Medieval monastic preaching, ed. Carolyn Muessig. Leiden: Brill, 1998. (Brill's studies in intellectual history, 90).

Location: Olin BV 4207.M42x 1998.

Proceedings of a recent conference presenting current research on this topic by specialists in monastic history, literature and spirituality. Includes detailed studies of individual sermons by important figures such as Bernard of Clairvaux and Hildegard of Bingen as well as topical studies such as preaching against heretics, preaching by nuns and preaching to monastic communities by outsiders. Important for specialized study of medieval religion and society, but, considering the central role of religion and religious institutions in medieval Europe, of interest to anyone interested in the broader field of Medieval Studies as well.
(Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

Francis of Assisi: early documents. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 1999-

Location: Olin BX 4700.F6 F722x 1999

The first of three volumes of an anthology of medieval primary sources in modern English translation dealing with the life and work of St. Francis of Assisi (1181 or 2-1226),one of the major figures of the medieval Catholic Church. Included are liturgical, homiletic and hagiographical texts published between 1228 and 1365, presented in chronological order with scholarly annotations and bibliographies. Aside from their obvious utility as sources for the study of St Francis himself, the texts shed important light on his contemporaries' views of him and thus on his role in the history and development of medieval Christianity. Although compiled from a Franciscan perspective, its comprehensiveness and careful scholarly editing will render it an indispensable resource for anyone concerned with serious study of medieval Christianity.
(Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

Stern, Fritz R. Einstein's German world. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1999.

Location: Olin DD 239 .S74 1999
Uris Library DD 239 .S74x 1999

Fritz Stern, an eminent historian who knew Einstein personally, explores in this book Germany before Hitler, the country's decline under the Nazis, and aspects of its recovery since World War II. Basing some of his work on new archival sources, Stern blends history and biography in a sequence of finely drawn studies of Germany's great scientists at moments of personal and public crisis. His portrayal of the complex friendship of Einstein and Fritz Haber contrasts their responses to German life and to their Jewish heritage. He also writes about the lives and careers of Max Planck, Paul Ehrlich, Walther Rathenau and Chaim Weizmann. Stern examines the controversial way that historians have dealt with World War I and analyzes persistent conflicts over interpretations of Germany's past.
(Martha Hsu mrh2@cornell.edu)

Die Wehrmacht : Mythos und Realitat / im Auftrag des Militargeschichtlichen Forschungsamtes, herausgegeben von Rolf-Dieter Muller und Hans-Erich Volkmann. Munchen : Oldenbourg, 1999.

Location: Olin DD 104 .W44 1999

This collection of essays deals with the role of the Wehrmacht, the German armed forces, during its existence before and during World War II. The essays are grouped thematically; most, but not all, of the authors areGerman. With an extensive bibliography (pp. 1232-1297), this book is a substantive contribution to a timely debate.
(Martha Hsu, mrh2@cornell.edu)

Philippe II et l'Espagne, ed. Annie Molinié and Jean-Pierre Duviols. Paris: Presses de l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 1999.

Location: Olin, DP 178 .P45 1999

1998 marked the fourth centennial of Philip II's death. This "Most Potent March of Christendome" conquered Portugal, defeated the Turks at Lepanto and the French at Saint-Quentin and commanded the first global empire. He also drove his country to bankruptcy, his subjects to rebellion and his Invincible Armada to the bottom of the English Channel. Lots to write about. This volume, which brings together fourteen essays, on the monarch's public career and private life is only one of many works which treat Philip II in his anniversary year. For other examples, see: José Tomás Cabot, La vida y la época de Felipe II, Joseph Perez, L'Espagne de Philippe II and the magnum opus, Felipe II, un monarca y su época, all part of the Olin collections.
(David Block, db10@cornell.edu)

Sullivan, Gerald. Margaret Mead, Gregory Bateson, and Highland Bali. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1999.

Location: Olin, GN 635 .I65 S948x 1999
Uris, GN 635 .I65 S948x 1999

This volume publishes some 200 photographs taken by Mead and Bateson during their fieldwork among the Bayung Gedé people in the 1930s. The originals lay unused and unreproduced for decades until Sullivan "located" them in the Library of Congress during his dissertation research there. The photographs substantially expand knowledge of highland Bali at a time when the native people were nominally dependencies of the Dutch but largely governed by their own mores. The images themselves are quite fetching, documenting the history of anthropology and the dignity of the people under study.
(David Block db10@cornell.edu)

Computational and mathematical organization theory. Boston : Kluwer Academic, c1995-

Location: Olin, H 1 .C743

European journal of social theory. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications, 1998-

Location: Olin, H 1 .E97

Left history. Kingston, Ont. : [ Left History Press, York University ], c1993-

Location; Olin, HN 1 .L44

Reader requests this year brought three journals to the Olin Sociology collection. The newly available journal "Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory" has published the work of Cornell sociologists and encompasses research interests from across the campus. The editors offer an international forum for extending the traditional mathematical approach to formal organizational theory on into computer simulation, logic, and artificial intelligence. Recent topical issues have focused on social intelligence, evolutionary games and networks, and informal relations. At a user's request, Olin Library also began a subscription to the interdisciplinary "European Journal of Social Theory." Its content is not limited to the Continent but features contemporary exploration of the classic European theoretical works. Every issue includes a viewpoints section to facilitate debate. In the first issue, viewpoints publishes a personal call for papers from each member of the editorial board and reveals the new journal's transdisciplinary scope. Although not new, the journal "Left History" has also been added to Olin at readers' request. The relationship between historical materialism and post-structuralism is a dominant theme in this serial. Its sociological subjects range from methodology to culture, and its contributors, from established academics to young artists. Each issue offers several articles and scholarly reviews featuring Canadian and US titles. These three disparate new serials will support the scholarly work of Cornell sociologists whose requests brought the journals to Olin.
(Janie Harris, jeh@cornell.edu)

Ingebritsen, Christine. The Nordic States and European Unity. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998.

Olin: HC240.25.S34I54 1998

European unity has been a foremost concern of all the Nordic states since 1985; the Nordic governments, models for other societies, continue to adapt to the rapid transformation of international politics in novel ways. Here Dr. Ingebritsen, who earned a Ph.D. from Cornell, writes about Nordic economic and security policies. This book is well written and clearly organized, and a work of scholarship. Cornell has strong collections of monographs such as this one, and other materials in Western European languages, which complement its European Union official publications and documents, received as a EU depository library. (Sarah How;seh4@cornell.edu)

McMurtry, Larry. Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.

Location: Olin: PS 3563 .A319 Z475x 1999 14-DAY

Passing sixty; novelist, essayist, writer of screenplays; McMurtry offers autobiographical reflections on his own life and on his roots in Texas. These are attentive, gently written, deeply felt essays from one whose life has been devoted to books and literature. In recent years, he has transformed his hometown, Archer City, Texas into a town of bookstores, a Texan Hay-on-Wye. (Sarah How; seh4@cornell.edu)