Society Books

I really enjoyed the book. It's an area of history that I've seen skimmed over in class after class. For me, this was an excellent jumping off point for looking into the Iran Hostage Crisis. The research is good, and the author incorporates good primary source documentation. Yet, this book still remains a general overview of what happened, focusing more on the U.S. side of things rather than what actually happened in Iran. It's a balanced history; I was just hoping it went a little more in depth.

Very good coverage of before, during, and after this act of war.
Taken Hostage: The Iran Hostage Crisis and America's First Encounter with Radical Islam (Politics and Society in Twentieth Century America)

Farber does a very good job with this book. I was anxious to read it for its historical significance with the 25th anniversary of the hostage crisis. I was in grade school during those 444 days. I wasn't old enough to understand why our citizens were being held. I was old enough to remember other things: the yellow ribbons, Walter Cronkite counting the days each night, Mickey Mouse bumper stickers giving Iran the finger.

The book is very strong with the background of Iranian/US relations. Most Americans probably don't realize the important role people like Eisenhower (and the CIA) played in deposing Iranian despot Mossadegh and installing Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (the Shah) into power.

Farber does a nice job of explaining how it is the policy decisions of the US government that were the root causes of the hostage crisis. The main decisions being installing the Shah and subsequently providing refuge for an ailing Shah in mid-1979. An interesting parallel can be drawn today with the current war on terror. Al Qaeda doesn't hate America so much for what we stand for as for the policy decisions we make.

Farber also does a nice job of describing the troubled days of the Carter administration. Carter had to deal with almost insurmountable problems during his term. Stagflation, high unemployment, the gas crunch and finally (his ultimate downfall) the crisis in Iran.

The book reads very quickly for a so-called historical white-paper. I would recommend it for anyone who is interested in knowing a bit more about the history of Iran and the hostage crisis as well as those interested in the war on terror and some of its early beginnings.

This book is an outstandingly researched work and I applaud Farber's thoroughness. I just finished writing my final research paper for my historical methods class on the Iran hostage crisis and this text was an indispensable resource.

It is so much more than just an account of the hostage crisis. Farber really delves beneath the surface of the events and decisions related to the crisis. He paints a picture for the reader of the sentiments prevalent among the citizenries of both the United States and Iran. He goes further by describing the reasons behind those sentiments. This puts the decisions made by the Carter administration, the actions taken by the Iranians, and the reactions to both of these by the American public in a context and framework essential to understanding the hostage crisis and its related issues. Highly Recommended.

A slow, difficult read for me; but introduced me to Habermas work, which has been invaluable.

I was quite surprised when I noted that there was no review to this book. In fact, this book will be considered in the future as a real classic lecture. As the figure of Habermas becomes more important every day his most important work become crucial. A must-read.

it took me 1.5 years to read this book and to make an attempt to understand it in its whole power and beauty.
Real contribution to social theory, a great synthesis...
But for ordinary readers there are two ways to approach this book:
1.to undertand the main idea, but even it in only 20-30%
2. to penetrate into the magical world of social philosophy and sociological theory..
you choose...
Thanks to Habermas for such an epical book...

I would like remind readers that this book is the first volume of the two that constitute "The Theory of Communicative Action" (the second volume has as subtitle "Lifeworld and System - A Critique of Functionalist Reason"). The first volume was published in English in 1984, while the second volume appeared in 1987. The two volumes are not independent books and should be read as a single book.

Habermas can be linked to the group of German philosophers and social theorists associated with the Institute of Social Research, founded in 1924 at the University of Frankfurt. Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, the two most distinguished members of the "Frankfurt School" (as the Institute was nicknamed), developed a social analysis that departed from orthodox Marxism and was known as "critical theory". According to critical theory, the ailments of modern capitalist society were due to its encompassing rationalization, resulting in a complete alienation of the working class. Following Weber's pessimistic diagnostic, Horkheimer and Adorno considered that Enlightenment's dream of a society guided by reason had degenerated into an "iron cage": human beings were condemned to live without freedom, following rules devoid of meaning. "Instrumental reason", that is, the manipulative, self-interested, technical use of reason in administration, economics and science, had become so encompassing that there was no hope for escaping from it.

Habermas, who arrived at the Institute of Social Research in the early 1950's, concluded that Horkheimer's and Adorno's analysis of contemporary society hit a dead end. Critical theory, which was supposed to guide individuals in their struggle for emancipation, turned contemplative, pessimistic. The problem with the "old" critical theory, Habermas believed, was that it remained attached to the philosophy of consciousness. In order to put critical theory back to its original track, Habermas switched to the philosophy of language and expanded the concept of reason to include "communicative rationality". With these theoretical moves, Habermas reestablished the centrality of reason as the guiding principle for attaining emancipation. Because language presupposes unrestricted communication and mutual understanding, coordinated action is an always present possibility to speaking subjects. Parting from this philosophical outlook, Habermas developed the concept of "communicative action", defined as "the type of interaction in which all participants harmonize their individual plans of action with one another and thus pursue their illocutionary aims without reservation" (TCA, v.1, p. 294). According to this perspective, the predicaments of modern society are consequence - as Horkheimer and Adorno had argued - of an excessive reliance in instrumental reason (or purposive rationality, has Habermas prefers to call it). However, Habermas argued that there is a way out of this situation: In order to overcome social crises, it is necessary to counterbalance purposive rationality by bringing communicative rationality back into play.

Habermas' communicative action argument was already present in his writings of the early 1960's. In TCA Habermas presents a detailed justification of his theoretical approach and expands it into a social theory aimed at explaining the occurrence of social pathologies. In support of his argumentation, Habermas introduces a new concept of society that intertwine the lifeworld concept (the common pool of knowledge that individuals use in order to attach meaning to the world) and the social system concept. According to this "dual" approach, society evolves by differentiating itself both as system and as lifeworld. "Systemic evolution is measured by the increase in society's steering capacity, whereas the state of development of a symbolically structured lifeworld is indicated by the separation of culture, society, and personality" (TCA, v. 2, p. 152).

The argumentation Habermas conducts in TCA is highly abstract at times. This has lead to misunderstandings of his key arguments, particularly of the communicative action concept. According to this distorted interpretation, Habermas had advocated for the establishment of an ideal, utopian society in which all human beings would reach consensus about everything. Taken out of the context of the full argumentation, the communicative action concept acquires a naïve twist that Habermas' detractors - as well as some of his supporters - have contributed to establish. Nevertheless, the reader that endures the abstract aspects of TCA will be recompensed by a bright and clear interpretation of contemporary society. Habermas argument on the limitations of socialist states is particularly enlightening. Leftists will finally understand why democracy should not be seen just as a bourgeois invention and right-wingers will find reasons for not rejoicing at the downfall of socialism.

Prospective readers of TCA should be warned that they are at risk of establishing Habermas as a benchmark to every other social theorist. This risk, however, is worth taking.

This is actually three separate books bound as one. The text covers the usual topics, but the development and progression, showing how each result links to the next, is really astounding. Additionally, the text is typeset beautifully, with plenty of useful whitespace. The choice of notation is superb.

The books in this series are characterized by the efforts of several experts, each painstakingly reviewing the same text in search of the greatest lucidity. It works! This is a great text for self-study. It's impossible to recommend it enough.

This is a classic of both clarity (topics are easy to absorbed on the fly) and beauty (it's probably the only math textbook I've read for pleasure). Richard Silverman should (practically) be given co-author status for crystalline English revision of this book; the organization is so clear, and the prose precisely delineates the thought. I would compare this book to the best exposition of Bach's music.

It is not true that "This is actually three separate books bound as one". The original russian edition consisted of a single volume but for some reason it was seperated into three vols in the first English edition. Now it is printed as a single volume as it should be. I point this out because the book is a continuous coverage of the theory of functions from A to Z, not what "3 books in 1" might suggest.

You cannot find modern things like covering spaces, cohomology, complex manifolds etc in this book. What you find is a page after page covering of classical function theory at its best. Nothing is left out. Lots of examples and exercises are included. A joy to read.

Let me also note that the following (very cheap) book is based on Markushevich. It contains the answers of a lot of exercises in Markushevich's book. So buy this one also:

"A Collection of Problems on Complex Analysis"
Dover Pubns

I only read portions of this three volume set, but it was so much beyond the usual ahlfors and other similar texts that it stuck in my brain. it's a one stop reference shop.

Holt once again brings invaluable information about Bactria. In this book he uses mumismatics extensively. The first two chapters are very interesting. The end of the book is mostly about technical details of the coins and what they can tell us. Thundering Zeus is the figure of Zeus on coins issued by Macedonian kings in Bactria. Holt shows us the importance of the details for placing a date on the coins and for knowing who issued them. For those who are intrigued by Diodotus, I and II, this is a great book. If it is the first book you read by Holt and if you are intested in the history of Bactria, which now covers most part of Afghanistan, you can form for yourself a good idea of what other books by Holt can hold as surprises for you. It could be the gate opened to a new horizon, or just a very enjoyable way to learn about the subject. Holt writes in a simple manner so as to be accessible to all readers and I do appreciate that. Even scholars sometimes need simplicity. In any case, his simple and clear way is still carrying a lot of serious information with notes, bibliography, index, all items History students need. I would recommend this book for research as well as for readers who like to learn more.

A full effort employing a variety of source materials, good methodology, and inviting prose.

Holt does an excellent job of updating the Beginnings of the Hellenistic Bactrian kingdom. His book is a much needed repair of the misinformation spread in the beginning of Tarn's otherwise enjoyable book The Greeks in Bactria and India. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Frank Holt continues his assault on the deity of Alexander in this well-researched followup to "Alexander the Great and Bactria." Holt looks at the foundation and early history of Hellenistic Bactria, starting with the Diadochi. His analysis of the data - including a careful reappraisal of the oft misleading numistics - is fairly convincing. A good book for anyone interested in Central Asia in antiquity, ancient India, and modern historiography of Alexander of Macedon.

This compilation of voices presents such different views than those we have been used to hearing from our American media mainstream sources. I loved the personal stories interspersed in many of the contributions. One of my favorite chapters was "Going Deeper: The Spiritual Dimension." Dawna Markova, Sogyal Rinpoche, Thomas Moore and others closed the gap between politics and the spiritual path. Michael Toms asked clear, eloquent and pertinent questions, allowing room for the interviewee to answer with ease and heartfelt sincerity.

Once I began reading this I couldn't put it down. It gives me hope in the American Mind and Spirit. It's intelligent, wide ranging, provocative, mind-expanding--a rich banquet of a diversity of voices.

[...]A TIME FOR CHOICES presents a remarkably clear picture of the decisions that American citizens face following the pivotal events of September 11, 2001, as well as some visions of how Americans can help create a better America.

A TIME FOR CHOICES was compiled from a series of forty-two fascinating interviews that "New Dimensions" radio host and founder Michael Toms conducted after September 11, 2001 with people who are noteworthy for their worldly awareness and insightful commentary. Toms organizes these inspiring interviews into chapters that explore some of America's founding principles of democracy, freedom of the press, and national security. What makes A TIME FOR CHOICES really stand out as an exceptional book, however, is the fact that it also includes discussion of spiritual issues and hopeful visions of the future.

I love the way I learned things in A TIME FOR CHOICES that I have not heard of anywhere else. For example, International Law professor Francis Boyle explains why the United States is obliged to resolve its dispute with Afghanistan in a peaceful manner according to UN Charter 2(3) and Article 33, and linguist Noam Chomsky describes the importance of retaining civil liberties in America. Author and world-traveler Mark Hertsgaard shows how different American media is from international media, when for example President George Bush's statement, "You're for us or against us" made headlines in France, but was buried deep inside American news reports.

I highly recommend A TIME FOR CHOICES to everyone who wishes to see the big picture of what is really happening in America today. A TIME FOR CHOICES should be required reading for all Americans, and for anyone interested in understanding where America is headed next.

This book brings together an extraordinary group of voices and views not generally being heard in the mass media and for this reason it needs to be read. Lots of positive, practical and empowering ideas are presented as to how indiduals can effectively address these turbulent times. As the publisher states, A Time for Choices "is a modern sequel to Thomas Paine's Common Sense," and deserves a wide readership.

Brillinger's book is unsurpassed in its thorough and transparent treatment of frequency domain analysis of weakly stationary time series (continuous state - discrete time). It generalizes all standard multivariate statistical analysis techniques (regression analysis, analysis of variance, principal component analysis, etc.) to the setting of weakly stationary series and presents detailed discussions of the associated sampling distributions. It is my preferred source for looking up such things as the sampling distribution of estimated coherency, estimated phase spectrum, etc. An excellent book!

Brillinger's book gives a thorough and advanced treatment of the frequency domain approach to time series analysis. It is more rigorous and advanced than Bloomfield but is not as easy to read and understand. It is the only text that I know of, to illustrate the power of the complex normal distribution as first suggested by N. Roy Goodman. Besides the interesting and rigorous treatment another nice feature of the book is the data analytic approach to many real time series.

Brillinger's book gives a thorough and advanced treatment of the frequency domain approach to time series analysis. It is more rigorous and advanced than Bloomfield but is not as easy to read and understand. It is the only text that I know of, to illustrate the power of the complex normal distribution as first suggested by N. Roy Goodman. Besides the interesting and rigorous treatment another nice feature of the book is the data analytic approach to many real time series.

I think this is not an introductory book to the spectral analysis of time series. But, once you have taken a first course on time series, this is a wonderful and useful book.

This is an attractive and interesting book, containing many of James Tissot's best paintings with detailed accounts of the year each was painted, the current location of the work, how it was recieved when first exhibited and the story behind it. It also has a very good introduction about his life and work. Highly recommended to any Tissot, costume or Victorian enthusiast.

Christopher Woods (from Christies) has written some of the greatest art books. This is the definitive Catalogue Raisonné of a great painter. It is easy-to-read, informative and with many good quality pictures. It is a must for art lovers

I have a fondness for both James Tissot and Alma-Tadema, and bought both books recently. What I liked best about this James Tissot book was, opposite each plate was a description of the painting, the year it was painted, and the probable explanations of who was in the painting and what it represented. The beginning of the book has a good biography of the artist, and reasons behind his fascination with beautiful women in wonderful clothes! A lovely book, I recommend it.

The paintings of James Tissot both reveal and pose questions concerning his subjects. Many works have seemingly deliberate contradictions. I found myself engrossed in each scene. This particular book is a beautiful collection of his most recognizable pieces.

This book is a remarkable collection of Civil War images. They're striking, disgusting, personal, posed, spontaneous, beautiful, ugly, brutal, profound, fascinating or plain old interesting, extraordinary, run of the mill, boring, and with all of them this collection gives you an amazing glimpse of life. It's a smorgasbord of pictures, from people, to landscapes, to architecture, to machinery of war; the death and destruction, or the grandiosity and pomp, this has it all, and much more.

Even if you're a Civil War buff, you probably won't have seen most of these photographs. I believe there are about 1,000+ in this, and it's immensity and diversity bombards you with a continual, ongoing, and very varied glimpse into that time and that life (A note though, the focus of the book is 95% military, with very few photographs of civilians. They are in there, but usually in a military setting.) It doesn't take long to get through, I've managed in half an hour, and I've read it dozens of times now. The images pull you back, as there is always something to discover or appreciate or wonder at hidden inside the photo.

William Davis' commentary is pretty and emotional and light. He doesn't write a history lesson here, the photos take care of that, but enough to put things in perspective.

It's been said (over and over and over) that an image can speak a thousand words, and although it's a well worn cliche, it's one of the truest of cliches. I find that photographs, Civil War included, help me to have a greater understanding of the world, of history, because they almost reach in and suspend a moment for all time, and within that moment are cross-sections of existence. They can teach you as well, better in certain ways, as any lesson or research book or whatnot. "Touched By Fire" is no exception, and is one of the best Civil War books I own for it's sheer size and power and grand capturing of life during the Civil War.

This is one of the better collections, between two covers, of Civil War photographs I have come across and own. There are well over 1000 black and white photographs in this rather thick and heavy volume, each being well annotated and described. The quality of the vast majority of these pictures is of excellent quality. The overall theme is of course military in nature, although there are quite a number of works featuring civilian homes, business, farms and such. Many of the photographs themselves were taken by some of the greats, Gardner, O'Sullivan, Edwards, Petty, Russell and Brady, but the unknown photographer and the assistants of these men are well represented.

I have looked at and examined many works from this era over the years, but found many photographs in this book that simply have never been published before. The book is broken down into various categories such as Around the War, The Embattled Continent, The Men in the Ranks, Ships and Seamen, Johnny Reb, Billy Yank, The Men who Led, and many, many others. I was particularly interested in the section dealing with ships and seamen. I am not particularly interested in Naval Warfare, but some of these pictures are absolutely fascinating and this book contains quite a large collection. Another aspect I found most helpful was the photographs in the actual uniforms of the warriors, both sides being represented. These actual pictures are so much more accurate, interesting and telling than many of the renditions by modern artists. So often the difference in "ideal" and "reality" is quite striking. As a collector of the artifacts of this particular war, I found this to be most helpful.

This work also includes numerous articles addressing various aspects of the war. Each of these short essays and informative background pieces are quite well done and contain much interesting information. While I am normally not a big fan of "coffee table books," I see no other format that could handle the data presented here. Most of the photographs are large enough for even old eyes like mine to see. The other aspect of this work I enjoyed, is that there is just enough questionable information that could be somewhat challenged, to keep the most diehard Civil War nit-picker in complete bliss. Now the questionable information found here is indeed questionable itself, and as to weather it is correct or incorrect is, for the most part, in they eye of the beholder. It is in the nature of Civil War Buffs to be so though, so this is fine.

All in all, this is a wonderful addition to any library concerning this event in our nation's history and I do highly recommend it. I like to leave through this one ever so often as with each reading I find something that I had previously missed.

In very few words, this book should be in the libraries of any serious reader of the civil war. The short stories coupled with the enomorous number of photographs is very comprehensive and educational. Great for readers of all ages. Jim Nichol

If Civil War photographs are as fascinating to you as to me, this topically arranged volume has hundreds of examples for your perusal, many never seen before. The short essays range in quality from the well crafted to the pedantic, depending on their author's creativity. The captions also vary widely. Some reflect the critical eye of William Frassanito, the "photographic consultant," while others add little to the image and occasionally distract from it.

I loved the first volume that Mark and Matt put together, and the second was even better. Being a post-GDW-collapse convert to Space: 1889, I didn't even realize that there had been a "Transactions" fanzine. I think that the new format does more justice to the efforts of Mark and the varied authors to improve upon the basic game materials than the fanzine. I think that the second volume would be more useful to those who are looking for more general information on Victorian Era Gaming and not just for Space: 1889. Loved it! Eagerly awaiting the 3rd Volume.

This volume collects the first four issues of the Transactions of the Royal Martian Geographical Society, a formerly-defunct magazine for GDW's late, lamented Space:1889. I regretted not acquiring these issues when they came out, but now I'm glad I waited. This combined edition is greatly superior to the originals: layout is improved, there are more graphics, and it is nice to have everything combined under one set of covers. The articles themselves are good-to-excellent in quality, and are frequently better than the material released for the original game. Many of the authors are professional historians or graduate students of history, and their depth of knowledge shows. The only thing preventing me from giving this product five stars were the facts that a: my copy (and mine alone, it seems, since I spoke with others who purchased this) was a little defective, and b: this product only covers Space: 1889--which was entirely fine by me, but might limit its appeal to other Victorian-era gamers who aren't great fans of the Space: 1889 universe. Future issues will broaden the coverage, I am told.

I am also told that the editors believe that this product was not 100% perfect, and that there is room for improvement. Personally, I don't see how. I found the product to be excellent, and welcome its release. And if volume 2 is going to be better than this, as the editors promise, it will be _extremely_ impressive indeed.

If you like role playing in the Victorian Era, this is a resource that you won't want to pass on.

There are all sorts of nifty things, adventures, floorplans, characters, cross over ideas, and background flavor.

Space 1889 was not the greatest game ever produced. The marketing of the game seemed weak. And, to be perfectly frank (pun intended), many of the illustrations were terrible! But, inspite of that and the demise of GDW (a tragedy in my not-so-humble opinion), the game lives on in the small enclaves here and there, joined by the internet.

I think that really says the ideas behind the game mechanics were brilliant. And I'm grateful to those who produced the game.

Transactions was a great fanzine. It, too, had an ignominious end. Now, with these compilations, it lives again. And better, far better than before!

This compilation has accounts of two miniatures games, which lend a great deal to the playing of the game.

If you enjoy movies like "Zulu", "Rogues March", "Beau Geste", "Four Feathers" and "the Light That Failed", you'll love this book.

good information on dying and transitioning into the process

Co-written by professional counseling staff members Moira Cairns, Marney Thompson, Wendy Wainwright and sanctioned by the Victoria Hospice Society, Transitions In Dying & Bereavement: A Psychosocial Guide For Hospice And Palliative Care walks the reader through the stages that chronically ill and dying individuals and their families must progress through, from diagnosis to death to bereavement. The most effective interventions for easing stress and confusion are clearly explained, along with sample dialogues that reveal the issues and challenges at each step. Chapters include notes on multicultural and interdenominational perspectives on death and dying, perspectives on body image, intimacy, and sexuality in the dying, ways to help alleviate feelings of anxiety, fear, burnout, denial, and powerlessness, ways to help in planning for death, and much more. A must-read for aspiring or practicing hospice counselors.

This book is a great resource for anyone in hospice or palliative care. By following the structure of the Palliative Performance Scale, this book will guide you through the varied experiences of people who are dying and their loved ones. The authors do an excellent job of portraying the confusion and stress that surround many families from the point of diagnosis until the final phases of grief, while also giving professionals the information they need to provide comfort and reassurance in this difficult time.

This book should really be considered the Hospice Bible, or at least one volume of it. I have never seen a book so clearly laid out, so encompassing of the psychospiritualsocial concerns and strengths for hospice patients and their families! Our hospice bought it after I fell in love with it. Now our social workers and I (grief specialist and death educator) are using it to train our interdiscplinary team on 1. sensitivity, 2. helpful interventions, 3. understanding family AND team dynamics, and 4. understanding the range of care and history that each patient brings with them (such as their previous experiences with the medical, social services, spiritual, and psychological/psychiatric communitites).

At a time when hospice is changing so radically (with so many for profit hospice and so many agencies "pretending to do hospice under the guise of home health" it is refreshing to see a group who has been able to embrace the totality of palliation and hospice in such a humanistic and holistic way!!!

Kudos to the staff at the Victoria Hospice Society. I hope you know how many other lives you changed as this book was published!!!!