African American life in the Georgia lowcountry: the Atlantic world and the Gullah Geechee; edited by Philip Morgan. University of Georgia Press, 2009. 311p $34.95 (Race in the Atlantic world, 1700-1900)

These essays explore the African American communities of the Georgia lowcountry, with particular attention to the Gullah communities. The Gullah, due to their relative isolation from other populations, are believed to have retained African linguistic and cultural patterns to a significant degree.

ISBN 978-0-8203-3064-8; LCCN 2009-22714

Astronomers, scribes, and priests: intellectual interchange between the northern Maya lowlands and highland Mexico in the late postclassic period; edited by Gabrielle Vail and Christine Herna´ndez. Dumbarton Oaks, 2010. 431p $49.95 (Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian symposia and colloquia)

This work examines the relationship between the Mayas of the northern lowlands and the Nahuatl speakers from highland central Mexico in the late postclassic period. The authors of these essays explore to what extent the Mayan scribes had access to Mexican codices, and had contact with the scribes who produced them. The intellectual exchanges among the astronomers, scribes, priests, and artisans of these regions are explored.

ISBN 978-0-8840-2346-3; LCCN 2009-30114

August Wilson: completing the twentieth-century cycle; edited by Alan Nadel. University of Iowa Press, 2010. 228p $29.95

This volume of essays discusses the cycle of ten plays by playwright August Wilson, which is variously known as the Pittsburgh cycle or the twentieth-century cycle. These interrelated plays, written out of sequence over a period of more than twenty years, describe African American urban life, primarily in Pittsburgh. The authors of the essays focus on the thematic unity of each play, and its relation to all the other plays in the cycle.

ISBN 978-1-5872-9875-2; LCCN 2009-38141

Berland, Jody. North of empire: essays on the cultural technologies of space. Duke University Press, 2009. 386p $89.95; $24.95 (pa)

Canadian author Jody Berland discusses the effect of media on international perceptions of Canada and of the United States. Among the essays are examinations of critical studies by Canadian communications theorists Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan.

ISBN 978-0-8223-4288-5; 978-0-8223-4306-6 (pa); LCCN 2009-10568

Cai, Yongshun. Collective resistance in China: why popular protests succeed or fail. Stanford University Press, 2010. 284p $65.00; $20.65 (pa) (Studies of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center)

The range and variety of social protest in China and the government response to it is the subject of this work. Among the topics are: the use of violence; the power of disruptive collective action; and, the obstacles to successful resistance in China.

ISBN 978-0-8047-6339-4; 978-0-8047-6340-0 (pa); LCCN 2009-19445

Competing kingdoms: women, mission, nation, and the American Protestant empire, 1812-1960; edited by Barbara Reeves-Ellington, Kathryn Kish Sklar, and Connie Shemo. Duke University Press, 2010. 415p $89.95; $24.95 (pa) (American encounters/global interactions)

The authors of these essays explore the role of American women in Christian missionary activity from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries, when the United States was emerging as a world power. The lives and activities of missionaries in far corners of the earth such as China, Egypt, Ottoman Bulgaria, and the Philippines are explored. Domestic missionary activity among African Americans, Native Americans, and Chinese immigrants is also explored.

ISBN 978-0-8223-4658-6; 978-0-8223-4650-0 (pa); LCCN 2009-41171

Dane, Joseph A. The long and the short of it: a practical guide to European versification systems. University of Notre Dame Press, 2010. 132p $16.00

This work is a practical guide to versification in the Latin, French, and English languages, with careful attention to issues of quantity, stress, and caesura. Important aspects of versification in other European languages (such as German) are also described.

ISBN 978-0-2680-2603-5; LCCN 2009-53247

Emergence and embodiment: new essays on second-order systems theory; edited by Bruce Clarke and Mark B.N. Hansen. Duke University Press, 2009. 285p $84.95; $23.95 (pa) (Science and cultural theory)

These essays explore the field of cybernetics (the study of communication and control systems) starting from the 1970s, when a major turn in the thinking about cybernetics occurred under the influence of cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster. The development of the second-order systems theory is examined.

ISBN 978-0-8223-4581-7; 978-0-8223-4600-5 (pa); LCCN 2009-12702

Farmer, Paul. Partner to the poor: a Paul Farmer reader; edited by Haun Saussy. University of California Press, 2010. 660p $60.00; $18.15 (pa) (California series in public anthropology, v23)

This is a collection of essays written by anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer between 1988 and 2009. The topics includes epidemiology, health care for the global poor, and international public health policy. Together, the essays form a broad overview of Farmer’s work.

ISBN 978-0-5202-5711-5; 978-0-5202-5713-9 (pa); LCCN 2009-38154

Feenberg, Andrew. Between reason and experience: essays in technology and modernity; foreword by Brian Wynne; afterword by Michel Callon. MIT Press, 2010. 257p $22.00

The author of this work explores the interdependence of reason and experience in the world of modern technology. Among the topics are: the French Minitel computing network; the internet; and, the relationship between national culture and technology in Japan.

ISBN 978-0-2625-1425-5; LCCN 2009-037833

Gold, Barri J. Thermopoetics: energy in Victorian literature and science. MIT Press, 2010. 343p $30.00

Many nineteenth century British authors showed knowledge and insight of current scientific developments in their creative works. This work examines the nineteenth century understanding of thermodynamics as found in the fiction and poetry of authors such as Charles Dickens and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

ISBN 978-0-2620-1372-7; LCCN 2009-19766

Hernandez, Kelly Lytle. Migra!: a history of the U.S. Border Patrol. University of California Press, 2010. 311p $55.00; $15.80 (pa) (American crossroads, v29)

The author tells the history of the United States Border Patrol from its small beginnings in 1924 to its emergence as a large professional police force. The author has researched official and private archives in the United States and Mexico to describe the development of the Border Patrol, and analyzes its practices and strategies today.

ISBN 978-0-5202-5769-6; 978-0-5202-6641-4 (pa); LCCN 2009-39563

Jews and the making of modern German theatre; edited by Jeanette R. Malkin and Freddie Rokem. University of Iowa Press, 2010. 304p $49.95 (Studies in theatre history and culture)

The contribution of German Jews to late 19th and early 20th century German theater is the subject of these essays. Among the topics are: director Max Reinhardt and his productions of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice; the influence of Yiddish theater on the German and Austrian stage; and, Jewish cabaret artists before 1933.

ISBN 978-1-5872-9868-4; LCCN 2009-35060

Lasala, Joseph M. Thomas Jefferson’s academical village: the creation of an architectural masterpiece; Richard Guy Wilson, editor; contributors, Joseph M. Lasala, Patricia C. Sherwood, and Richard Guy Wilson. Rev. ed. University of Virginia Press, 2009. 128p $24.95

The authors describe Thomas Jefferson’s architectural design for the University of Virginia, how it came into being, the perceptions of its successes and failures, and the alterations that have taken place through the years.

ISBN 978-0-8139-2830-2; LCCN 2009-2578

Le Guin, Ursula K. Cheek by jowl. Aqueduct Press, 2009. 149p $16.00

The author explores the world of the fantasy literature in these essays. Among the topics are: rereading children’s stories as an adult; Jack London’s use of fantastic narrative techniques in White Fang; and, animals in children’s literature.

ISBN 978-1-9335-0027-0; LCCN 2009-923617

Miyoshi, Masao. Trespasses: selected writings; edited and with an introduction by Eric Cazdyn; foreword by Fredric Jameson. Duke University Press, 2010. 344p $89.95; $24.95 (pa) (Post-contemporary interventions)

This is a collection of essays by Japanese literary critic Masao Miyoshi. Among the topics are: the study of English literature in Japan; an analysis of the travelogues written by the first Japanese mission to the United States in 1860; and, literary translation as literary interpretation.

ISBN 978-0-8223-4626-5; 978-0-8223-4637-1 (pa); LCCN 2009-43378

Narrative power: encounters, celebrations, struggles; edited by L. Timmel Duchamp. Aqueduct Press, 2010. 260p $19.00

These essays explore various topics in the art of narration. The techniques of shaping a story to promote the interests of the presenter are examined with regard to written, spoken, and cinematic presentation. Among the topics are: racial politics in the reporting of missing persons; the lack of women’s narratives in the history of science; and, narrative devices in the film Pan’s labyrinth.

ISBN 978-1-9335-0034-8; LCCN 2009-944046

Nagel, Alexander. Anachronic renaissance; [by] Alexander Nagel and Christopher S. Wood. Zone Books, 2010. 455p $39.95

The relationship of time and art is the topic of this work. The authors explore the attitudes and practices of Renaissance artists, who sought to recapture the excellence of ancient art through imitation and emulation in their own original works. In contrast, the authors show how in the modern age of mechanical reproduction, when exact copies of the original can be produced, the original artwork is esteemed for its own sake even more than before.

ISBN 078-1-9354-0802-4; LCCN 2009-26817

New perspectives on Moche political organization; Jeffrey Quilter and Luis Jaime Castillo B., editors. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2010. 388p $45.00

These essays describe the political organization of the Moche, a pre-Inca society located on the northern coast of Peru from ca. 100-800 AD. The authors use the archaeological evidence to discuss whether the Moche state was monolithic, or else divided into northern and southern states, or whether each valley contained its own government.

ISBN 978-0-8840-2362-3; LCCN 2009-37790

O’Sullivan, Donal. Dealing with the devil: Anglo-Soviet intelligence cooperation in the Second World War. P. Lang, 2009. 337p $86.95 (Studies in modern European history, v63)

This work explores the extensive intelligence sharing activities that took place between Great Britain and the USSR during World War II. The willingness of both nations to share their highly guarded national secrets with each other in order to defeat Nazi Germany is described. The author has based his reports on recently declassified Soviet documents.

ISBN 978-1-4331-0581-4; LCCN 2009-18149

Schrag, Peter. Not fit for our society: nativism and immigration. University of California Press, 2010. 299p $26.95

This work examines the controversies over American immigration policies from the beginning of the republic to the present day. Racial and ethnic quotas, the great resistance among the American public to the acceptance of immigrants from Central and Southern Europe in the early 20th century, and ongoing debates about the “fitness” of foreigners to adjust to American society are among the topics.

ISBN 978-0-5202-5978-2; LCCN 2009-42976

The shock of the global: the 1970s in perspective; edited by Niall Ferguson ... [et al.]. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010. 434p $29.95

The essays in this volume examine key international changes that took place in the decade of the 1970s. Among the topics are: Islam’s contemporary globalization; the American debt and global capital; the economic emergence of China; and, the eradication of smallpox.

ISBN 978-0-6740-4904-8; LCCN 2009-35935

Terrorizing ourselves: why U.S. counterterrorism policy is failing and how to fix it; edited by Benjamin H. Friedman, Jim Harper, and Christopher A. Preble. Cato Institute, 2010. 316p $24.95

These essays explore American counterterrorism efforts, particularly since 2001, and offer suggestions for improvement. Among the topics are: the causes of terrorist activity; bioterrorism; the role of the military in counterterrorism; and, the politics of homeland security.

ISBN 978-1-9353-0830-0; LCCN 2010-5480

Verstraten, Peter. Film narratology; translated by Stafan van der Lecq. University of Toronto Press, 2009. 259p $60.00; $27.95 (pa)

This work is a guide to the narratological analysis of films. Among the topics are: cinematic techniques such as external and internal narration; the narrative force of sound; visual and auditory focalization; and, the use of voice-overs and flashbacks. The essays are illustrated with examples from avant-garde, Hollywood, and European art cinema.

ISBN 978-0-8020-9351-6; 978-0-8020-9505-3 (pa)

What’s the use of race?: modern governance and the biology of difference; edited by Ian Whitmarsh and David S. Jones. MIT Press, 2010. 303p $22.95

These essays explore the modern legal, scientific, and social definitions of race. Among the topics are: race and genetics in the courtroom; genomic science and human diversity; and, race as a factor in understanding and addressing inequities in health and disease.

ISBN 978-0-2625-1424-8; LCCN 2009-37118