Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/06/2013
ISBN-13: 9780670025947
ISBN-10: 0670025941

Washington Post chief correspondent Daniel J. Balz breaks down the 2012 Obama-Romney presidential race for the many voters, who -- regardless of whether their candidate won or lost -- were demoralized by months of exorbitant campaign spending and camera-hogging gamesmanship that played out against a backdrop of party infighting, ten years of war in Iraq, controversial health-care legislation, and a stagnant economy. Balz frames the race's contentious aspects as a dubious evolution of the current political process, with "little competition or innovation in the battle for ideas." Collision 2012 is "a lively, fair-minded, and brisk post-mortem" (Kirkus Reviews) about what happened, and a cautionary tale about the future of presidential campaign strategies.

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Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/05/2013
ISBN-13: 9780393062977
ISBN-10: 039306297X

Pink Sari Revolution chronicles a unique North Indian grassroots vigilante group that is now 20,000 strong and giving voice to injustices against women. Led by community leader Sampat Pal, the group's membership swelled following a notorious 2010 court case in which a corrupt politician raped and jailed a young woman after wrongly accusing her of theft. Pal's group staged mass marches and public displays to humiliate officials until the girl was released. Even more importantly, however, they are now established as a political force in a country where women's rights are seldom respected. Journalist Fontanella-Khan "brings a novelist's pacing to a timely page-turner" (Publishers Weekly) that is "as delightful as it is intelligent and important" (Kirkus Reviews).

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Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/13/2013
ISBN-13: 9781439177396
ISBN-10: 1439177392

The Pentagon launched the Human Terrain System (HTS), a controversial initiative to deter counterinsurgency in Afghanistan's combat zones, in 2007. Three-member HTS teams of social scientists were embedded within military units, and tasked with gathering data on the politics, culture, and needs of local inhabitants; their data would be passed to military officials, to help identify and resolve conflicts before violence could erupt. The Tender Soldier is a "nuanced, readable, and utterly engrossing" (Publishers Weekly) exposé of what went terribly wrong after an HTS team member's local contact set her alight with gasoline in a violent display of anti-American sentiment.

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Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 08/20/2013
ISBN-13: 9780805094565
ISBN-10: 0805094563

Based on newly-discovered letters and memos, The Great Dissent is a riveting scholarly history of how conservative justice Oliver Wendell Holmes became a free-speech advocate and established the modern understanding of the First Amendment in 1919. Historian and legal scholar Thomas Healy offers a "beautifully written" (Booklist) reconstruction of Holmes' journey from free-speech skeptic to First Amendment hero. Healy renders the period's relevant legal concepts without relying on lawyerly jargon, and fleshes out his narrative with humanizing details about Holmes' life, the personalities of his fellow justices, and their era. Fans of Supreme Court histories -- and the history of dissent -- may also enjoy Mark Tushnet's I Dissent.

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Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/29/2007
ISBN-13: 9780143038955
ISBN-10: 0143038958

During the Victorian era, attempts to communicate with the dead through mediums and séances grew in popularity; they inspired a flurry of scientific activity, as researchers tried to determine whether or not spiritualism had a grounding in science. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines the spiritual investigations of prominent Harvard psychologist William James, who risked his reputation attempting to use scientific methods to prove (or disprove) the existence of paranormal powers. Although many scorned the idea that scientific reasoning could be applied to mind-reading and apparitions, James found some allies; their efforts are chronicled here, in what The Washington Post calls a "lively and provocative" book.

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Publisher: HarperPerennial
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 04/01/1999
ISBN-13: 9780060953324
ISBN-10: 0060953322

This engaging, well-researched history illuminates the life of Victoria Woodhull, a charismatic, controversial figure at the center of America's Victorian-era Spiritualist movement. Woodhull eloped at 15 to escape her father's abuse; soon abandoned by her drug-addicted, alcoholic spouse, she fell into poverty. As an actress (and sometime prostitute), she caught the eye of lusty New York railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who came to rely on Woodhull as a trance medium and financial adviser. A powerful clairvoyant and early proponent of free love, Woodhull further scandalized society as a savvy businesswoman and an outspoken advocate of women's rights. Booklist praises Other Powers as "history at its best: vivid, inclusive, and insightful."

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Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/30/2007
ISBN-13: 9780393061444
ISBN-10: 0393061442

Thanks to nearly 200 years of cultural evolution, "Frankenstein" is a name familiar to most, whether what comes to mind is Boris Karloff's interpretation, the comic version, the purple Frankenberry cereal, or the literary creation that started it all. Starting with Mary Shelley's literary masterpiece in 1818, author Susan Hitchcock offers an engaging history of the Frankenstein myth and evaluates the shifts in morality and science over time that shaped the story's various interpretations. Though it's definitely written with Frankenstein fans in mind, readers interested in cultural icons, their reinventions, and their roles in society will be also find much of interest.

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Publisher: Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/05/2010
ISBN-13: 9780553385151
ISBN-10: 0553385151

Occult America is a breezy yet well-informed social history of esoteric thinkers, secret societies, and spiritual movements that have shaped America's history to the present day. Readers will be drawn in by compelling character studies of influential individuals, both well-known (like the 19th-century occultist Madame Blavatsky) and oft-overlooked ("the Pioneer Prophetess," Jemima Wilkinson). From Ouija boards to arcane symbols on our national currency, author Mitch Horowitz explores the ongoing influences of Freemasonry, Spiritualism, Transcendentalism, and other forms of mysticism on American politics, religion, and pop culture. For another peek at America's spooky side, try William Birnes' The Haunting of America.

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