LIGHTING THE WAY: NINE WOMEN WHO CHANGED MODERN AMERICA

Book Description

Karenna Gore Schiff's nationally bestselling narrative tells the fascinating stories of nine influential women, who each in her own way, tackled inequity and advocated change throughout the turbulent twentieth century.Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was born a slave and fought against lynching; Mother Jones, an Irish immigrant who organized coal miners and campaigned against child labor; Alice Hamilton, who pushed for regulation of industrial toxins; Frances Perkins, who developed key New Deal legislation; Virginia Durr, who fought the poll tax and segregation; Septima Clark, who helped to register black voters; Dolores Huerta, who organized farm workers; Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias, an activist for reproductive rights; and Gretchen Buchenholz, one of the nation's leading child advocates.Gore Schiff delivers an intimate and accessible account of the nine trail-blazing women who deserve not only to be honored but to have their example serve as beacons.

Customer Reviews:

Lighting The Way: Nine Women Who Changed Modern America.......2007-08-03

This is a magnificent book, written by a brilliant and humanitarian author. It is well researched and documented, and it is very interesting and enlightening. Every person in our nation could benefit from reading this informative work. Thank you for this book!

Extraordinary women.......2006-11-10

Karenna Gore Schiff has done us a wonderful service with this book of women whose impact on American life has been profound. Her essays on the lives and contributions of these women are readable and enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them.

Excellent book.......2006-08-20

This is a beautifully written and captivating look at the lives of strong women who helped change the course of American history. I was extremely impressed by Karenna Gore Schiff's writing ability . All of the women profiled in this book are fascinating Americans and most of them are long overdue for this kind of a tribute. Schiff truly did her research and I was also interested in the information she shared about the strong women in her family--most notably her grandmothers. She dedicates the book to them.

I am disappointed!!!.......2006-04-06

Any college student can write a book as this-- I'd rather read an Encyclopedia!!!

Lighting the Way: Nine Women who Changed Modern America.......2006-03-17

I read about this book in the newspaper and bought it immediately as a birthday present for my daughter. When it came I started to read it and liked it very much. I didn't want to read the whole thing because I think it needed to be brand new for a gift.

Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern

Average customer rating:

Fun Read!
Interesting, but leaves some things out
Good, but maybe take it with half a grain of salt
Everything you ever wanted to know about the history of the Flapper
Excellent Overview of the Era

Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern
Joshua Zeitz
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1400080541
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.

Whisking us from the Alabama country club where Zelda Sayre first caught the eye of F. Scott Fitzgerald to Muncie, Indiana, where would-be flappers begged their mothers for silk stockings, to the Manhattan speakeasies where patrons partied till daybreak, historian Joshua Zeitz brings the era to exhilarating life. This is the story of America’s first sexual revolution, its first merchants of cool, its first celebrities, and its most sparkling advertisement for the right to pursue happiness.

The men and women who made the flapper were a diverse lot.

There was Coco Chanel, the French orphan who redefined the feminine form and silhouette, helping to free women from the torturous corsets and crinolines that had served as tools of social control.

Three thousand miles away, Lois Long, the daughter of a Connecticut clergyman, christened herself “Lipstick” and gave New Yorker readers a thrilling entrée into Manhattan’s extravagant Jazz Age nightlife.

In California, where orange groves gave way to studio lots and fairytale mansions, three of America’s first celebrities—Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, and Louise Brooks, Hollywood’s great flapper triumvirate—fired the imaginations of millions of filmgoers.

Dallas-born fashion artist Gordon Conway and Utah-born cartoonist John Held crafted magazine covers that captured the electricity of the social revolution sweeping the United States.

Bruce Barton and Edward Bernays, pioneers of advertising and public relations, taught big business how to harness the dreams and anxieties of a newly industrial America—and a nation of consumers was born.

Towering above all were Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, whose swift ascent and spectacular fall embodied the glamour and excess of the era that would come to an abrupt end on Black Tuesday, when the stock market collapsed and rendered the age of abundance and frivolity instantly obsolete.

With its heady cocktail of storytelling and big ideas, Flapper is a dazzling look at the women who launched the first truly modern decade.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Fun Read!.......2007-10-02

This book was such an enjoyable read. I was excited to get it after reading the good reviews and was not disappointed. I highly recommend it.

Interesting, but leaves some things out.......2007-09-26

I found this book extremely fascinating. I often read literature about feminism and women, but hadn't ever read much about the 1920s. Although this book does center on F. Scott Fitzgerald for the first one-third or so, most of it deals with women of the so-called "flapper" era.

Something that took me by surprise was the detail the author goes into regarding fashion of the day. The surprising part was that I found it fascinating! I'm not a big fashion buff, but think the idea of cultural critique via fashion is a very interesting one.

The book is divided into thirds, with the first one-third being about, as I said, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, the "quintessential flapper couple," as well as various prominent figures of this era, including Lois Long, a writer for the fledgling "New Yorker"--which, interestingly, was not always as highbrow as it is now. These people had lives which could (and probably do) all fill books individually, so some of the mini-biographies feel a bit superficial, but I'm sure a book that was exhaustive would be several hundred pages long. The second portion of the book is devoted to fashion, and the final one-third of the book is dedicated to the films of the era. An epilogue describes the eventual fates of each of the book's main players.

This is definitely a book well worth reading, but it has a couple of flaws. It does get dry in some portions, and you have to just "power through" to get back to the interesting parts. Obviously, these will vary from reader to reader, as I'm sure not all people would be as interested in the fashion portion as I was. One other fundamental problem, though, is that this could be subtitled "A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the WHITE Women Who Made America Modern." The author alludes to the fact that the flappers looked down on black women as not being "true" flappers--indeed, he derisively describes an article in which Lois Long mentions that black women in Harlem were doing the Charleston, and doing it not as well as white women, although African-Americans invented the Charleston themselves. He also includes a picture of an Asian-American actress who, according to the caption, "challenged the notion that flappers had to be white and native-born." That is as much of a mention as other cultures get in the book. It seems strange to touch on this subject of non-white flappers and then never say another word about it. If he was going to focus on whites, that's fine, but to bring up other races and not delve into those cultures seems strange. Better to leave it out entirely.

This book is rarely dull and I learned a great deal about an era which has always had a degree of fascination for me, but about which I had never read. You will be entertained and you will learn something--what a great combination!

Good, but maybe take it with half a grain of salt.......2007-08-10

I picked up the hardcover of this as a fun, quick, summer read. I wasn't disappointed; it's very much like _Only Yesterday_despite the 75-year difference in publishing dates.

I think that, overall, this is a good book, and I think that it makes many valid and interesting points about what made the 1920's so "revolutionary" and why the decade marked the beginnings of modern American culture.

My two minor complaints were that--and this is mostly a matter of taste--I wanted a little more in-depth information, and I was disappointed that the section describing women's clothing of the preceding century was either carelessly researched or carelessly generalized. The description of the layers was inaccurate and, at best, reflected only that of the closing decades of the century. There was quite a lot of variation in dress between 1800 and 1910 and it was both unfair and misleading to lump the relatively comfortable clothing of the Regency era in with the extremely restrictive clothing of the second half of the century and the early 20th century. Regency women did wear corsets but they were not the waist-crushing monstrosities to which later generations were subjected; many were not even boned and served to smooth out the body beneath the dress rather than torque it into an entirely new shape, not unlike the Spandex foundation garments many women wear today. Regency clothing and undergarments in many respects had more in common with 1920's clothing than with that of any other era in recent history.

It does make you want to run out and bob your hair, though!

Everything you ever wanted to know about the history of the Flapper.......2007-07-17

This book is basically a history book of the FLAPPER Era, and also of the people that were part of the Flapper trend.

If you ever wondered where the term came from, and why it had evolved as such, then this well-written history book will fill you in.

There are not many photos, because this book is mainly a history book. Each Chapter is filled with loads of information relevant to the Flapper Era.

Not only does this book explain the Flapper trends, but also the book talks about all the people that made the Flapper Era so interesting and so broad in the 1920's (eg: F.Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, Dorothy Parker, etc).

Excellent Overview of the Era.......2007-06-20

This reads almost like a novel, and is great about putting the whole era for women in perspective.

Double Cross: The Explosive, Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America

Average customer rating:

Great overview of the heyday of the Mob/Outift - CIA link to Kennedy's Assassination
Fact or fancy, readers must decide for themselves
Wake Up America! This Book Is Worth Consideration
A Good Read!!!! Reads Like a Novel!!
Double-Cross

Double Cross: The Explosive, Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America
Sam , and Chuck Giancana
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0446364126

Book Description

In the no-holds-barred tradition of The Valachi Papers and Wiseguy, this insider expose of mob boss Sam Giancana, written by his brother Chuck and his godson Sam, blows the lid off some of the Mafia's most shocking secrets. Includes stunning first-time revelations concerning the deaths of JFK, Marilyn Monroe, and RFK. 16 pages of photographs.

Customer Reviews:

Great overview of the heyday of the Mob/Outift - CIA link to Kennedy's Assassination.......2007-05-19

To tell you the truth, I heard about this book for a few years before I found it in a Goodwill bookstore. Something you wouldn't normally find in a Christian store. Nevertheless, I was excited to see it for under $5, so I picked it up.

I was kinda interested in the book because I heard there were some links between the Mob/Outfit and the CIA and Kennedy's assassination. I was really intrigued. So, I read it.

The first bit is setting the stage for the main course of the book. Background and history of Sam and Chuck's upbringings, interactions, beatings, etc. Quite shocking to say the least. Now, the excessive violence of Sam is not something to be read by the squeamish. The language, and vulgarity is profuse in the book. In the context of the book, it is necessary though. To get the true nature of the man that was intimately involved in the climax of the mob's influence in America, and what we find out is around the world, too.

Nevertheless, we see Sam Giancana from the viewpoint of Chuck Giancana, Sam's little brother. Sam becomes Chuck's surrogate father because Sam is so violent, and insists he will take care of Chuck. So unsettling to realize how dysfunctional some families can actually be.

The multiple gory details of what Chuck saw is really unsettling. It is hard to imagine this happening between 50-60 years ago in America! Sex, drugs, music, adultery, spying, murder, intimidation, stealing, drug running, lottery rigging, loan sharking... the list goes on. Everything you've heard about that the Mob/Outfit does, he documents. Oh yeah, Marilyn Monroe is also in the book, related to the Mob/Outfit. Read it and find out!

The link to the CIA and John and Jack Kennedy is amazing. Truly a masterpiece written. I do believe that with the information coming out now about Kennedy's death - deathbed confessions of the real killer - will only strengthen this book's credibility. Not that it needs it, but will maybe perk up some onlookers to actually read it.

Enjoyed the book and strongly encourage those of you to pick it up.

Fact or fancy, readers must decide for themselves.......2006-08-03

I first read this book about ten years ago. I found it to be quite interesting, particularly the part which deals with the rise of organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s-30s. I didn't like the way the book was written, however, and I heavily discounted much of the latter part of the book because I couldn't believe that America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) would work hand-in-hand with organized crime, and because I, like most Americans, still held the Kennedys in high esteem. If I had read the "Authors' Note" in the front of the book, I probably wouldn't have been quite so critical as to how the book was written; and if I had known how corrupt Joseph P. Kennedy and his sons were I likely wouldn't have discounted much of what I did earlier. In any event, after reading two or three more recently published and thoroughly documented biographies of the Kennedys, I decided to go back and re-read and re-evaluate this book.

Based on this second reading, I have concluded that this book is one of three things: an accurate historical biography of Sam Giancana and his criminal empire as told from the perspective of his well informed younger brother, a historical novel, or a public service message and wake up call for all Americans. Perhaps it is a combination of all three. My inclination is to believe that most of the information contained in the book is true, but I still find the latter part of the book, that which deals with the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert, to be somewhat hard to believe.

Organized crime has a long standing reputation for taking care of its friends and an equally well earned reputation for taking care of its enemies; so it's not hard to believe that Sam Giancana orchestrated these murders, as well as that of Marilyn Monroe. But, I still find it hard to believe that two future presidents and high ranking officials in the CIA knew about or were parties to these happenings. Or maybe I just don't want to believe it.

In any case, since I can't figure it out, my suggestion is to read this book along with two others and then make up your own mind. Those books are: "Joseph P. Kennedy: The Mogul, the Mob, the Statesman, and the Making of an American Myth" by Ted Schwarz and "The Dark Side of Camelot" by Seymour M. Hersh.

(By the way, ex-sailors will particularly enjoy this book since the crude language used by the mobsters will likely bring back a host of salty memories.)

Wake Up America! This Book Is Worth Consideration.......2006-06-25

Whilst I agree that this book is sensational and written to cash in on the Giancanna name, I would advise all of the reviewers who dismiss the JFK/MOB link to read up on Jim Garisson's investigation into the assassination and, no less, the Warren Commission Report as well.

Sure, Chuck Giancanna is a two-pit leech (by his own account), and Sam Giancanna probably had an ego the size of an elephant, but learn to weigh up the sources.

The lone-gunman theory that this book arguably sets up makes a hell of a lot of sense. A lot more sense, thank you very much, than one Lee Harvey Oswald being able to shoot so well from such a bad angle. Oh, and do any of the reviewers who pan this book know anything about the magic bullet theory, put forward by a so-called expert as "evidence" that there were only three shots fired at Kennedy?

Sam Giancanna may not have been as powerful as his brother makes out. He probably didn't sleep with MM the weekend before she died, but if you read the book by MM's former maid, Lena Pepertone (excuse the spelling), then you will know the conspiracy theory about MM's death should not be taken lightly either.

Read Jim Garrison's well-researched books on JFK and read the blessed Warran Commission Report, between the lines if you can, and you will find all the corroborating evidence you need to accept much of what is said about SG in this book.

A Good Read!!!! Reads Like a Novel!!.......2005-08-26

This book kept my interest through most of it and was a pretty easy read. While all the information in the book may not be true, it makes you wonder what parts are true.

I recommend this book for anyone, not just those interested in the mob.

Double-Cross.......2005-08-04

I'm sure some of the copy was embellished but the vast majority is as factual as you can get. Sam Giancana was a mobster but was a person also, the book brought out both sides. The New York mob has nothing on Chicago's.

Latin American Women Artists, Kahlo and Look Who Else: A Selective, Annotated Bibliography (Art Reference Collection)

Average customer rating:

an important contribution to the literature

Latin American Women Artists, Kahlo and Look Who Else: A Selective, Annotated Bibliography (Art Reference Collection)
Cecilia Puerto
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0313289344

Book Description

"This volume is a unique contribution to Latin American studies because it underscores the essential role that women have played in the arenas of modern and contemporary art. [This book] provides valuable and much-needed assistance to the researcher." From the foreword by Elizabeth Ferrer With more than 1,500 references on nearly 800 women Latin American Women Artists, Kahlo and Look Who Else pays tribute to the rich and multifaceted artistic accomplishments of women in and from 20th-century Latin America. Frida Kahlo has until recently dominated the interest of scholars, curators, and the public to the point of almost eclipsing the achievements of other artists from the region. This selectively annotated bibliography begins systematically to identify other women -- painters, sculptors, printmakers, photographers, performance artists, and others -- who have made significant contributions to the history of art in the region. The first section, the main part of the work, consists of individual artists grouped in an alphabetical country arrangement. Artists in each country are listed A-Z, as are the citations about them. Annotations are descriptive and highlight, among other details, the presence of biographical and professional development information in the analyzed materials. A section of general works arranged by country follows, consisting principally of periodical and monographic literature that deals with numerous women, and a listing of the women mentioned in the cited materials. The volume has two appendices. The first is an analyzed list of 77 collective exhibitions in which works by these women have been presented. The second appendix groups the artists by country, allowing for an in-brief look at all of the artists identified in the bibliography. The name index references artists to the main section by country code and also includes entries for authors, curators, and exhibition catalogue essayists.

Customer Reviews:

an important contribution to the literature.......1998-12-31

I am familiar with this author's work, and appreciate her detailed bibliography. Researchers of Latin American women artists will find this tool indispensable.

Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity

Average customer rating:

Profound and insightful
Flawed reasoning
Honest, Challenging Talkwise Political Correctness
The new political bible of neoconservatives?
....if you don't mind ......

Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity
Samuel P. Huntington
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684870533

Book Description

In his seminal work The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel Huntington argued provocatively and presciently that with the end of the cold war, "civilizations" were replacing ideologies as the new fault lines in international politics.

His astute analysis has proven correct. Now Professor Huntington turns his attention from international affairs to our domestic cultural rifts as he examines the impact other civilizations and their values are having on our own country.

America was founded by British settlers who brought with them a distinct culture including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of immigrants that later came to the United States gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of primarily Hispanic immigrants, bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American elites.

September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism and a renewal of American identity. But already there are signs that this revival is fading, even though in the post-September 11 world, Americans face unprecedented challenges to our security.

Who Are We? shows the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans. Nothing less than our national identity is at stake.

Once again Samuel Huntington has written an important book that is certain to provoke a lively debate and to shape our national conversation about who we are.\

Customer Reviews:

Profound and insightful.......2007-08-31

This book helps enlighten those who deride as "racist" other Americans who are against illegal immigration. The dangers to our society are real. While Huntington didn't cover every aspect of "Americanism" throughout American history (the book would have been too long of course), he did touch on the essence of what it means to be an American.

Flawed reasoning.......2007-08-30

Dr. Huntington starts his book with 58 pages of American history but devotes less than one paragraph to slavery.

Considering over 600,000 Americans died in the Civil War (proportionally, that would be over 3 million Americans today), there is only one word for a Harvard professor who would try to describe "who are we" while disregarding the most significant issue of our country's history: Bigot.

Honest, Challenging Talkwise Political Correctness.......2007-01-30

Dr. Huntington's book caused alot of upheaval in academia because it dared to say what others will not out of fear of disrupting the multicultural establishment. This book asked the difficult questions which demand honest debate and tough answers. I would encourage anyone to read this who is interested in the cultural transformation our nation has undergone over the past fourty years and where we are heading.
talkwiseblog

The new political bible of neoconservatives?.......2006-12-14

I have read 'The Clash of Civilizations' few years ago, and it didnt make sense to me at that time. Of course after 9/11 the picture became clear. The Clash of Civilizations was the bible of US foreign policy during Bush Administration. Of course the book was faulty in theory and now it is clear how in practice the Bush Adminstration is suffering.

This applies for this book in hand. It is focused internally. I dont claim that I undestand the US internal politics. However, I can see from this book that the current governing minority senses a threat from a growing minority 'Hispanics', which will shift the power balance in the coming 10-20 years.

Again, the book theory doesn't make sense. It profess discrimination under new political titles by doing the following:
- He differentiate between immigrants based on the period of immigration, to conclude that since the early immigrants founded US then they have more rights to shape its future.
- He differentiates between immigrants based on their original cultures and relgion. Since US was founded by Anglo Protestant immigrants, it should continue with a storng Anglo Protestnat culture.

Any political leader who adopts this books theories will take US to a path of civil war.

....if you don't mind .............2006-10-23

A couple of interesting points:

To read about the transformation from Secular to Religious states, even in the developed countries, (Pages 355, 356/7/8) and that Islam and Christianity are `competing worldwide for converts and gaining them ......'.
Perhaps the reason is because people are beginning to realize how the gist of the teachings of any religion (Jewish, Christian and Muslim) as a restraining influence, which clearly proves the insanity of aggressive wars.
Generations of `Ideologies' fought each other's.
Religions did not fight each other's.
True, certain groups of Christians (the Crusaders) aggressively fought groups of Muslims but the real purpose was indeed political, not religious, because they did not fight `Islam' per se.
Even when the Christians fought Christians, and the Muslims fought Muslims (as recent as in the twentieth century) the real motivations were purely mundane - commercial, financial, greed, expansionism and power possessiveness.
The theory that `war is a biological necessity, it carries out among humankind the natural law of the struggle for existence' has failed. The world has lost millions of people in the last Century when the warring parties stood away from the deep teachings of their religion, and the victor actually suffered equally with the vanquished.

On Page 299 concerning intermarriages `the melting pot is working, but it is working at the individual, not the societal, level ....." It is proven that speaking the language of the country of `the new residence' is not enough for one to migrate into `the new societies', simply because there is not one society, instead there are different and dissimilar societies grappling to live in `one' country.
The advent of Anglophone (or Francophone) is more cultural and less social.
Some Muslim crowds, for example, milling in the streets and massed in hundreds in front of the mosque to pray is indicative that their `new' societies did not run so deep, and their instinctive attachments to their roots remain nostalgic, like telling everyone "by the power of `force-majeure' our fathers and grandfathers came here looking for better means of subsistence having waited in the ultimate dim in our countries of origin to find it, but couldn't".
On the `callers' announcement to the crowd, they are cheered up peacefully and rushed off here to vent their feelings in the course of lack of natural affinity for how the `new' societies live.
It is noticeable how Muslims and Christians from the Middle East flock together, cook and eat their food from `Home', and go back to their mother tongues as the means for two-way-communication.
The same applies to ethnic groups from Mexico, Ireland, and the Italians etcetera.
But the challenge in America (and the West) is when the different `ethnic' groups remain reticent, (or at most hate), from mixing with the so-called `white Americans', and take `Religion' as a `Shield'.
The danger though is when such groups transform themselves into fortresses, once the mobilization button is pushed.

Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision

Average customer rating:

In depth information about a little known topic
WOWW
Highly recommended especially for college library, international studies and Turkish history shelves.
Compelling!
Refuge and its reward

Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision
Arnold Reisman
Manufacturer: New Academia Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0977790886

Book Description

This book chronicles the story of a group of individuals caught at a crossroads and targeted in the cross fires of history. In 1933 events in their native Germanic lands presented them with a "Hobson's choice"-leave if you can or die! Their lives were saved because Turkey was discarding the society and culture inherited from the Ottomans' derelict and shattered empire while recognizing and addressing the need to modernize its society, culture, way of living, and system of higher education. Using a collection of third-party archival documents, cotemporaneous family and collegial correspondence, memoirs, oral histories, photos, and other surviving evidence Arnold Reisman documents the fears, the courage, the heartaches, and the determination of these brilliant people as well as their contributions to shifting established paradigms in several fields of knowledge. He also speculates about Turkey's inabilities to fully capitalize on these emigres' legacy. The book is intended for lay readers interested in history of the 20th Century, history of science, history of Turkey, the Holocaust, and in a case study of post-Islamic national development. "This book adds to our knowledge of an important aspect of the Holocaust, and of the behavior of Nation States in the modern world of woe and grief." - Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston Churchill's official biographer and a leading historian of the modern world. He is the author of The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. "This book should be on the 'must-read' list of books about World War II and the years preceding it." - Dr. Israel Hanukoglu, Former Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel. Currently Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology, College of Judea and Samaria, Ariel, Israel. "This book involves five major topics: science, history, politics, economics, and the arts. It is the earliest comprehensive essay in the English language, on the German émigrés who, while taking refuge in Turkey after 1933, contributed to the modernization of its higher education, and to the implementation of research activities and social reforms." - Prof. Dr. Feza Günergun, Chair for History of Science, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University, Beyazit-Istanbul, Turkey.

Customer Reviews:

In depth information about a little known topic.......2007-02-02

This book is about the story of the German-Jewish professors that were displaced by the [..]and were invited to come to Turkey by Ataturk's government. About 150 of them came in the 1933-1938 time frame. Some stayed for a few years, many stayed for 10 years or more. Some have stayed until retirement.The book, about 470 pages long and illustrated with many photographs and other material, is a really well-researched investigation into * the world circumstances that made this episode possible* the individuals who arranged the mechanics of this immigration* the personal life stories of these very capable scholars* how they adapted to life in Turkey* how they impacted Turkey's university education and modernization* the nature of the support and non-support they received from the government and the people This was a subject I had fleeting knowledge about. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, which greatly enhanced my knowledge and understanding of the subject. It also provided yet another illustration of the vision and genius of Ataturk in making deft use of every opportunity to improve his nation. It triggered in my mind the thought that Turkey probably had a second similar opportunity at the time of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, when top tier scientists in select fields could have easily been induced to come to Turkey. Unfortunately, political cadres in charge at the time had nowhere near Ataturk's vision. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. It is very readable and has many details that our generation can relate to. An interesting trivia is that Einstein was one month away himself from coming to Turkey within these group of scholars, when he received an offer from Princeton.

WOWW.......2007-01-01

A fascinating read.

I am very involved with genealogy, so I really enjoyed the memoirs.

The structure of the book was different and refreshing.

Highly recommended especially for college library, international studies and Turkish history shelves........2006-12-10

Written by Arnold Reisman Ph.D., who has served as Visiting Scholar in Turkey at both Sabanci University and the Istanbul Technical University, Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision is enlightening true story of how the Turkish Government of Mustafa Kernal Atatuk and Ismet Inonu accepted German and Austrian Jews, and took advantage of these victims of racial prejudice and persecution to aid the Turkish Republic's progress in academic, scientific, and medical undertakings. Tracing the lasting impacts of builders, preservers, creators, social reformers, healers, and scientists, as well as the problems they encountered, the turbulence caused by World War II and their attempts to emigrate to the U.S., Turkey's Modernization is a fascinating parable of how Turkey capitalized upon the best and the brightest - as well as of its stumbling blocks, such as its cultural predispositions for encouraging talented scientists to be content as hired hands rather than strike out and forge new businesses. Highly recommended especially for college library, international studies and Turkish history shelves.

Compelling!.......2006-09-26

Arnold Reisman's book, Turkey's Modernization, was a history lesson of the best kind. I have read a number of books on the Nazi takeover of various countries. Yet, I had never experienced the joy of learning how Turkey welcomed those expelled from Germany.

In 1933, when Hitler came to power, he decided to dismiss all Jewish professors from German colleges and universities. Geniuses of technology, physics and the arts fled into Turkey's waiting arms and began its well-deserved modernization.

The "emigres" (renowned scientists, architects and artists) are responsible for some of the most magnificent structures in Turkey still standing today. These brave professors taught Turkish students and were revered by most in the country. Of course, they had to deal with jealousy from Turkish professors for a number of reasons. Some of the emigres were paid a higher salary and enjoyed various perks, yet this was all deserved. It certainly couldn't heal a people
who were devastated at having to leave their homes and families to chart an unknown territory. Yet, thank God they did! Hitler's lost was absolutely Turkey's gain!

These professors were too many to be named in this review. You must read this book in order to understand and celebrate the contributions of these refugees from Nazism. They were saviors to Turkey and the students they benefited.

Turkey's Modernization was a book I couldn't put down. It should be required reading for all who are history majors and any who can enjoy a story of lemons turned into lemonade.

Armchair Interviews says: Another unique view of history most do not know.

Refuge and its reward .......2006-09-25

The convergence of two historical developments are at the center of this book. First , is the rise of the Nazis to power in Germany. Second, is the creation of modern Turkey, and its effort to develop a first- rate set of academic institutions. This convergence meant that a number of leading German and Austrian academics were invited in the years 1933-1939 to teach and help establish their disciplines in Turkey. Among these are some figures of world - reputation including Erich Auerbach, the author of one of the greatest of all works of Literary Criticism, 'Mimesis' the leading figures of the 'Berlin Group' the philosopher Hans Reichenbach, the mathemitician aerodynamist and positivist philosopher Richard von Mises, the positivist philosopher Carl Hempl, the composer Paul Hindemith, the theatrical producer Carl Ebert,and the astrophysicist Findlay Freundlich. One of the first scientists and a major figure in expediting the whole process was the pathologist Philip Schwarz. All in all close to three - hundred distinguished academics and their family members made their way to Turkey during this time. The effect of their efforts amounted to nothing less than a total transformation of the higher education system in Turkey, in the sciences, humanities, and arts, but also in public health, library, legal, engineering and administrative practices.
Reisman provides a thorough documentation and often moving narrative of this process, including his telling of many of the individual stories of the academicians involved. In the background he provides an overall history of modern Turkey and brings this up - to- date even providing an explanation of the current situation of the academic world in Turkey and why the original reforms carried out by these academicians have not always had the results desired.
This is a large book impressively researched and very clearly and movingly written.
I could not recommend it more highly.

St. James Guide to Hispanic Artists Edition 1.

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St. James Guide to Hispanic Artists Edition 1.
N. Y.) Association of Hispanic Arts (New York
Manufacturer: St. James Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1558624708

Book Description

This guide provides critical analysis of approximately 400 20th-century Hispanic artists from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and American artists of Spanish descent. Coverage includes artists working in a wide variety of media, including painting, sculpture, print making, photography, graphic design and others. Detailed entries typically include biographical information (nationality, birth and death dates, education, military service, career information, awards, memberships, addresses and Web sites); a list of individual exhibitions and a select list of group exhibitions; lists of museums and public galleries holding works by a given artist in their permanent collections; publications by and about the artist; a statement by the artist about his/her work (as available); and a signed analytical essay written by an expert in the field. Additional features include a bibliography; multiple indexes, including name, nationality, medium and an index to illustrations; and approximately 250 black-and-white photographs.

Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975

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Barbara Love is a national treasure ..
Rich and elegant history of American feminists

Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975

Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 025203189X

Book Description

Documenting key feminists who ignited the second wave women's movement

Barbara J. Love’s Feminists Who Changed America, 1963-1975 will be the first comprehensive directory to document many of the founders and leaders (including both well-known and grassroots organizers) of the second wave women's movement. It tells the stories of more than two thousand individual women and a few notable men who together reignited the women's movement and made permanent changes to entrenched customs and laws.

The biographical entries on these pioneering feminists represent their many factions, all parts of the country, all races and ethnic groups, and all political ideologies. Nancy Cott's foreword discusses the movement in relation to the earlier first wave and presents a brief overview of the second wave in the context of other contemporaneous social movements.

Customer Reviews:

Barbara Love is a national treasure .........2006-12-18

This is an amazing book listing thousands of women who actually did change America. In both small and large ways we are closer to equality because of them, although we still have a way to go. We still don't have a national Equal Rights Amendment yet, nor do we see womens' pay as equal to mens, but we're not giving up.

Thank you, Barbara Love!

Chase

Rich and elegant history of American feminists.......2006-09-28

Buyer Beware! You are about to fall in love with a feminist. Turn the page and another will become irresistible. Feminists Who Changed America, 1963 - 1975 will change YOU. This is a dazzling compendium of over 2,000 biographies; elegant, short, profound and inspiring. Unlike the lost legacies of many First Wave feminists, the stories of these Second Wave feminists will be preserved forever in this collated, verified and beautifully presented book. In addition, each feminist's archive site is indicated.

The three year creative process began with identifying and locating feminists who were active 1963 ~ 1975. They (or their heirs) were sent questionnaires and their responses were transformed into short bios. You can be certain of the veracity of the information here but don't think for a moment that it is dry or exclusively academic. With each biography you will fall in love with a feminist who was a first; first lawmaker, first professor, first publisher, first judge, first member in a legislature, first to march, first to open women's health clinic. In this reading you will read and feel how these brief years paved every road for women in America and, thus, women in the world. It is rich as cheesecake, a bite everyday is delectable.

American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church

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Self-Loathing Sinner writes about his church
If You've Read It Before, Read It Again
Fascinating for predictions about Benedict XVI too!
An excellent view of the Church in America
Outstanding and Objective Assessment of American Catholicism

American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church
Charles Morris
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679742212
Release Date: 1998-10-27

Book Description

"A cracking good story with a wonderful cast of rogues, ruffians and some remarkably holy and sensible people." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

Before the potato famine ravaged Ireland in the 1840s, the Roman Catholic Church was barely a thread in the American cloth. Twenty years later, New York City was home to more Irish Catholics than Dublin. Today, the United States boasts some sixty million members of the Catholic Church, which has become one of this country's most influential cultural forces.

In American Catholic: The Saints and Sinners Who Built America's Most Powerful Church, Charles R. Morris recounts the rich story of the rise of the Catholic Church in America, bringing to life the personalities that transformed an urban Irish subculture into a dominant presence nationwide. Here are the stories of rogues and ruffians, heroes and martyrs--from Dorothy Day, a convert from Greenwich Village Marxism who opened shelters for thousands, to Cardinal William O'Connell, who ran the Church in Boston from a Renaissance palazzo, complete with golf course. Morris also reveals the Church's continuing struggle to come to terms with secular, pluralist America and the theological, sexual, authority, and gender issues that keep tearing it apart. As comprehensive as it is provocative, American Catholic is a tour de force, a fascinating cultural history that will engage and inform both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

"The best one-volume history of the last hundred years of American Catholicism that it has ever been my pleasure to read. What's appealing in this remarkable book is its delicate sense of balance and its soundly grounded judgments." --Andrew Greeley

Customer Reviews:

Self-Loathing Sinner writes about his church.......2007-05-01

The title was so catchy that I couldn't help reading it. Mr. Morris is writer whose probably too old to see that his feelings are getting in the way of his facts.

His interpretation of the Church's decisions and teachings are tainted by his own prejudices. For instance, he is opposed to traditional teachings on a celibate male priesthood, so he tells us why the church is so stupid to uphold that belief. The same hold true for artificial birth control, women's ordination etc. To him the old white men in Rome are simply stupid and out of touch.

These ideas coupled with the loathing for the Irish paints a terrible picture of the Church. Why would anyone want to remain in the Church that he describes.

I read the whole thing. Yes I did, because I couldn't believe that he could so serious about the Church he says he loves. I have no problem with anyone pointing out the failures of Catholics, my problem is that Morris, for all his labor, gets so much of the history wrong.

If You've Read It Before, Read It Again.......2006-08-20

When AMERICAN CATHOLIC was published in the late 1990's, it received a great deal of critical praise and was widely read by a good number of readers. The praise was justified. The author, Charles Morris, compiled a readable, all encompassing book about the beginnings and growth of the Catholic Church in the United States. With a historian's expertise and a storyteller's touch, Morris shows us the varied ways in which the church grew in this country and he does a particularly good job describing the different varieties of Catholicism. There are a number of books that discuss the growth of Catholicism in large urban areas such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles or Chicago but few include the growth of the Church in more remote areas. He also notes the tensions between a people used to Democracy and Rome's distrust of the United States in the early twentieth century, changes in the Catholic population after World War II and the impact of the election of John F. Kennedy as President. It discusses many of the great Church leaders in the United Sates and includes some of the colorful back stories of these same leaders. The book is also balanced. It discusses figures such as Dorothy Day and her antithesis Senator Joseph McCarthy or Bishop Fulton Sheen who used the media to spread his message of hope and faith as compared with Fr. Charles Coughlin's use of the radio for messages of vitriol.

I took a look at the book recently and while I remembered the material on Church history rather well, I had forgotten about the third part of the book which discussed in frank terms what was known of the Church sex abuse crisis at the time, issues regarding sexuality that have since come to the forefront, and other matters concerning Catholicism today. Prior to this second reading I know I had an appreciation of the Church where we have been and where we are now, but at a time when we as Catholics are trying to determine where we should be going, Morris' book gives an excellent foundation not just of history but also of the issues facing the Church today.

If you've read it before, it is worth rereading again.

Fascinating for predictions about Benedict XVI too!.......2005-04-21

I put down this book the night before the papal election, exactly at the point where Morris discusses how Ratzinger actually put the rein on some of John Paul II's more forceful moves towards declaring statements blocking women's ordination as infallible; carefully nuanced exegesis by Morris reveals very subtle but nonetheless wiggle room for future movement away from some of the last pope's more dogmatic pronouncements. He fits this into a battle between cardinals and the episcopate promoting a collegial right to establish doctrine based on their accumulated experience as part of the Church's magisterium against the centralisation of papal power. This data which may indicate the new pope's ability to create flexibility despite what on surface may appear to the casual observer only more rigidity, buried inside a footnote on pg. 349, is typical of the wealth of detail--you must read the extensive endnotes as well as the text proper to appreciate how thorough has been the author's research--found in this popular yet scholarly treatment of the Church from about the mid-19 c to the late 1990s.

In retrospect, some of the concerns Morris finds diminishing in his 1997 study have only increased, such as the pedophilia (or more often adolescent boys rather than pre-teens with priests, Morris and many critics parse) scandals that grew more prominent rather than less so in the beginning of the current decade. Vocations appear to keep tumbling at least in the West; non-compliance with Catholic teaching by the rank-and-file grows in the American segment due to democratic tendencies constantly eroding the earlier, pre-assimilationist culture that codified American Catholicism mid-20 c. These tendencies, as Morris shows, created tension from the later 19 c onward, and the battles with Rome by the U.S. bishops are far from new. Also, the role of the Hispanic church seems, despite many references, to be diminished (perhaps reflecting an East Coast orientation naturally taken for the majority of the narrative). As a related correction, St Thomas the Apostle parish in L.A. is not on its Eastside--typical of Morris's scholarship, this was a rare mistake in an admirably solid resource that taught me an enormous amount about everything from John Stuart Mill's liberalism to moral theology to John Ireland's far-reaching impact upon the course of the national Church. However, I was disappointed to find that two sources that would've aided Morris' often moving depiction of life in the triumphal, dogmatic, and secure mid-20c decades were absent from his notes: Garry Wills' "Bare Ruined Choirs," and Jubilee Magazine, a forerunner of the liturgical and cultural renaissance that the post-Vatican II era either expanded or truncated.

When describing how Fulton Sheen lectured, how the old Mass flowed, or how theologians battle it out over birth control, Morris never loses sight of the telling quote to illuminate larger issues. His discussion of subsidiarity and how polarised opposites Dorothy Day and Fr Coughlin could argue from this same basis of natural law and social justice doctrine fascinated me! From the Irish famine to Americanist vs. separatist controversies, through the dispersal of urban ethnics into suburbia, the connection between sex and rural ethos in traditional Catholicism, to current dichotomies in various dioceses in a time of fewer priests and more lay people running parishes, Morris is excellent. He's fair to all sides, although he shows a bit of bias against the hardest right-wing and left-wing factions both. His model is one of adaptation without dilution, certainly a challenge for such a vast institution on the one hand suffering losses to not only non-practicing millions but evangelical sects, on the other struggling to avoid the fate of mainstream Protestantism, which has, according to Morris, seemingly lost its moral and cultural clout in today's nation. Although on the Americanist controversy and the labor movement in the mid 20c, he bogs down in too much detail, at other moments, as in his travels in late-20c American parishes, his mastery of minutiae to explain big issues winningly works well.

As he warns, the tug of secularism--whatever one's view on the current state of Catholicism--presents a warning to those who want the Church to adjust totally to its surroundings. He takes heed of the fate of Episcopalians--fewer in all of America than Catholics in Los Angeles: "Once a religion assimilates to the culture, it almost invariably diminishes into a social center or a low-cost therapy program." (411)

An excellent view of the Church in America.......2003-03-15

I greatly enjoyed this well-written history of American Catholicism. The earliest chapters, primarily about the influx of Irish immigrants (and the reasons behind it) were particularly fascinating.

However, this book primarily focuses on America from the Victorian age on. There is almost no discussion of Catholicism in the colonial period (the founding of Maryland, the denial of rights to Catholics, etc.), which I feel should have been included.

Outstanding and Objective Assessment of American Catholicism.......2001-11-02

This is the best book on American Catholicism I have ever read. It objectively looks at the good, bad and ugly in a way few have ever done. There's a lot of warts in this book, but there also is wonderful anecdotes about our shared Catholic faith and how it evolved into what it is today!

This book told me as much about who I was, where I come from and where I am going as a Catholic as anything I've ever read. I could not put the book down and read it over and over again for the sheer joy of reading. I'm afraid I might have missed something.

The story about Dennis Cardinal Dougherty, Philadelphia's long-time Archbishop, was worth the price of admission alone. The author's story about how Cardinal Doughtery dealt with racial prejudice was compelling as was the anecdotes about the Cardinal's ego, his need to curry favor with ROme and his eccentricities. And the book provides a marvelous look at William Cardinal O'Connell of Boston, alias "Gangplank Bill," for his wintering in warm tropical locales. You sometimes wonder when the next Martin Luther would evolve after reading some of this story.

But this is just part of the story.

The assessment this book brings to contemporary conservative Catholicism was eye-opening. Those who are liberal Catholics might gag at what the book describes as happening in Lincoln, NE, but the story is real and the results quantified and quite positive. The book has considerable advice for the future and talks glowingly of how some Bishops due what we in corporate America have done for years, evaluate priestly sermons, rate them and recommend ways to better reach congregants.

Book Description

What makes a winning children's book author? Look behind the scenes, and learn more about the 76 fascinating authors who have garnered the prestigious Newbery Medal since it was established in 1922. Engaging profiles of these outstanding writers are generously seasoned with quotes and anecdotes, providing you with unique insights into their personal and professional lives, along with new information on how and why these authors succeeded. The profiles are organized chronologically, beginning with the first award winner, Hendrik van Loon, and continuing through 2002, when Linda Sue Park made history by becoming the first Korean-American to win a Newbery Medal. Suggested resources for further study and a list of the author's published works for children accompany each biographical sketch. Also included are numerous black-and-white author photos and a brief history of the Newbery Medal. Grades 4-8.

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