Lehigh University Books

The Sino-American Friendship As Tradition and Challenge: Dr. Ailie Gale In China 1908-1950 by Dr. M. Cristina Zaccarini (History Professor, Adelphi University) focuses on the writings of Dr. Ailie Gale, an American female missionary and hospital administrator, and her erudite, up-close comparison and contrast between nations from the perspective of one who has lived in both worlds. Her beliefs in duty and service to God, spiritual equality between genders, and the efforts of her medical service are all brought to vivid life on the page, as are her forceful opposition to a patriarchal hierarchy and the subordination of women that she saw all too heavily inlaid within the traditional Chinese cultures around her. The Sino-American Friendship As Tradition And Challenge is highly recommended for international studies and 20th century Chinese history curriculum supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.

I met Peter when he was writing this and thought he was exaggerating some of his stories about the pipeline and the early "boomer" years of Alaska (and I'm a Fairbanksan!). It ended up being one of the best journalistic endeavors I've been privileged to witness. A lot of what went into Dan O'Neil's "The Firecracker Boys" started here.

It's amazingly readable, especially for something meant to be part of the academic record. For that reason, it's had no promotion to speak of. It's often-cited, but not at all dry. I know many of the people mentioned, and some of my relatives worked on the pipeline, and everything he says is the real deal.

To quote the late UAF president and Fairbanks mayor William Ransom Wood out of context, if you don't read Peter's book, you are "anti-God, anti-mind, and anti-man!"

New Views on Voltaire

Although dead for 230 years, Voltaire continues to intrigue, entertain, and enlighten people from all callings. Where did his aggressive attachment to Reason and determination to fight for individual freedom arise from, and what was within the writer that compelled him to perceive the world so critically and then comment so sharply on it? The tendency has been to refer to Voltaire's position in society, to his intelligence, and to historical factors that led to the Age of Enlightenment. But the essence of Man lies within his soul, mind, and personal experiences, the various foundations of his psychological make-up and subsequent reactions, and not in historical conditions and movements.

It is this personal and psychological essence of Voltaire that Alexander Nemeth astutely perceives and closely analyzes in Voltaire's Tormented Soul: A Psychobiographic Inquiry. It is a detailed view of Voltaire, the person, which, first, presents a clear idea of what the poet/philosophe accomplished with his satire socially, philosophically. But, then the inquiry takes readers deeply and intimately into a consideration of how his mind worked in response to personal relationships, experiences, and inner needs. In essence we are in the analyst's clinical office observing Voltaire on the "couch."

This is a fascinating book for all sorts of people--scholars of literature, history, French culture, and, of course, psychology. But the clarity of the presentation makes it also a lively and accessible read for non-academics. Voltaire, himself, as well as the various personalities he associates with (family, love interests, political figures, royalty, members of various societal strata) come to life, and the events make for a compelling narrative. All are thoroughly and scientifically scrutinized in a fashion that lifts the analysis well above the realm of casual speculation and places it on the plateau of convincing conclusions about the workings of Voltaire's mind.

Nemeth, an eminent clinical psychologist, uses his eclectic knowledge of psychology and history to ferret out the nuances of Voltaire's mind. He employs the writings of Voltaire, as well as extensive commentary by his contemporaries, reports of events, and studies by historians and other scholars. Included, also, are definitions of the terminology, theory, and practice of psychological analysis which add clarity to the study.

Based on a series of Lawrence Henry Gipson lectures presented at the Lehigh University from the late 1980s through the early 1990s, and aptly edited by Michael Kennedy and William Shade, The World Turned Upside-Down: The State of Eighteenth-Century American Studies at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century is an amalgamation of essays contributed by a broad range of distinguished scholars. These essays cover American History as part of world history rather than as if American History were isolated in a political vacuum. The scholarly, thoughtfully and persuasively argued essays cover such topics as early American technological history, slavery and African cultures in America, and the histories of early American women. Involving in its analytical depth, The World Turned Upside-Down is an excellent, most welcome addition to academic American history reading lists and reference collections.

While the content was fine, the binding was poor, pages loose and falling out.