Bernstein Books

After reading all of the "Stories from East High" and being used to the contrived plots and characterizations, I wasn't expecting much out of "Under the Stars". Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find this story the very best out of the series (probably because it's twice as long and had time to develop). Sharpay actually has some character development throughout which came a huge surprise; Ms. Darbus has a bit of a love interest; and there are plenty of other subplots to keep the story entertaining and engaging. Hopefully, we'll have more Stories from East High that are like this!

This is a 1961 English translation of the classic 1899 work by Edward Bernstein, leader of right wing of famous Second International of Working Men's Associations.

This work sought to revise Marxism and suggest that revolution was not necessary for a Workers' Party to come to power in the governments of the world--they could be elected to office. Thus the title of the book--evolutionary socialism as opposed to revolutionary socialism. This became the predominant ideology of the Second International and was roundly condemned as heresy by Kaul Kautsky, Rosa Luxembourg and Leon Trotsky among others and resulted in a breaking away of members from the Second International to form the so-called 2-1/2 International. Later following the Russian Revolution, the Third International was formed which once again espoused the requirement of revolution to bring the workers' parties to power.

This work then stands as a marker for a special time in European History. It adds much to the understanding of Europue during that time.

I attempted to read this book one year ago and found the language somewhat difficult, but with persistance, some remarkable ideas emerged. Bernstein superbly weaves together issues steming from Kant's ideas on aesthetics, showing how they developed in the writings of Heidegger - the best chapter in the book, and Adorno (more difficult) and Derrida.

Ferdinand Lassalle is best-known for the founder of the German Labour movement which eventually resulted in the General German Workers Association of which he was elected the first president in May of 1863. This entity later became the German Social Democratic Party.

Lassalle met Countess Sophie Hatzfeld of Dusseldorf, Gernmany in 1846. He lived with her the rest of his life. Her financial support of him made him financially independent and allowed him the leisure of working on his political activities on a fulltime basis. Involvement in the revolutionary unpsurge of 1848-49 followed and then in 1864 as president German Workers Association he became one of the leaders of the International Working Men's Association (First International) with Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. Later in 1864 his life was ended when he was shot in a duel.

If Bakunin and Proudhon were criticized by Marx and Engels as being too far to the left ideologically, then Lassalle was criticized for being to far to the ideological right. Therefore, it is significant that the author of this book originally published in 1893, was Edward Bernstein, founder of the Second International, who himself was accused revisionism during his lifetime.

This book includes excerpts from writings by the great maestro. Some very interesting and revealing of his thought process and others more humorous and random but still enjoyable. Some include "Sonnet: On Acquiring Knowledge" and his Harvard Bachelor's Thesis. Letters are included too. Overall, I recomend it if you're interested in writings from the pen of Bernstein.

Everyone who works in human services has at some time or another heard the remark, "you must be such a wonderful person to do such noble work". Dr. Bernstein confronts this attitude head on in her book, "Human Services . . . That must be so rewarding". She talks about the realities of working as human service professional & offers practical, real-world advice for those considering entering the field. I didn't find her "Tales of Disillusioned Diana" segments particularly helpful, but the comments of current & past professionals offer good insights & the "hands on" exercises recommended in each chapter encourage readers to apply lessons learned to their current situation. I think college professors educating future "human service" professionals will find Dr. Bernstein's offering an excellent dose of reality therapy for their students.

This is a gorgeous 93-page journal of impressions of Israel by Theresa Bernstein Meyerowitz and her husband William. The 1994 book includes the author's prose, eight or nine of her lovely poems and plates of 28 pieces of the couple's fine art.

The American artist and author made numerous trips to Israel beginning in 1948 and this book documents her observations and experiences. It is a fine and touching addition to any library on Israel or the middle east, countering many of the negative volumes available today.

This book consists of a fine set of articles, kindly reprinted as-is from the rare 1974 edition by the good folks at the University of Michigan (hence the rather generic cover). The idea of treating the Taisho period as a time of crisis and upheaval, i.e. as an exciting time for historians to study, may seem unremarkable today, but at the time it was rather unusual, and so "Japan in Crisis" marks something of a turning point in the field of Japanese Studies. The articles themselves, while slightly uneven in quality at times, are mostly quite interesting and thought-provoking still, and approach the overall subject from a great variety of angles; historians of almost any bent (political, economic, intellectual, literary, and so on) should find something here in their own ballpark, as well as a fine sampling of other approaches. In short, this is a classic collection of academic articles which still retains a healthy freshness and relevancy, a "must" on any grad student's reading list and highly recommended to anyone else seriously interested in the subject.

The articles included are:
1. "Introduction: A Sense of an Ending and the Problem of Taisho" by Harry Harootunian
2. "Some Reflections on Idealism in the Political Thought of Yoshino Sakuzo" by Tetsuo Najita
3. "A Note on the Political Thought of Natsume Soseki in His Later Years" by Takayoshi Matsuo
4. "Kawakami Hajime: A Japanese Marxist in Search of the Way" by Gail Bernstein
5. "Between Politics and Culture: Authority and the Ambiguities of Intellectual Choice in Imperial Japan" by H.D. Harootunian
6. "Aspects of the Proletarian Literary Movement in Japan" by Yoshio Iwamoto
7. "The Bureaucratic Role in Japan, 1900-1945: The Bureaucrat as Politician" by Bernard S. Silberman
8. "Taisho Democracy as the Pre-Stage for Japanese Militarism" by Shuichi Kato
9. "The Failure of Economic Expansion: 1918-1931" by Akira Iriye
10. "A New Asian Order: Some Notes on Prewar Japanese Nationalism" by James B. Crowley
11. "The Japanese Economy, 1911-1930: Concentration, Conflicts, and Crises" by Kozo Yamamura
12. "Incentives, Productivity Gaps, and Agricultural Growth Rates in Prewar Japan, Taiwan and Korea" by James I. Nakamura
13. "The Origins of Tenant Unrest" by Ann Waswo
14. "Japanese Industrial Relations at the Crossroads: The Great Noda Strike of 1927-1928" by George O. Totten
15. "Conclusion: Taisho Japan and the Crisis of Secularism" by Bernard S. Silberman

Bernstein appears to like the Hollywood entertainment types, and so the mothers he choses for his little interviews and stories are the mothers of Spielberg, Bob Dylan, Gene Simmons, and another twenty or so other 'stars'. In his introduction Bernstein makes the claims that Jewish mothers are like all other mothers but only more so, that is in the caring, worrying, pushing end of things. It was interesting to hear the mother of Bob Dylan stand up for him and for whatever turn he happened to take, religious-wise, or any other wise.
This stuff especially consider the great weight of most of the personalities included is 'fluff' but it is pleasant fluff. It is also nice that Bernstein has a chapter on his own mother who he pays tribute to.

This is an interesting book of essays on John Ford's Westerns. A number of topics are covered, such as Ford's use of music, the relationship between Ford and Frederick Remington's image of the West, the way Ford depicts different ethnic groups in his films.

By and large, the authors are sympathetic to John Ford (a good thing in my mind) and they clearly appreciate the movies. I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 since there is some repetition among the different authors. (For example, everyone is compelled to discuss the last scene of "Fort Apache.") Still, it is a pleasure to read a jargon-free academic book on Ford's Westerns.