Washington University Books

The Deathbed Playboy is a wonderful read. Dacey's tonal range is wide. The poems are smart, tender, and often funny. Smart, but not pedantic. Tender, but not gooey and manipulative. Funny, but not frivolous. The title poem, "The Deathbed Playboy," is a stunner. The tension between the humor and grief is palpable, and the funny and frantic reflections of the speaker are heartbreaking.

So many contemporary books of poetry sound like they were all ghost-written by one glib Writing Workshop star. Dacey has a distinctive voice. It's generous, sly, comic and wonderfully accessible. This one goes on my gift-giving list

George Templeton Strong was a student, lawyer and prominent citizen in early New York City who faithfully recorded the events of his time in his diary. The diary follows Strong from his days as a student at Kings College (now Columbia University) through his early law career and the entire Civil War era. This diary is a well informed, witty chronicle of the culture, music, restaurants, politics and figures of New York City in the 1820s.

This is a fascinating account of the numerous Indian delegations to (mainly) Washington, DC, over the course of more than a century (1800-1900). The first Indian delegation occurred in 1710, when four Mohawk chiefs (known as "The Four Kings") were brought to England for a month-long visit and a meeting with Queen Anne. The Indians were the hit of London and drew crowds wherever they went. During the American Revolution, Indians often visited George Washington at his headquarters, as the Americans tried to keep the natives friendly and neutral.

After the country gained its independence, inviting Indian delegates to Washington, DC, became a general policy - a policy that had psychological implications as well as diplomatic purposes: Washington leaders wanted the Indians to see the power and might of the whites in the hope that it would discourage the thought of uprisings. Indian delegations were often treated as visiting royalty might be treated, and left laded with gifts and tributes. (Of course, like most people or groups up against governmental bureaucracy the Indians also left Washington with little of substance gained.)

Viola, rather than just relating one visit after another, arranges his information in chapters by themes: visiting the Great Father, financing the delegations, Indian life in Washington, diversions, etc. This thematic presentation is much more interesting than a straight chronological one would be. The book is well written and thoroughly researched, and is well illustrated, too. It's an engaging and highly informative look at a rarely studied topic in Indian-white relations.

I am extremely impressed with Taylor's book, which explores the real and imagined consequences of the Civil War on families in border states, where the question of secession was the most complicated and the most fraught. This book not only documents (in writing that rises to the level of great literary writing -- a rarity in young historians) the actual occurrence of split families and what they had to say for themselves, but also the psychological, moral, and political implications of families at odds with each other. That is, this book gets beyond the idea of "the brother's war" as merely a curiosity or a sentimental metaphor, and shows how the state of the society -- the relations between men and women, white and black -- itself is revealed in the experience of these families, observed in extremis.

The writing, again, is extraordinary. Fans of Doris Kearn Goodwin or David McCullough will love this book, and will be pleased to know that Taylor is of the new generation of historians and likely to be around and writing for a very long time.

You will read nothing else like it and spend the rest of your life searching for something comparable.

No matter how organized a medical practice is, at the end of the day, everything comes down to succeeding in the complex dynamics of the doctor and patient relationship. This two way street of communication and trust is notoriously difficult to travel and this outstanding book certainly serves as a road map to anyone involved in medical care. True that a doctor's actual duties (caring, cognitive skills) and breadth of responsibilities (empathy, affective skills) are interwoven in everyday practice, but there are fine threads that tie them together with the patient's needs that become evident in this extraordinary book. It is filled with intelligent quotes and thought provoking discussions about different medical issues. It does carefully avoid a patronizing tone as Cox does not dare to tell you what to think, but rather how to think when faced with difficult clinical matters. Its format is very readable and clear, and has witty comments by a group of medical students reasoning on the decision making process. Indeed, very seldom one reads a piece of work this good. Penned by an Australian surgeon and founder of the first School of Medical Education in the world, it is clearly the result of 25 years of experience dealing with patients and their diagnoses and treatments. Most importantly, every medical student and practicing physician should read it, at least once, for its profound wisdom and leveled perspective. I wish I had read it before I started my own practice and I truly reckon it should be placed as a compulsory textbook in medical schools.

This is a first of series of three studies (1997, 1999 and 2001) on foreign policy formation in Central Asian republics. In this studies the author focused on foreign policy environment, foreign policy-making process and foreign policy perception in three Central Asian Republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The research might be very useful for those who try to understand how the foreign policies are made in these countries.

This book had a profound effect on me. I don't totally agree with the first review on this page. Possibly the reviewer should read the book again since he/she seemed to miss the pivotal message woven throughout this book like a fine golden thread in a tapestry.

The solid footing the author stood on was to keep your heart swept out of insiduous practices like racial and ethnic intolerances that lead to atrocities such as the Holocaust. "Dust doesn't announce itself." she says as she likens our hearts to the apartment house of the next century. Be courteous to one another, follow the Golden Rule, and put this book on your list of books to read. You won't be sorry you did.

Like no other book, "Drawing Lines in the Forest" gets down to detail on how wilderness areas came to be protected, focusing on five case histories in Oregon and Washington. I saw some of these events myself, first as a student in Oregon in the 1950s, later as a federal land management official in Washington DC. Professor Marsh digs deep into archival sources to tell us how dedicated citizens managed to save wild forested valleys that had been slated for logging. They had to overcome bureaucratic opposition from the US Forest Service, reach compromises with the timber industry, and persuade the US Congress to act. You will read about their frustrations, their wit, and their perseverance. Right now, people all over the country are following in their footsteps with a new round of wilderness proposals. I highly recommend this book to the next generation of wilderness defenders and everyone who loves wild land.

This anthology illustrates the core problems in Native North American Art History by showing the paradoxes in its founding methodology. The essays deal directly with early scholars' and collectors' cultural barriers to understanding their subjects. The book provides examples of how to question the idealogical bases of what we often accept as the truth regarding the work.

I've found it to be immensely useful in a course that surveys the field; students develop a better appreciation for the work by studying the wider implications of ethnography and collecting. In particular, Marvin Cohodas' essay on Louisa Keyser often opens the way to new levels of understanding the contradictions in the discipline.

Anyone with a serious interest in native art should read this collection.