To highlight the wide range of publications reviewed in Choice, each month Choice editors feature some noteworthy reviews from the current issue.
 
Battistella, Roger M.  Health care turning point: why single payer won’t work.  MIT, 2010.  165p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780262014076, $21.95.
47-6371  RA395  2009-33439 CIP
Arguing against a single-payer system for health care reform, Battistella (emer., health policy and management, Cornell Univ.) claims that social and economic changes deem the conventional wisdom outdated. Specifically, he challenges the advantages of a single-payer plan by criticizing the myths about this type of reform (e.g., health care is a social good and should be free, prevention generates big savings). Battistella has authored numerous academic and policy publications in the areas of health care and financing. In this book, he systematically analyzes the current health care debate and argues that only a consumer-driven health care model, in which consumers are responsible for purchasing their own health insurance, just as they are for home insurance, can contain the costs of health care and improve its quality. Battistella asserts that a single-payer plan, contrary to the popular belief, will only drive up costs further. This is a timely publication, given the current debates over health care reform. While the author is a career academician, his book is easily accessible to informed general readers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Public, academic, and professional library collections. — D. Li, Kansas State University 

Catastrophe in the making: the engineering of Katrina and the disasters of tomorrow, by William R. Freudenburg et al.  Island Press, 2009.  209p bibl index afp ISBN 1-59726-682-5, $26.95; ISBN 9781597266826, $26.95.
47-6324  HV636  2009-21516 CIP
This masterpiece of scholarship breaks through a clutter of explanations of Hurricane Katrina, which thus far have presented it as a “fury of nature.” The work under review explains Katrina as a calamity caused by humans that was long in the making. Freudenburg (environmental studies, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) and his colleagues ground their analysis in an enduring sociological concept of the “growth machine,” of which Harvey Molotch is a key proponent, to advance their argument of humans’ biting nature. They argue that the growth machine and its agents–engineers, developers, speculators, and politicians–transformed the landscape of New Orleans with levees, canals, floodwalls, and development in swamps, leaving it utterly and predictably vulnerable to the disaster. The supposed economic benefits of these transformative interventions did not materialize either. To make matters worse, they sentenced New Orleans and its residents to a disaster conveniently blamed on nature. The authors conclude that the Katrina calamity was the handiwork of the growth machine, which tends to site development projects in floodplains, builds cities on geological fault lines, and blames nature for the resultant disasters. Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduate/graduate collections in disaster management and risk assessment studies. Highly recommended. Environmental studies and environmental sociology. — T. Niazi, University of Wisconsin

County Health Rankings, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.  Internet Resource.
47-6280
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/ 
[Visited Apr’10] County Health Rankings presents nationwide county-by-county health data in an elegant, easy-to-navigate format. The site’s home page is clean and simple, featuring a clickable map of the US and relatively few other navigational options. Click on any state and a new page appears, with a map of that state divided into counties shaded according to “health outcomes” (or, alternatively, “health factors”) rankings. Moving the mouse arrow over individual counties displays the numerical rank of each county within the state. A menu to the left of the map offers other options, including links to the data in table format. Clicking the map on a particular county opens a table displaying the county-level data upon which the ranking system is based. Each element of data in the table for an individual county is further linked to a new page that explains that measure, its source, its importance, and its weight in the ranking. A new, smaller map of the state, again divided into counties, also appears on this page, shaded to indicate the county-by-county ranking for this individual data element. Once again, using the mouse to move over individual counties provides a numerical display, allowing quick and easy county-to-county comparisons for a given element. The site wins high marks for clarity, logic of presentation, and ease of navigation. Equally impressive, however, is the quality, consistency, and reasoning evident in the data, gathered from disparate authoritative sources and massaged into a compelling series of insightful snapshots designed to inspire action. This is a truly outstanding resource for public health research and advocacy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners; general audience. — J. D. Potter, Eastern Washington University

Encyclopedia of modern China, ed. by David Pong.  Gale, part of Cengage Learning, 2009.  4v bibl index afp; ISBN 9780684315669, $520.00.
47-6011  DS755  2009-3279 CIP
The rise of China as a major player in world affairs since the turn of the 21st century has resulted in a fair number of reference works in the last few years. In this monumental, four-volume set, more than 900 entries and sidebars are organized under 28 major themes on China’s history, culture, and society. Nearly 500 China scholars from around the world contributed to the 2,300-plus pages that discuss Chinese history from 1800 to the present. Signed articles are arranged alphabetically with cross-references and suggested readings for further information. The volumes also contain 53 primary sources, some of which are rare, original English translations. The set’s annotated bibliography identifies more than 100 titles that have significant impact for the study of China. A glossary of Chinese characters and a comprehensive index complete the volumes. Compared to Brill’s Encyclopedia of China, ed. by Daniel Leese (CH, Jun’09, 46-5393), which covers a similar time period in Chinese history but whose 2009 English translation is based on a 2003 German edition, the present volumes represent more current scholarship. Gale also offers an online version, desirable for its easy access and the potential for more-frequent updates. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. — K. T. Wei, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Evoking genocide: scholars and activists describe the works that shaped their lives, ed. by Adam Jones.  Key Publishing House, 2009.  313p index; ISBN 9780978252694 pbk, $32.99.
47-6326  HV6322   Can. CIP
This compilation has a simple yet fascinating premise: ask leading human rights scholars and activists to reflect on the art and literature that most influenced them. The result–60 two-to-three page essays meditating on a wide variety of sources, from the essential (Elie Wiesel’s Night, 1960) to the unexpected (Star Trek)–is highly engaging and thoughtful. The beauty here is that these well-known intellectuals and activists are honestly writing about the things that move them, capture their imaginations, and propel them onward in their work. Reading the book is akin to talking to a favorite professor about why he or she chose a specific field of study. The essays, covering events ranging from the genocide of the indigenous peoples of the Americas to the genocide in Darfur, are not traditionally academic, a fact that may make this book more accessible to students. An excellent starting place for those interested in developing classes on the art and literature of genocide. Jones includes a list of resources for further reading. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. — J. B. Edwards, University of Montana
   
Frize, Monique.  The bold and the brave: a history of women in science and engineering, by Monique Frize with Peter R. D. Frize and Nadine Faulkner.  Ottawa, 2009.  348p bibl index; ISBN 9780776607252 pbk, $34.95.
47-6212  Q130   Can. CIP
Frize’s interest in why and how science and engineering have remained dominated by men led to her thorough investigation of women’s educational and career history in these professions. Organized into four sections, this work explores historical debates on women’s intellectual abilities, how women have attempted to gain access to scientific education and careers, and key obstacles to women’s entering science and engineering professions. In the first half of the book, Frize (Carleton Univ. and Univ. of Ottawa, Canada) presents a broad historical perspective, beginning with ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th through 19th centuries, and progressing to contemporary times, of aims to improve the numbers of women in science and engineering. Part 3 discusses strategies for recruiting and retaining women and includes chapters devoted to the issues of equitable workplaces and cultural change in science and engineering professions. The final section profiles three women in the sciences: Sophie Germain, Mileva Mari^D’c Einstein, and Rosalind Franklin. Three appendixes offer additional information on women’s abilities, women’s enrollment in science and engineering programs, and fellows in IEEE. The bibliography is substantial, and the index provides excellent access to the material. This book will be especially valuable for academic libraries serving science and engineering programs. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels of academic, two-year technical program, and professional readers.
— J. J. Arnold, Central Piedmont Community College 
 
Gillette, Gary.  Big league ballparks: the complete illustrated history, by Gary Gillette and Eric Enders with Stuart Shea and Matthew Silverman.  Metro Books, 2010.  512p bibl index; ISBN 9781435114524, $29.95.
47-6316  GV879   MARC
Anyone with more than a passing interest in baseball history will enjoy this coffee-table-style book, which looks at big league ballparks constructed within the last 100 years. The book contains hundreds of rare photographs, including full-color shots of long-gone classic parks like Crosley Field, Forbes Field, and the Polo Grounds. The 62 entries are grouped into four chapters, “Classic Fields,” “Stadiums,” “Superstadiums,” and “Retro Ballparks,” and arranged chronologically by the venues’ opening dates. An introductory historical chapter on pre-1909 ballparks details the history of ballpark and stadium design and construction, emphasizing how the growth of baseball’s popularity as a spectator sport, coupled with the ever-present danger of fire in early wooden structures, led to the building of the first steel and concrete venues in the early-20th century. The descriptions are understandably brief, but the informative narratives include the story of the building of a park and, when applicable, factors that led to the closing and demolition of a structure. The book is thoroughly indexed. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, general readers. — J. R. Bailey, Arkansas State University 
 
Heimann, Mary.  Czechoslovakia: the state that failed.  Yale, 2009.  406p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780300141474,
$45.00.
47-6496  DD901  2009-21977 CIP
The book jacket of this excellent, readable, and provocative new history of Czechoslovakia tells it all: on the front, a bleak March 1948 picture of the castle gates; on the back, Sudeten Germans departing in the late 1940s. Heimann (history, Univ. of Strathclyde, UK) provides no picture of a republic of courageous democrats resisting first Nazis and then communists. Her argument is not pretty. The founding fathers (Jan Masaryk and Edvard Benes) were “brilliant propagandists.” The Czechs were not victims but persecutors driven by ethnic intolerance, racism, even anti-Semitism, and strong nationalism. The 1945-48 period of revenge and expulsion of Sudeten Germans was an ugly interlude. For many readers, it will take time for this meticulously researched work (50 pages of small-type notes and references) to sink in. But it may help explain why Czechoslovakia was among the more hard-line and brutal of 1948-89 “socialist” Central European countries and why it lacked a robust underground resistance to the Nazis. Historians will determine if her revisionist legend busting is overdone. Heimann’s book is joined by Battle for the Castle by Andrea Orzoff (2009), which also takes aim at the “myth” of Czechoslovakia as the democratic beacon light of Central Europe. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. — H. Steck, SUNY College at Cortland 

Herman, Richard, T.  Immigrant, Inc.: why immigrant entrepreneurs are driving the new economy (and how they will save the American worker), by Richard T. Herman and Robert L. Smith.  Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.  226p index; ISBN 9780470455715, $29.95.
47-6354  HB615  2009-24941 CIP
Herman (immigration and business attorney) and Smith (journalist) report that legal immigrants help create businesses in America at twice the rate as nonimmigrants. Though 13 percent of American workers are immigrants, 25 percent of American scientists and engineers are born outside the US. The authors describe the attributes that foster entrepreneurship in this group of individuals: immigrants tend to have a culture that supports education, entrepreneurship, family, and a high-energy work ethic. Entrepreneurship might also be important to this group because of issues related to discrimination, legal hassles, language barriers, and lack of money. Chapter-long case studies describe successful immigrant experiences. For example, a Spaniard started Superior Design International with his invention of thin sheets that capture sunlight for energy, a Taiwanese entrepreneur invented the first lithium-ion battery for cars, and a son of a Soviet immigrant started Google. A final chapter discusses how to think like an immigrant. An appendix presents 30 tables documenting immigrant business and educational activities and success. Tables often feature data from the “Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.” For a broader, more scholarly treatment, see Prodromos Panayiotopoulos’s Immigrant Enterprise in Europe and the USA (CH, Apr’07, 44-4567). Summing Up: Recommended. Students, upper-division undergraduate and up, professionals, and general readers. — G. E. Kaupins, Boise State University 
 
Kasting, James.  How to find a habitable planet.  Princeton, 2010.  326p index afp; ISBN 9780691138053, $29.95.
47-6220  QB820  2009-34490 CIP
Kasting (geosciences, Penn State) titled his book after Wallace Broecker’s inspirational textbook How to Build a Habitable Planet (1985), but the two differ in both style and content. Finding a habitable planet addresses the question of life elsewhere in the universe, as raised by William Whewell in Of the Plurality of Worlds (1853). The modern form of “are we alone in the universe?” is the Green Bank equation, which was an attempt promoted by Frank Drake in the 1960s to quantify the probability of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the solar system. Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee made the most recent attempt to answer this question in Rare Earth (CH, Jul’00, 37-6250). They concluded that no other planets in Earth’s solar system are likely to sustain life. Kasting believes otherwise, and he devotes much of his text to reaffirming a quantitative and scientific approach to address this issue, which changes as astronomers continue to discover planets in other solar systems. This book covers Earth’s geological origin and history with respect to planetary habitability. It is not based on a single course as was Broecker’s work but instead encompasses a broader set of topics. An excellent book on a fascinating topic. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.
— P. K. Strother, Boston College  

Katchadourian, Herant.  Guilt: the bite of conscience.  Stanford General Books, 2010.  370p index afp; ISBN 9780804763615, $60.00.
47-6171  BF575  2008-53323 CIP
Guilt is a signal contribution to the study of human emotions generally and guilt in particular. Katchadourian (Stanford) brings together reports of guilt and studies from various fields: psychology, neuroscience, religion (including Asian religion), biology, law, and philosophy. While these do not always mesh well, Katchadourian is judicious in giving each its say before suggesting where he thinks the truth lies. He argues that guilt must be understood and distinguished from its “neighbors”: regret, remorse, shame, disgust, and embarrassment. As might be expected, some discussions are, if not superficial, too brief to be convincing. But Katchadourian always points readers in directions to pursue approaches in greater depth. As a philosopher, this reviewer thinks the book would have benefited from delving more into the philosophical literature on the subject of the emotions, e.g., Richard Wollheim’s On the Emotions (CH, Feb’01, 38-3271), Gabriel Taylor’s Pride, Shame, and Guilt: Emotions of Self-Assessment (CH, May’86), Anthony Kenny’s Action, Emotion, and Will (1963), and Robert Gordon’s The Structure of Emotions (CH, Apr’88). That said, Katchadourian’s book is subtle, generous, and both informed and informative. It also has the rare merit of adhering to solid academic standards yet being accessible to a general literate audience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. — H. Oberdiek, Swarthmore College 
 
Lawrence, Regina G.  Hillary Clinton’s race for the White House: gender politics and the media on the campaign trail, by Regina G. Lawrence and Melody Rose. 
L. Rienner, 2010.  277p bibl index afp; ISBN 9781588266705, $65.00; ISBN 9781588266958 pbk, $26.50.
47-6540  JK2281  2009-26973 CIP
More aptly titled Why Hillary Lost, this volume addresses, by the authors’ own admission, far more than media gender bias. Though chock-full of reminders of that bias, illustrated in television quotes, cartoons, and news articles, the book also explores other factors in the 2008 campaign, including media routines for covering presidential politics, such as “horserace” and “defining moment” reporting; institutional and political barriers women candidates faced; the political context of any race, including party rules and the opposition; and the unique characteristics and history of a given candidate. Of special interest is the expansion of Kathleen Hall Jamieson’s conflicting “binds” to include femininity/competence, independence/dependence, experience/change agent, and equality/difference. Unfortunately, because of the small n problem (there is but one Hillary), the conclusions are not astounding. Women candidates must figure out how to run as women, and they will always face the “likeability” issue. Nonetheless, thanks to works such as this and others (e.g., Gender and Elections, eds. Susan Carroll and Richard Fox, CH, Dec’06, 44-2385), next time around, and there will be a next time around because the glass ceiling now “has about 18 million cracks in it and the light is shining through,” a woman candidate for president will know better what to expect. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. — A. C. Titus, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 
 
McNamara, Patrick.  The neuroscience of religious experience.  Cambridge, 2009.  301p bibl index; ISBN 9780521889582, $85.00.
47-6227  BL53  2009-13025 CIP
Formal study of the relationship between science and religion has expanded dramatically in the past decade, as evidenced by an explosion of books, journals, college courses, and popular media dealing with the subject. Scholars and authors are currently faced with the daunting challenge of bringing a unique perspective to this very crowded philosophical college. McNamara (neurology, Boston Univ. School of Medicine) has constructed a thesis that has met this challenge. While many professionals have posited a correlation between religious experience and neurophysiological phenomena, very few have made attempts to connect these with a concrete understanding of the self. This connection represents the foundation of the uniqueness of this author’s work. A significant portion of the book contains an exploration of the concept that religious experience has a powerful transformative and developmental effect on human consciousness. McNamara presents a clear and well-articulated scholarly work that synergistically combines core concepts in neuroscience, philosophy, and religion. The clarity of the writing and breadth of coverage will appeal to students and scholars from diverse fields of study. The book is fully indexed and replete with references. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. — J. A. Hewlett, Finger Lakes Community College

Off the Page.  Internet Resource.
47-6115
http://poetry.eprints.org/ 
[Visited Apr’10] Comprising digitized audio files of poets reading or performing their works before live audiences, this unique site emanates from the English department at the University of Southampton (UK), and is supported by the British Arts Council. The site provides free access to recordings representative of primarily British poetic output of the last 40 years, and coverage, though sporadic, is surprisingly broad in terms of writers and works. The 1980s are most thoroughly represented, suggesting that this decade was particularly fruitful for recorded poetic performance. Multiple browse features allow users to search by poet, date, location, or event. Researchers can also browse content by means of a conventional and well-documented search feature that provides useful tips on how best to retrieve relevant information. In addition to its graceful design and utility, the sheer range of poets included is perhaps the most impressive aspect of this resource. Street, small press, and nonacademic poets such as Attila the Stockbroker and Wendy Mulford take their place among such familiar writers such as Eavan Boland and Charles Tomlinson. All the poems included, however, seem to share an emphasis on innovation and craft, a point often revealed in the commentary from the poets themselves in the individual recordings of their works. Indeed, the layers of criticism residing in these audio files sets Off the Page apart from other poetry recordings by emphasizing the interaction between poet and audience in a setting that is not mediated by words on a page. In some instances, a poet’s comments underscore the intellectual or academic work that contributes to a poem’s composition; in others, the remarks enhance the vatic potential of a verse to move listeners. Summing Up: Recommended. All users.
— J. G. Matthews, Washington State University Libraries 
 
Painter, Nell Irvin.  The history of white people.  W.W. Norton, 2010.  496p index; ISBN 9780393049343, $27.95.
47-6408  E184  2009-34515 CIP
Race continues to exert great power. In the US, disproportionate power accrues to those seen as white, termed “Caucasian” in recent centuries. In a sweeping narrative, historian Painter (emer., Princeton) shows how the concept of race developed and how the notion of Caucasian came to mean light-skinned people of northern European lineage, about whom special beauty and intelligence were self-ascribed. Beginning with Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in the 18th century, the equation of Caucasian with northern European spread with the conquest of empires. English and Germanic peoples competed over whose culture represented scientific proof of possession of the purest Caucasian blood while using whiteness to justify the dispossession of the property and culture of nonwhites. With the emergence of the US as a world power, the Caucasian claim crossed the ocean, where the designation of who was white slowly broadened to include Irish and Italians. A historian’s equivalent to Stephen Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man (CH, Apr’82), Painter’s critique demonstrates the persistence of “whiteness” and “blackness,” even though science, once the handmaiden of racism, has disproven race as a valid scientific concept. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.
— E. R. Crowther, Adams State College
  
Stiglitz, Joseph E.  Freefall: America, free markets, and the sinking of the world economy.  W.W. Norton, 2010.  361p bibl; ISBN 9780393075960, $27.95.
47-6385  HB3722  2009-51285 MARC
The financial crisis that reached a crescendo in 2008 has spurred scores of economists and commentators to write of its causes and consequences. Readers familiar with Joseph Stiglitz’s previous work (e.g., Making Globalization Work, CH, Feb’07, 44-3398, and Globalization and Its Discontents, CH, Oct’02, 40-1043) will undoubtedly appreciate the depth of experience that he brings to this book. Stiglitz, a 2001 Nobel laureate and adviser to President Clinton, combines his firsthand observations on policy and regulation with discussions of recent scholarly work to produce one of the more comprehensive treatments of the crisis to date. Beginning with the causes of the crisis, Stiglitz weaves a detailed narrative that pulls no punches in assigning blame. He then critiques both President Bush’s and President Obama’s handling of the crisis, claiming that much more needed to be done to restore a robust and healthy economy. Drawing on his experiences both in domestic and international policy, he offers suggestions for reforming the capitalist order so that future crises may be prevented. After a discussion of the culpability of the economics profession itself, he concludes with a vision for a way forward that aims to put markets and the state into a more appropriate balance. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All collections and readership levels. — W. J. Polley, Western Illinois University 
 
Vieira, Mark A.  Irving Thalberg: boy wonder to producer prince.  California, 2010.  504p bibl index afp; ISBN 9780520260481, $34.95.
47-6153  PN1998  2009-11534 CIP
Vieira narrates Thalberg’s rise to fame, riches, and romance and his gradual, but inevitable, decline to illness and tragically early death in 1936 at age 37. The book reads like a novel, but Vieira’s research was thorough and painstaking: he exploits previously unused sources, including production notes for many Thalberg films and an unpublished memoir by his wife, Norma Shearer. This (sometimes) day-by-day account provides insight into Thalberg’s enigmatic character. An ailing, delicate, “beautiful” young man who became one of the most powerful figures in the annals of Hollywood, he was a “producer prince” who never allowed his name to appear on the credits of his films. Thalberg’s star-making power was legendary: he shaped the careers of Shearer, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Lon Chaney, Greta Garbo, and Joan Crawford (the book includes entertaining anecdotes about dozens of movie icons). He was a strong, resourceful, intelligent center in a tumultuous world, the eye of the storm, controlling many creative, economic, and personal issues. When he died of pneumonia in 1936, he had “personally supervised” more than 100 films, both silent and sound, many of them colossal successes, some acknowledged masterpieces. This is a worthy, well-documented account of his life. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. — R. D. Sears, Berea College 
 
Wexler, Alice J.  Art and disability: the social and political struggles facing education.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.  248p bibl index ISBN 0-230-60629-6, $80.00; ISBN 9780230606296, $80.00.
47-6398  LC4025  2009-8633 CIP
With the most recent iteration of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the regular education classroom teacher more frequently finds himself or herself responsible for serving students with special needs. Addressing some of the pressing challenges facing those charged with educating students with disabilities, Wexler (State University of New York, New Paltz) examines how attending to the artistic and sensory learning needs of this group can enhance their educational experience. Wexler devotes chapters to specific disabilities, including autistic spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, emotional disturbances and behavioral disorders, blindness and visually impairment, and traumatic brain injuries, as well as community outreach. In each chapter, she describes the disability, places it in context by providing vignettes regarding individuals with the disability and examples of art they created, and examines the special education settings in which these students are served. Coherent, insightful, and passionate, Wexler provides an essential text that nicely complements works such as Points of Contact: Disability, Art and Culture, ed. by Susan Crutchfield and Marcy Joy Epstein (2000). Both practical and enlightening, the work provides a useful resource for teachers, administrators, and scholars. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, and above. — S. T. Schroth, Knox College  
     
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