Guenin is especially intent on showing that his argument from nonenablement finds common ground within the reasoned opposing positions, which he presents completely and fairly. This is truly an extraordinary book whose prolixity and scientific and philosophical technicality is well worth the reader’s effort. It is easily the best, most complete examination of this difficult subject written to date. Good bibliography and index. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-level undergraduates through professionals/practitioners. — P. A. Streveler, emeritus, West Chester University of Pennsylvania  
 
 
Hitchings, Henry.  The secret life of words: how English became English.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.  440p bibl indexes afp ISBN 0-374-25410-9, $27.00; ISBN 9780374254100, $27.00.
46-3675  PE1580  2008-26055 CIP
 
Also author of Dr. Johnson’s Dictionary: The Extraordinary Story of the Book That Defined the World (2005), Hitchings here provides a colorful, thematic history of the English language. Treating borrowings and coinages as psychological windows to history, the author takes the reader on a tour of the lexicon from Anglo-Saxon to the present day and shows how new words answer linguistic needs. Hitchings is a fine writer with an eye for the illustrative detail, and he organizes each of his 16 chapters around (and titles it with) a word capturing a key historical theme: e.g., “Ensemble,” “Invade, ” “Volume,” “Genius,” “Bonsai,” “Connoisseur,” “Ethos,” “Voodoo,” “Angst,” “Shabash” (the last a Hindi or Urdu word for “bravo”). Along the way, Hitchings treats the reader to some 3,000 word histories, including William Tynsdale’s coinage of “scapegoat” and extension of “beautiful,” the musical background of “doodle,” the origins of “cliché” and “stereotype” as printers’ terms, Sylvia Plath’s semantic extension of “kamikaze,” and much, much more. With 90-plus pages of notes, sources, and useful indexes, this is a fine choice for libraries and a “smorgasbord” for language aficionados. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers, all levels. — E. L. Battistella, Southern Oregon University 

Laid off, laid low: political and economic consequences of employment insecurity, ed. by Katherine S. Newman.  Columbia, 2008.  124p afp; ISBN 9780231146050 pbk, $15.00.
46-3937  HD5708  2008-20482 CIP
 
This book represents an apparent new niche in social science publishing: short compilations of recent research that can appear in timely fashion and not break student budgets when assigned as classroom reading. This slim volume contains just five articles plus an introduction. However, the contributors are of high quality and come from varied disciplinary backgrounds, and they pack a large amount of empirical results and analysis into the small space. This brevity keeps the focus squarely on the book’s theme in a way that is difficult to do in a larger edited volume. Overall, the articles make it clear that Americans as a group have experienced a higher level of employment insecurity, whether measured as lifetime number of jobs held or increased unemployment, and that they do not like having to take on the higher level of personal risk that this trend entails. This work also makes it clear that the low-skilled worker is the one who bears the brunt of this increased uncertainty, even though attention has increasingly focused on the problems of the high-skilled workforce. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through research and faculty collections. — J. P. Jacobsen, Wesleyan University 

  
Norris, Pippa.  Driving democracy: do power-sharing institutions work?.  Cambridge, 2008.  306p bibl index; ISBN 9780521873192, $80.00; ISBN 9780521694803 pbk, $24.99.
46-4085  JC423  2007-44303 CIP
 
Norris (Harvard Univ.), author of Electoral Engineering (CH, Oct’04, 42-1232) and other recent books, was recently director of Democratic Governance at the United Nations Development Programme. Driving Democracy is an important, ambitious, and readable book that attempts to determine whether “power sharing” regimes are better than “power concentrating” regimes, particularly in multiethnic societies. The theory is that power sharing will produce cooperation, while concentrating political power produces a zero-sum game that reduces incentives to play by the rules. This is an extension of the consociational theory pioneered by Aaron Lijphart. Power-sharing regimes are characterized by proportional representation, balance of power at the national level, federalism, and independent mass media. The theory is tested by a statistical comparison of 191 countries for 30 years since the early 1970s; it is illuminated by ten very useful case studies of success and failure in democratic consolidation. The results confirm the advantages of power-sharing institutions, particularly for deeply divided societies, although there are many other relevant variables. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — R. E. Hartwig, Texas A&M University—Kingsville

The Princeton companion to mathematics, ed. by Timothy Gowers with June Barrow-Green and Imre Leader.  Princeton, 2008.  1,034p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780691118802, $99.00.
46-3606  QA11  2008-20450 CIP
 
This volume is an enormous, far-reaching effort to survey the current landscape of (pure) mathematics. Chief editor Gowers and associate editors Barrow-Green and Leader have enlisted scores of leading mathematicians worldwide to produce a gorgeous volume of longer essays and short, specific articles that convey some of the dense fabric of ideas and techniques of modern mathematics. The editors have not attempted to compile an encyclopedia of mathematics, but rather to collect enough material to fairly represent the subject and, even more, its spirit. Consequently, they emphasize the historical development of subfields and the grammar and practice of the subject, in addition to providing particular information about individual concepts and mathematicians. Although one part (some 130 pages) is devoted to the impact of mathematics on other areas (scientific, social scientific, and humanistic), this is really a book about mathematics qua mathematics. Written for an audience possessing a solid–but not necessarily extensive–mathematical background, it offers much to those capable and interested in working through it. This volume should be on the shelf of every university and public library, and of every mathematician–professional and amateur alike. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. — S. J. Colley, Oberlin College 

Razack, Sherene H.  Casting out: the eviction of Muslims from Western law and politics.  Toronto, 2008.  250p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780802093110, $60.00; ISBN 9780802094971 pbk, $24.95.
46-4087  BP173   Can. CIP
 
In this timely, lively, and provocative book, Razack (sociology, Univ. of Toronto) addresses some pointed issues about the “othering” of Muslims in the current “war on terror.” She argues that “race thinking” (as a cultural project rather than individual prejudice) is profoundly incorporated into the attitudes and policies toward Muslims in the West. Not only are the hierarchies of domination and privilege being reproduced and strengthened through these policies, but–and Razack pursues this vigorously–they also lead to the logic of marginalization and “the casting out” of Muslims from the pale of common humanity and therefore from the protections of the rule of law. The “dangerous Muslim man” and the “imperiled Muslim woman” become the popular tropes around which feminism and racism become interwoven, and the premises of cultural superiority and imperialism become self-reinforcing. Psychologically and often physically, Muslims are considered as occupants of a “camp,” alienated, backward, menacing, and ultimately exterminable, thus providing the moral framework of Western aggression against them. Theoretically rich, empirically substantive, and elegantly presented, this book is a strident but welcome indictment of the intellectual apparatus that buttresses the “clash of civilizations” thesis and the military and epistemic violence that follows from it. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate and above. — A. Ahmad, Black Hills State University 

Rose, Ernestine L.  Mistress of herself: speeches and letters of Ernestine L. Rose, early women’s rights leader, ed. and introd. by Paula Doress-Worters.  Feminist, CUNY, 2008.  389p bibl index; ISBN 9781558615441, $55.00; ISBN 9781558615434 pbk, $18.95.
46-4055  HQ1413  2007-21434 CIP
 
Editor Doress-Worters (Brandeis Univ.) presents the first published collection of the work of Ernestine Rose, an influential orator and early women’s rights activist. Especially in conjunction with the full-length biography The American Life of Ernestine L. Rose by Carol Kolmerten (CH, May’99, 36-5271), this collection promises to resituate Rose with her highly influential interlocutors in the women’s suffrage and abolitionist movements, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and William Lloyd Garrison among them. The accessible introduction covers not only general biographic details, but also the diverse contributions of Jewishness, Owenist socialism, abolitionism, free thought, and secularism to Rose’s life and thought. The primary documents include speeches on a wide range of topics, from atheism and women’s rights to the “utter extinction of slavery.” Letters from other activists to Rose and eulogies after her death provide added context for her life and thought. Rose’s matrix of influences and commitments made her not only a prominent figure, but also a unique window into the 19th-century US. This volume promises to give her work some of the attention it deserves. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — S. E. Imhoff, University of Chicago 
 
 
Roston, Eric.  The carbon age: how life’s core element has become civilization’s greatest threat.  Walker & Company, 2008.  309p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8027-1557-5, $26.00; ISBN 9780802715579, $26.00.
46-3803  QH344  2008-2754 CIP
 
Fresh from six years covering technology, science, and energy for Time magazine, Roston has written his first book–a winner and a keeper. He begins by outlining the nuclear reactions that form carbon inside large stars. Although schoolchildren commonly understand that carbon is the skeletal element that holds biomass together and climate change researchers know that the Earth’s carbon cycle plays a major role as a greenhouse gas, Roston sees carbon’s abundance and widespread distribution as an important starting point that creates an opportunity for the synthesis of organic molecules and the creation of life itself. Roston’s assertion that carbon is generated by the nuclear fusion of three helium nuclei is strongly supported by eminent scientists such as Fred Hoyle, who was at Caltech in the 1950s. Hoyle disproved elements of George Gamow’s big bang hypothesis in 1953 by demonstrating that the birthplace of the element carbon is the interior of stars that reach temperatures of 100 million K (kelvin). The nuclear fusion origin of carbon is convincing and understandable, though later chapters addressing evolution, cyanobacteria, photosynthesis, and organic molecules require patience and some chemical knowledge. However, the final chapter becomes a convincing, easy read and offers a pathway to sustainable living. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — R. M. Ferguson, emeritus, Eastern Connecticut State University 

Stenhouse, Fanny.  Exposé of polygamy: a lady’s life among the Mormons, ed. by Linda Wilcox DeSimone.  Utah, 2008.  198p afp  (Life writings of frontier women, 10); ISBN 9780874217131, $29.95.
46-4059  BX8645  2008-8575 CIP
 
Fanny Stenhouse’s autobiography reveals much more than information about polygamy, which was the draw of the book both in 1872 (the memoir’s publication date) and today. Activism, feminism, and religious development intersect in this work, which is also important as a traveler’s chronicle. DeSimone provides succinct historical context–she has a master’s degree, specializing in Mormon history–but avoids repeating widely available information or overanalyzing Stenhouse’s account. The sophistication of Stenhouse’s writing, DeSimone’s editing, and the publisher’s careful work produces a volume that, although in the captivity narration genre, far surpasses the raw, more recent autobiographies of flight from plural marriage such as (to name one of many) Susan Ray Schmidt’s 2006 His Favorite Wife: Trapped in Polygamy. Stenhouse’s straightforward style, presented nicely by the editor and publisher, will be accessible to undergraduate audiences in a variety of subjects (e.g., history, religious studies, women’s studies), and useful to graduate students, faculty, and researchers as a primary source for any number of research projects. Illustrated nicely, the book will interest a wide audience, including general readers. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. — S. D. Reschly, Truman State University

Sustaining life: how human health depends on biodiversity, ed. by Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein.  Oxford, 2008.  542p bibl index afp ISBN 0-19-517509-3, $34.95; ISBN 9780195175097, $34.95.
46-3831  QH541  2007-20609 CIP
 
This in-depth review of the latest scientific literature on how human medicines, biomedical research, the emergence and spread of infectious diseases, and the production of food all depend on biodiversity grew out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Edited/written by two Harvard Medical School physicians, the work includes contributions from more than 100 authors and reviewers worldwide. The focal point, as noted by Edward O. Wilson in the foreword, is “that humanity, having evolved as part of the web of life, remains enmeshed within it.” Each of the ten chapters begins with a cogent quotation and ends with a concise summary and suggested readings. Chapter 1, “What Is Biodiversity,” provides an overview of the world’s biodiversity. It is followed by well-written chapters on the threats to biodiversity and biodiversity’s contributions to medical and biomedical research, with a sharp focus on seven threatened groups of organisms (e.g., amphibians, primates, gymnosperms), which are valuable to medicine. The final chapter shows how individuals can help conserve biodiversity. Excellent color photographs, maps, and diagrams accompany a highly readable, low-jargon-laden text. Ends with additional references and a thorough index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. — E. J. Kormondy, chancellor-emeritus, University of Hawaii at Hilo 
 
 
Tolstikhin, Igor.  The evolution of matter: from the big bang to the present day Earth, by Igor Tolstikhin and Jan Kramers.  Cambridge, 2008.  521p bibl index ISBN 0-521-86647-2, $140.00; ISBN 9780521866477, $140.00.
46-3863  QE501  2007-53050 CIP
 
The Evolution of Matter provides a comprehensive overview of the composition and origin of matter in the universe and of the processes shaping the composition of the Earth and its nearest planetary neighbors. Tolstikhin (Russian Academy of Sciences) and Kramers (Univ. of Bern, Switzerland) presents the information in a clear, complete manner so that it is accessible to a wide variety of readers, although it is nevertheless an advanced topic. The book is divided into four sections: the properties and origin of the elements in relation to the origin and evolution of the universe and galaxy; the origin of the solar system; the history and composition of early Earth; and the subsequent evolution of the Earth’s solid reservoirs. Each section is clear and logical and does not assume a background in chemistry, geology, physics, or astronomy; if background is needed, the authors provide it in preceding chapters. The figures are appropriate and explained in captions, mostly negating the need to search through the text for interpretation. Includes 44 pages of references, lists of terms, abbreviations, and materials referenced in the book, and a good index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, and faculty. — N. W. Hinman, University of Montana 

Waldman, Steven.  Founding faith: providence, politics, and the birth of religious freedom in America.  Random House, 2008.  277p bibl index afp ISBN 1-4000-6437-6, $26.00; ISBN 9781400064373, $26.00.
46-3794  BL640  2007-21710 CIP
 
Culture wars between fundamentalist religionists and antireligious secularists are among the conflicts facing the world generally, and the US. Many claim for their opposing positions the ideals and worldviews of the Founding Fathers. This eye-opening historical probe by Waldman (cofounder and president, Beliefnet.com) reveals that the original intent and vision of the founders of America are misinterpreted, distorted, and selectively referred to by extremists on both sides. Despite the adamant and destructive antagonism of both groups, the polarization that reigns today between those who take religion so seriously as to inject it into the government and those who regard faith as another foul F-word has no historical justification whatever. Waldman carefully traces the religious development of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. He not only discusses their roles in ushering in the unique system of religious freedom and separation of church and state that characterizes the US, but also demolishes every liberal and conservative fallacy on which today’s culture wars thrive. Though annotated with profuse scholarly endnotes, this book is very readable, informative, enlightening, and insightful. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — V. V. Raman, emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology 

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