Wisconsin Books

The second volume of Simone Schwarz-Bart's history of black women focuses on black women during slavery in the Americas. As lavishly illustrated as the first volume which focused on ancient African queens, "Heroines of the Slavery Era" profiles the lives of fourteen remarkable African and African-American women who managed to rise above the degradations of slavery to place themselves in the history books for all time. Besides the already familiar figures of Phyllis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman, we also learn about Aqualtune, a Congolese princess enslaved in Brazil; Anastasia, who became the patron saint of Brazil's black people; Solitude, a heroine and martyr of the 1802 slave rebellion on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, and many more. We hear the haunting voices of the slaves themselves and what they endured. The breathtaking illustrations throughout this book are taken from paintings and photographs in the historical archives. Volume II of "In Praise of Black Women" continues the standard of excellence set in the first book. It's a book to be read and treasured by all women everywhere.

Patty Loew takes a novel approach in this book and uses Native American sources to tell Native American history! Oral history, treaty minutes, recorded speeches by Native American leaders, and other Native sources are used over the traditional "white" sources that make up the majority of Native American history. The book reads extremely well and is intensely interesting. Each chapter tells the story of a Wisconsin Indian nation from the point of view of that nation. This is an enjoyable book to read for anyone interested in Native American history. Moreover, it is an invaluable addition to scholarship and a (hopefully) trend-setting example of using Native sources to tell Native history.

AWESOME - it doesn't get much better. Excellent photos and text. This is the ONE book that you must own if interested in United States Indian Peace medals.

One of the most striking aspects of "Inextricably Bonded's" many worthy accomplishments is Brenner's persuasive dismissal of the notion that the internal post-Zionist critique of Israel's writers and historians is truly a new ideological or even "subversive" development. She achieves this by paying close heed to many early articulations of disapproval of institutional Zionism's varied roles in dispossessing the indigenous Arabs of land and society (among them Yosef Eliahu Chelouche, a founder of Tel Aviv, and the philosophers Ahad Ha'Am and Martin Buber). In light of increasingly shrill debates over this term (Zionists of the right predictably label the 1990s generation of "post-Zionist" historians and cultural critics as Jewish self-haters or worse), Brenner sensibly declares that the Zionist movement always encompassed a tradition of intense self-interrogation and moral argument. She also masterfully analyzes the receptions of canonical works by generations of Israeli scholars as well as the wider public. But what really stands as most innovative in her approach are her elegant comparative studies of the fiction of three Arab-Israeli writers, Emile Habiby ("The Pessoptimist"), Atallah Mansour ("In a New Light"), and Anton Shammas ("Arabesques") all of whom have written in Hebrew or published their works for Israeli readers in translation, alongside canonical works of several Israeli Jewish writers, including David Grossman, Amos Oz, and A.B. Yehoshua-all familiar writers in Europe and North America.

Throughout, Brenner produces highly original readings, masterfully demonstrating the peculiarly entwined nature of the realms of psychology and politics in the Israeli forum of art and politics. Subsequently, the author understands Israeli identity as having defined itself against a repressed Jewish Other, or history, as well as through its discriminatory practices vis-à-vis external and internal Arabs. As counter-narrative, Brenner cogently argues, the cumulative impact of the writings of Arabs and Jews in Israel, in spite of their disparate sociopolitical perspectives, effectively "restores the visibility of the Arabs in the `empty' land and calls into question the unequivocal Zionist claim to the land...by contrast, the story of the suffering that the triumphant Jews inflicted on the defenseless, defeated Arab population invokes the history of Jewish persecution and victimization in the Diaspora. Against the doctrine of exclusion, the literary representations reassert in the Israeli consciousness the denied histories of the Palestinian Arab and the Diaspora Jew."

Though Brenner always adds unprecedented insight to the broad ethical and political questions raised by the presence of the Other, a fascinating secondary issue, that of the peculiar nature of canon-formation often surfaces as a crucial dynamic. For instance, many readers (aware that Rushdie, Kundera, Solzhenitsyn, and others achieved their international fame as dissident writers at the cost of total repudiation at home), will be struck by the fact that Yehoshua, Oz, and Grossman, while deviating sharply from accepted political lines and cultural myths, nevertheless "gained canonical legitimacy from the cultural establishment that was founded upon the ideological orientation they defied." Without straying from her primary focus, Brenner skillfully addresses the ways that writers themselves (as well as their most sympathetic critics) often employ rhetorical strategies of a shared national identity to mitigate the effects of their radical writings in otherwise undermining the most precious myths of the Zionist revolution. Brenner raises uncomfortable questions about whether the literary work's dissenting messages about justice and displacement, once its author achieves canonical status, is ultimately neutered of its political potency.

Her answers are at times partial and at best uneasy but always thought-provoking. A further reason that this study will prove so eminently useful for scholars and teachers alike is that nearly all of the works discussed are readily available in English translation. "Inextricably Bonded" strongly warrants our appreciation and attention as one of the most innovative studies of modern Hebrew literary criticism, especially for its forceful demonstration that the identity politics of both Israeli Arab and Israeli Jewish writers together produce a dynamically "bi-ethnic" rather than a narrowly "national" body of literature. What Brenner so brilliantly reveals throughout this adroit analysis is that over the years the fraught realm of Arab and Israeli identity politics has provided art with a highly charged source of imaginative inspiration. Most importantly, literature clearly does matter in the "real world," for as she comes to affirm, however fragile the hope: "The readiness to tell one's story and to listen to the story of the other signifies mutual recognition, which alleviates fear. Attention to the story of the other signals the ability to transform the knot of violence into a dialogic interaction." To Brenner's lasting credit, the intertwined identities and destinies eloquently addressed in "Inextricably Bonded" go a very long way toward powerfully affirming the moral urgency of that claim.

Margery Forester describes Michael Collins in the words of another writer as "that most formidable of all men of action, the practical visionary". This biography, which was probably the most highly regarded until Tim Pat Coogan's momumental work, is still in my view one of the most readable and the one that perhaps catches the essence of its subject best, as the opening quotation indicates. In this work Forester presents all the usual facts about Collins--his youth, his rise to prominence after the 1916 rising, his intelligence, his intensity, his personal courage, his love of country and comrade, his wit and warmth--but manages to add touches that bring out even more vividly the real character of this extraordinary man. Thus, her descriptions of his interaction with children, whom he loved and who loved him; his identification with the ordinary people of Ireland and his affinity for old people; his iron self-control in matters of personal indulgence; his refusal to disguise himself during the time he was the most wanted man in the British Empire; his often-brusque manner with women, which both affronted and intrigued them; his changes of mood "as spectacular and unpredictable as the play of the Northern Lights"; and his ability to inspire trust, love, and loyalty in the many people who worked for and with him. This is a vivid biography of a young man who was both realist and idealist and who led his country to its first taste of real freedom in 700 years.

Writer Jane Schapiro achieves the seemingly impossible -- Inside a Class Action is a NON-FICTION legal thriller!

Schapiro provides a unique; "behind the scenes" look at the now-famous 1996 lawsuit filed against Swiss banks on behalf of Holocaust survivors. She provides amazing insight into a story that exploded onto the front pages, packed Congressional and Court hearings, and forever changed how the world views the Holocaust.

Schapiro deftly guides the reader through all phases of this litigation, from early discussions to court hearings, private negotiations, and the ultimate settlement. Schapiro did her homework -- having conducted extensive interviews with politicians, attorneys (on both sides), historians, researchers and survivors, as well as having scoured archival documents, court and congressional transcripts, and reviewing reams of news coverage. She relays the good, the bad and the ugly -- providing an unvarnished look at legal infighting, political feuds, and clashing egos.

Schapiro's special access to lead attorney Michael Hausfeld allows her to follow his legal "dream team" as it strips off the cloak of Swiss wartime neutrality and exposes a country and its bankers as economic allies of the Third Reich. Schapiro follows Hausfeld's decisionmaking as the case develops, and addresses important questions: What made Hausfeld take on such a case - pro bono no less? What professional and personal compromises did he make? Why did he choose to settle, rather than going to court? And was this truly a case about justice -- or money? Or both? Inside a Class Action powerfully demonstrates that justice is elusive.

This is one of the most well written, informative and exciting books I have ever read. I highly recommend it.

This book really helped me. I have never been to Madison, and I even know how it was like to be there. But this book really was a helper on the planning of my trip. It explores the good and bad side of the city, including festivities, museums, shopping and maps.

In this collection, Susanna Childress reveals so much. I can not get over it. It's evocative and raw, but also down-to-earth, relatable, and inspiring. These passionate pages teem with poems talking about sex, God, love, and the various insecurities that come with being both human and female. As a man, this book has not only opened me up to the female mind, but I think it's helped me understand some things more. It's obvious that, whether or not she is using a narrator, she writes from the heart, and sometimes the heart isn't the healthiest. This is poetry that compels and challenges and makes me, as an aspiring writer, wish I could write like this. If you're a fan of poetry, of wordplay, or of the expression of the human condition, pick this up. You won't regret it.

Also, if you have the chance to here her read, do it. I was lucky enough to, and it was a blessing. She has an innocent charm and hopeful air about her. Take that as you will.

Jessie's Wedding is a suspencful romance that keeps the reader guessing, and wishing until the end. Jessie O'Brien had known Jarrett Collins since they were cildren at her aunt's wedding. They dated throughtout their adolescence and early twenties, until Jarrett left her.

Now Jessie, older and wiser, has overcome the pain of Jarrett leaving and gotten her life on track and in the right direction. Until one day, Jarrett shows up as the new doctor at the hospital she works at. Now seeing him again, Jessie remembers her past and how their life together was. Although she knows better than to let herself fall for Jarrett and open up to him, she soon finds herself doing so. The fear of being hurt once again by him worries her along with the mysteries of his life while he was away from Wisconsin. Jessie lets herself fall in his trap of secret, but can she overcome their past as well as his past and let them start their life togteher again, or will these secrets and memories ruin their chances of being together once more?

Kathryn quick writes a truely touching romance. The romance between Jessie and Jarrett brings hope to any relationship and allows the reader to feel the emotions in Jessie's heart as she lets Jarrett back into her life. I recomend this novel to any romance lover looking from an enjoyable page-turner. The story held you until the very end and kept you wanting more. An excellent novel!

The Jewish Women Of Ravensbruck Concentration Camp by Rochelle G. Saidel (Founder and Director of the Remember the Women Institute in New York and Senior Scientific Research at the Center for the Study of Women and Gender, University of Sao Paulo) is an impressive and seminal contribution to the growing library of Holocaust Studies with its focus upon the fate of Jewish women imprisoned in the infamous Nazi concentration camp of Ravensbruck which was located about 50 miles north of Berlin. Originally designed for 5,000 women, it held six times this number and was the site for the Nazi's methodical program of extermination through slave labor, torture, starvation, shooting, lethal injection, medical experimentation, and gassing. Between 1939 and 1945, some 132, 000 women from twenty- three countries were imprisoned and in addition to the Jews, also included political prisoners, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, prostitute, lesbians, criminals, and prisoners of war. Only 15,000 women survived by the end of the war (3,000 of them in the camp itself when it was overrun by the Soviet Army on April 30, 1945 -- the rest had been taken to Sweden by the Red Cross, while the remaining women survived a last ditch "death march" by the Nazi's fleeing the advancing Russian troops). Drawing upon interviews and unpublished testimonies from more than sixty survivors in the United States, Israel, Europe, Brazil, and Canada -- as well as documents, oral histories, and historic photography, The Jewish Women Of Ravensbruck Concentration Camp is a memorable and informative compilation of collective and individual portraits of these women and the suffering they endured. Very Highly Recommended.