| 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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