Perspective Books

This book separates the key events in history from all the noise and hype. After Fred Brooks book The Mythical Man-Month, this is the best brief survey of the subject from one who helped to create it.

This book was one of the required texts in our OT and Biomechanics class. I am currently an OT student on Fieldwork). This book contains an abundance of useful information. Although it was published in 1992, it has great value. The 17 chapters are: Functional Anatomy; Wound Healing; Clinical Evaluation; Sensibility Testing; Functional Evaluation; Wound Management; Therapeutic Exercise; Physical Agents & Electrotherapy Techniques; Splinting; Skeletal Injuries; Nerve Injuries; Tendon Injuries; Rheumatoid Arthritis; Cumulative Trauma; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy; Traumatic Injuries of the Hand (crush injuries & amputations); Returning the Hand-Injured Patient to Work. In addition, there are appendixes that include procedure for taking volumetric, goniometric, and strength measurements. While you do need more detailed for modalities, splinting, exercise, and gonimetric measurements, this book is a helpful review of these topics. The entire book is well-organized throughout( i.e.any subheadings, etc.) which makes it an even more valuable reference and study tool. There are some good colored pictures depicting wounds, lots of black and white pictures depicting various treatments. The book also contains lots of good treatment ideas as well. Case studies at end of appropriete chapters do a great job of tying all the material in a chapter together. I feel this book should be a part of the professional library of any student or practicing OT.

This is an extraordinary book. The title should be taken literally: "Concepts" of Alzheimer's disease, and from a broad range of fields, including historical, genetic, scientific, sociologic, and philosophic viewpoints on the illness. The book is particularly timely, covering new discoveries about the origins of AD (very recently, scientists have reviewed Alzheimer's now-rediscovered microscope slides and even performed DNA tests on them), the history of genetics and psychiatry relative to AD, and the current politico-economic climate, such as the "current history" (1975-2000)of the growing Alzhiemer Association and the National Institute of Aging at NIH. The book is in collected-essay format and the authors are world experts in their fields. It is likely that, while most interested readers will have a background in one niche (such as psychology of AD), they will also be exposed to broad perspectives on AD which are intriguing and new(such as the difference between AD and normal "aging" or "senescence", or the "philosophy" of lab research developed by Fleck and Latour, or the way different kinds of focused and broad interest groups now shape Congressional policy). Alzheimer's is intrinsically complex, so the book is not a light read, but it I found it generally quite well written throughout. A sophisticated general reader can enjoy the book, because it is well written, but the main audience is probably those with some biomedical affiliation (from public health to medical sociologists to Alzheimer researchers). Many of the authors are European and most of the perspective is international; however, several of the chapters focus on US policy and US medical history.

I was fortunate enough to attend class with Professor Said, and he has made a lasting impact on and change in my life. His book is, in many ways, the embodiment of him as a human being. I think that anyone will find this book useful, especially scholars of so called "traditional-IR"; this book will get you thinking critically and will shift the way in which you view the world. Along with "Atlas Shrugged", this is definitely a book to change your life.

Collaboratively compiled and edited by Charles Levin, Allannah Furlong, and Mary Kay O'Neil, Confidentiality: Ethical Perspectives And Clinical Dilemmas is comprised of a selection of essays by learned authors concerning the ethical, legal, and clinical issues regarding confidentiality in the relationship between psychoanalyst and patient. In the twenty-first century, an era in which personal privacy is increasingly stripped away, the importance of confidentiality in legal and psychoanalytical terms requires close scrutiny in a striving to balance the needs of the public at large with the rights of the individual. Case studies of ethical dilemmas, the consequences of breaches of confidentiality, problems directly relating to clinical practice as well as more general legal matters, and much more are covered in this diverse and thoughtful engagement of a multi-sided issue.

Rabbi Levy, himself the father of a stillborn baby, expresses a contemporary view of the need for healing the loss of a baby. Rabbi Levy's poignant book is excellent, revealing that while Jewish law may not require mourning a stillborn baby, it doesn't prohibit mourning. In fact, mourning not only validates the sanctity of life, it provides an opportunity for parents to remember and,ultimately, to heal. This should be essential reading for all who care for or know parents experiencing a pregnancy or neonatal loss.

This really is a first class book - and worth every cent of its modest price. Although, as its title suggests, it is likely to appear on the reading lists of consitutional law professors, it also deserves a place on the bookshelf of the student of jurisprudence.

The format is basically that of a conventional law school reader - however, this is an unusually good one. The theory side of constitutional law all too often takes second place to the minutiae of case law and development of constitutional doctrine. Law students often query the purpose and relevance of theory. This book is there to remind us that paradigm shifts in the law are more likely to be founded in new theory than in doctrine.

The book is divided into four sections: Why Theory?, Sources, Perspectives, and Conclusion. The readings are chosen with exceptional skill and are prefaced by introductions from the editors and have conclusions that invite the reader to reflect on what one has read. Each chapter concludes with a very helpful bibliography to direct further reading on the topic.

To my mind the most useful section of the book is the Perspectives section. This deals with liberal constitutional theory, conservative constitutional theory, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, and interpretation theory and postmodernism. The last three perspectives are difficult ones to encapsulate briefly but the editors have succeeded in identifying illuminating readings that are accessible to students. The chapter on critical race theory is particularly commendable.

A book such as this is specially useful for students looking for a perspective from which to critique doctrine but who don't know where to start. I wish I had had access to a book like this when I was a law student!

This book is a collection of contemporary social constructionist articles on crime. The role of the media in "constructing crime" figures prominently in many of the articles. There isn't another book like this on the market. The articles have been wisely selected to be readable, interesting, and to cover a variety of topics. I list this book as a recommended supplement for the crime and criminal justice classes that I teach. The book provides an excellent introduction to constructionist approaches to crime and would be a suitable complement to a traditional textbook. If you want to understand public (mis)perceptions of crime, I highly recommend the book and the authors (check out their other books!)

I highly recommend hunting down this hard to find title for all fans of the Wicker Man. The book contains eleven essays that were delivered at the University of Glasgow's Crichton Campus in Dumfries in 2003. Topics range from Jonathan Murray's overview of Scottish film criticism, Steven Sutcliffe's excellent "Religion in the Wicker Man: Context and Representation," Gail Ashurst's review of feminist discourse in the film, and Melissa Smith's "Mister Punch as Sacrificial Victim." The topics are treated with great professionalism. This volume is a must companion to "The Quest for The Wicker Man."

Frank Dikötter has put together an excellent collection of articles about the development of racial and national identities in China and Japan. Starting from where Western scholars fear to tread but need to go, he asserts in the introduction that dismissing the development of racial (or racist) attitudes in Asia as the mere extension of Western ethnocentrism is not only short-sighted, but dangerous.

Especially as we enter the 21st century as globalization brings nations and ideologies closer together, it is important to understand the historically specific formations of national and racial identity that determines individual identity formation. Splitting the book into two halves, with articles about China leading off the book, the varied articles and analyses are quite insighful and theoretically rigorous.

This is a good first introduction to the subject, and many of the authors in the book can be found elsewhere, some of them having written their own books based on their lines of research. Kosaku Yoshino, Frank Dikötter, Louise Young, and David Goodman have all written works worthy of buying outright.

Of particular interest are the Japan chapters, which outline the development of ideas of racial particularism as the nation reconstructed itself in its program of modernization, the place of the Ainu "other" in this process, the distancing and stigmatizing of Chinese kanbun throughout this process, as well as the turn Japanese ideology took after the forced annexation of Manchukuo. For a detailed exploration of the Chinese formation of national identity, this is a good book, but it goes without saying (although I clearly am) that one should own a copy of Dikötter's The Discourse of Race in Modern China.

Perfect accompanying works to be read alongside this one are the aforementioned book on China, the edited volume Making Majorities, by Dru Gladney, as well as Cultural Nationalism in East Asia, by Harumi Befu. The big man on campus, as it were, is Kosaku Yoshino, who wrote Cultural Nationalism in Contemporary Japan. If you are a scholar of nationalism in Asia, you cannot be without these books. Also of interest would be Michael Robinson's Cultural Nationalism in Korea, any and all works by John Dower, beginning with War Without Mercy, and the book Colonialism and Nationalism in Asian Cinema.

As a graduate student specializing in this area, and having just passed my qualifying exams in the area of Nationalism in East Asia, I can say that I have scoured bibliographies and booklists far and wide. This book, along with the others mentioned above, will provide a solid start for the interested scholar.