Books for Understanding: Scholarship Beyond the Headlines

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Books for Understanding is a free, easy-to-use resource to help you find books on current events. New bibliographies are compiled when a major news story breaks or public debate heats up. For more information, click here.

Tibet

The upcoming Beijing Olympics and the recent riots in Lhasa have reignited international interest in the tensions between China and Tibet. The background of this unrest is explored in the works of scholarship cataloged here.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In Tibetan History (General):
A History of Morn Tibet, Volumes 1 and 2, by Melvyn C. Goldstein.

In Tibetan History (Under Chinese Rule):
Memories of Life in Lhasa Under Chinese Rule, by
Tubten Khétsun, translated by Matthew Akester.

In Tibetan Religion & Society :
The Violence of Liberation: Gender and Tibetan Buddhist Revival in Post-Mao China, by
Charlene E. Makley.

The Former Yugoslavia

In a region where internal struggle has often had global repercussions, Kosovo's declaration of independence has focused the worlds attention on the Balkan states of the former Yugoslavia.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In History: 1991-Present:
Serbia Since 1989: Politics and Society under Milosevic and After, edited by Sabrina P. Ramet and Vjeran Pavlakovic.

In People and Society:
Understanding Evil: Lessons from Bosnia, by Keith Doubt.

In History: Yugoslavia:
Yugoslavia: The State that Withered Away, by Dejan Jovic

In Arts, Languages, Literatures:
Liberated Cinema Expanded Edition: The Yugoslav Experience, 1945-2001, by Daniel J. Goulding

Voting & Elections

As the 2008 U.S. presidential election gets a historically early start on January 3, turn to these books and journals for the latest scholarship on how campaigns change, voters think, and elections work. Newly revised!

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In Studies of Voter Behavior:
The Swing Voter in American Politics, edited by William G. Mayer.

In The Role of the Media in Elections:
Women for President: Media Bias in Eight Campaigns, by Erika Falk.

In Electoral Reform:
Design for Democracy: Ballot and Election Design, by Marcia Lausen.

Civil Infrastructure

The collapse of a major highway bridge in Minneapolis in August is the most recent reminder of the centrality of basic infrastructure maintenance to the public weal.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In General Planning & Engineering:
Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America's Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry, by Barry B. LePatner

In Bridges & Tunnels:
Catastrophe to Triumph: Bridges of the Tacoma Narrows, by Richard S. Hobbs

In Utilities:
The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World, by Phillip Schewe

Race Relations in the United States

Fully revised to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Little Rock Schools Crisis, this extensive bibliography is also relevant to the current events in Jena, LA. More than 1500 titles are listed, covering the history of relations between black and white Americans from the days of slavery to today. Certain topics of particular interest are covered in subject categories such as Education, National Politics, and the Military.

Go to: • Book List • Press Release

Sample Contents:

In Education:
Still Separate and Unequal: Segregation and the Future of Urban School Reform, by Barry A. Gold

In The Civil Rights Era:
The Lynching of Emmett Till: A Documentary Narrative, edited by Christopher Metress

In National Politics and Race:
Saviors or Sellouts: The Perils, Politics, and Promises of Racial Empowerment from the Right, forthcoming, by Christopher Alan Bracey

In Race and Racism:
Thicker Than Blood: How Racial Statistics Lie, by Tukufu Zuberi

New Updates:

Ronald Reagan updated 4/10/08
New Orleans updated 3/4/08
Climate Change updated 2/20/08
Social Security updated 1/23/08

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Forty years ago, on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis. The anniversary of this terrible public tragedy comes at a time of great hope for the legacy of the civil rights movement that King led, as the U.S. is close to nominating the first black American to the presidency. This same possibility, however, has uncovered still burning embers of racism in our society, as well as drawing attention to the real inequalities of economic life and justice that still exist. The spirit of King is still needed.

Go to: • Race Relations Book List • The King Center • MLKonline (video and audio files)

Global Climate Change

Al Gore and the UN's International Panel on Climate Change have won the Nobel Peace Prize. The award recognizes both Mr. Gore and the IPCC's work to create an informed awareness of global warming and the climate consequences of human action.

Go to: • Climate Change Book List • IPCC

Iraq

As American public opinion leans further toward the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, General Petraeus urges no quick action in his report to Congress.

Go to: • Iraq Book List

Faint Praise: The Plight of Book Reviewing in America

Gail Pool
University of Missouri Press, 2007

With the plethora of holiday book-buying guides and end-of-year recommendations, it may seem as though there is no trouble in the world of book review and criticism. Pool, a reviewer and review editor herself, looks at the state of reviewing all year round, in print and online, and comes to a different conclusion.
Learn More
Buy at Amazon.com

A Secret Trial: Brian Mulroney, Stevie Cameron, and the Public Trust

William Kaplan
McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004

The Airbus scandal, or Mulroney-Schreiber affair that is once again roiling the Canadian political scene is the subject of Kaplan's explosive examination of the ethics of politicians, journalists, and business interests. Kaplan is considered one of the foremost authorities on the case and its convoluted history. Learn more
Buy at Amazon.com

Karaoke Fascism: Burma and the Politics of Fear

Monique Skidmore
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004

Skidmore's work is the first ethnography of fear in Burma (Myanmar) and provides a sobering look at the psychological strategies employed by the Burmese people in order to survive under a military dictatorship that seeks to invade and dominate every aspect of life. The term "karaoke fascism" describes the layers of conformity that Burmese people present to each other and, more important, to the military regime. Learn more
Buy at Amazon.com

Poems from Guantánamo: The Detainees Speak

Edited by Mark Falkoff
University of Iowa Press, 2007

Since 2002, at least 775 men have been held at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. detention center, many with no charges ever levied against them. Compiled by pro bono attorneys working with detainees, and with each line reviewed by the Pentagon, these poems tell some of the men's experiences there in their own voices. Learn more
Buy at Amazon.com

More Books of Note...

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