Book Blurbs |
| The New Military in Russia: Ten Myths That Shape the Image , Richard F. Staar, Hoover Institution senior fellow emeritus, Naval Institute Press, 1996; $16.95 (military policy). | The author or editor of
15 books about the Soviet military and communism, Staar argues that
there has been no meaningful reform of Moscow's armed forces since the
dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. He aims to refute what he sees as
popular misconceptions about Russia today: that the country's military
remains outside of politics (Myth No. 1), that its military-industrial
complex is dead (Myth No. 4) and that it is observing arms control
treaties (Myth No. 8). As evidence of the military's power, the author
cites the 1991 coup and the 1994 invasion of Chechnya. Although the
book was published prior to the July re-election of Russian President
Boris Yeltsin, the strength of the hardliners during that campaign
seems to bear out some of Staar's pessimistic observations.
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| America Is Me , Kennell Jackson, associate professor of history, HarperCollins, 1996; $27.50 (history). | "What was a typical day
like in the life of an American slave?" "Why were the 1890s to 1910s
called 'the Black Women's Era'?" "What do people mean when they say
that young Black males are 'an endangered species'?" Jackson poses a
bookful of these questions and, through the answers, creates a concise
history of 400 years of black history in America. Jackson's questions
fall into three categories. The first deals with history, the second
addresses new controversies, ranging from Afrocentrism to black
conservatism, and the third focuses on matters philosophical, such as
what American parents should tell their children about slavery. His
goal, he says in the introduction, is "to capture the epic that is the
Black American past." Through his questions and answers, he describes
an epic that starts in Africa before the slave trade and ends with the
heroines of Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale .
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| The Naked Mole-Rat Mystery: Scientific
Sleuths at Work , Gail Jarrow and Paul Sherman, '71, Carolrhoda
Books Inc., 1996; $17 (children/ adolescents) |
Imagine an animal that
looks like a hot dog left in the microwave too long. Add four large
buckteeth and a long, skinny tail. Except for a few whiskers on its
cheeks and lips, the creature is hairless. Meet the mole-rat, a
mysterious animal discovered by a German scientist during an expedition
to Ethiopia in 1842. It is classified as a mammal, characteristic of
social insects. Because it inhabits underground burrows, few people
have ever seen one in the wild. This book follows biologists in their
search for scientific clues to explain the mystery of this highly
unusual animal.
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| Breathe at Every Other Stroke , Pamela Gullard, '70, Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company, 1996 $22 (short stories). | The characters in this
debut collection of short stories are ordinary folks in search of
something--anything--to change their lives. The stories take place in
the everyday locales of California, Oregon and Washington--in
department stores, high-tech offices and retirement communities. In
Gullard's spare prose, human shortcomings are portrayed with fondness
and dismay. In "Does Your Tattoo Show?" Marta's impulsive decision to
get a tattoo inspires her to end a half-hearted love affair with her
boyfriend. In "Jump Jack," a man's carefully protected routine is
shaken by the arrival of his grandson and, later, the realization that
his grandson's father is never coming back.
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