Featured New Titles
January 1999

This first issue of 1999 highlights fourteen new titles, in several formats. Readers may browse the entire list or go directly to individual notices, using the links provided below. LC classification provided [between brackets].

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Schulze, Hagen. Germany: a new history [DD 89 S39613x 1998]
Millar, Fergus. The Crowd in Rome in the late Republic[DG 254.2 M55x 1998]
Müller, Melissa. Anne Frank: the biography [DS 135.N6 F7349713x 1998]
Brick, Howard. Age of Contradiction [E 169 .12 .B6946x 1998]
White, Deborah Gray. Too Heavy A Load [E 185 .86 .W43875x 1999]
Varela S, David Fernando. Documentos de la embajada[E 183 .8 .C7 V37x 1998]
Kristiansen, Kristian, Europe Before History [GN 778 .2 .A1 K75x 1998]
Roll Call [++ JK 1 .R74]
Edinger, Lewis J. and Brigitte L. Nacos. From Bonn to Berlin[JN 3971.A58 E35x 1998]
Pushkin, Aleksandr S, The Working Notebooks [++ PG 3354 .P985 1995]
Szymborska, Wislawa. Poems, new and collected [PG 7178 .Z9 A222x 1998]
Cerquiglini-Toulet,Jacqueline.The Color of Melancholy[PQ 155 M52 C4713 1997]
Bondanella, Peter. Umberto Eco and the Open Text[PQ 4865 C65 Z58 1997]
Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Jewish Problems in Palestine and Europe [Olin Microforms Dept., Film no. 7043]

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Schulze, Hagen. Germany: a new history. Translated by Deborah Lucas Schneider. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998. Location: Olin, DD 89 .S39613x 1998 Hagen Schulze, Professor of European History at the Free University of Berlin, describes 2000 years of German history, from the days of the Romans to the fall of the Berlin Wall. With many illustrations, this book adds to our understanding of Germany, past and present. (Martha Hsu, mrh2@cornell.edu)

Millar, Fergus. The crowd in Rome in the late republic. Ann Arbor:University of Michigan Press, 1998. (Thomas Spencer Jerome lectures, 22). Location: Olin DG 254.2 M55x 1998. One of the leading contemporary historians of ancient Rome provides a detailed study of the working of the Roman political system in the 1st century B.C. Since public legislation had to be approved by vote of the citizenry assembled in the Forum, this description of how this processactually worked provides valuable insights into the Roman state on the eve of its transition to Empire. Important for specialists in the field but accessible to anyone interested in Roman history. (Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

Müller, Melissa. Anne Frank: the biography. Translated by Rita and Robert Kimber. New York: Henry Holt, 1998. Location: Olin, DS 135.N6 F7349713x 1998 This biography of Anne Frank puts the girl we know from her diary in the context of the times in which she lived and died. Based on interviews with her family and friends, and previously unavailable correspondence and documents, the author creates an affecting account of the Frank family and their fate. In an epilogue, she describes the lives of the survivors after the war. (Martha Hsu, mrh2@cornell.edu; Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)

 

Brick, Howard. Age of Contradiction: American Thought and Culture in the 1960s. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1998. Location: Olin, E 169 .12 .B6946x 1998 In this first general survey of the intellectual currents of the 1960s the author argues that the period can only be understood by grasping the contradictory trends that ran through it. Brick tackles the debates generated by the "automation, affluence, and . . . socialized forms of existence" which he believes characterized the time: "would abundance and freedom follow, or mass unemployment and regimentation? a new democracy and sense of community, or personal alienation and ineffectuality? a system of providing knowledge for the rational solution of social problems, or the demise of critical thought once institutions of higher learning served government and corporate needs?" An "immensely learned book" which "displays unusual creativity, thoughtfulness, and originality," the Age of Contradiction provides insight into many issues which are still of concern in the 1990s. (G. David Brumberg, gdb1@cornell.edu)

White, Deborah Gray. Too Heavy A Load: Black Women in Defense of Themselves, 1894-1994. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999 Location: Olin, E 185 .86 .W43875x 1999 Too Heavy A Load is the story of Black American women organizing to defend, define, and explain themselves. It is also the story of their struggle against racism and male chauvinism as well as a description of their support of women's rights, civil rights, and civil liberties. Finally, Too Heavy A Load chronicles the century-long shift in the measurement of racial progress from the status of Black women to that of Black men--"the masculinization of America's racial consciousness." Deborah Gray White has written a "visionary" and "eloquent" history which will define the shape of the debate on this subject well into the next century. (G. David Brumberg, gdb1@cornell.edu)

Varela S, David Fernando, Documentos de la embajada. Bogota: Planeta, 1988. Location: Olin E 183 .8 .C7 V37x 1998 A Colombian lawyer uses sources taken from the U.S. National Archives to write a mid 20th century history of his country. The period under study, World War II and the immediate post-war period, is one in which U.S. government support was an essential element in a volatile political mix that included frequent military interventions and the raise of a populist political movement under the leadership of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. (David Block, db10@cornell.edu)

Kristiansen, Kristian, Europe Before History . Cambridge : New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998. (New Studies in Archaeology). Location: Olin GN 778 .2 .A1 K75x 1998 Kristansen, Professor of Arqueology at Gothenburg University, traces the distribution of artifacts across Europe in the bronze and early iron ages (the last two millenia BC). In the process, he employs center/periphery analysis to explain the development of European states and traditions. This is an important new synthesis, following on the work of Gordon Childe and Christopher Hawkes, both of whose contributions Kristansen examines and analyzes. (David Block, db10@cornell.edu)

Roll Call. Washington : The Economist Group, 1997/98 - Location: Olin ++ JK 1 .R74 Current Issues in the Olin Periodical Room Online version at <http://www.rollcall.com> Early Monday and Thursday mornings, members of Congress and their staffs can be found reading the latest issue of Roll Call for news about their colleagues. Known as the newspaper of Capitol Hill and a frequent source for reporters at major papers, Roll Call offers inside information on the people, politics and processes of Congress. Roll Call Online offers the same features as the paper edition including opinion pieces, editorials, and biweekly policy briefings contributed by members of Congress and the Executive Branch. From this week's gossip in Roll Call, back to the eighteenth century official reports in Gales and Seaton's American State Papers, Olin holdings thoroughly document the federal Legislative Branch. Comprehensive coverage of Congress is a notable strength of the collection through Olin's participation in the Federal Depository Library Program of the Government Printing Office and through the aggressive acquisition of supporting materials. Access to Olin's Congressional resources is available through the Library's catalogs, electronic Gateway, and specialized indices. (Janie Harris JLH9@cornell.edu)

Edinger, Lewis J. and Brigitte L. Nacos. From Bonn to Berlin: German Politics in Transition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Location: Olin: JN 3971.A58 E35x 1998 From placid West German Bonn northeast to the capital of reunified Germany, lively Berlin... General readers interested in the moving target of post-reunification German politics need look no farther than this readable, well informed account, covering roughly 1990-early 1996. After explaining the basic structure and atttributes of German politics, the authors explore problems and issues in several policy areas, namely social change, social welfare, and foreign policy, and conclude by speculating on "the road ahead." The image at left is a CIA map of the newly reunified Germany in early 1990, from the Olin Library Map Collection. (Sarah How, seh4@cornell.edu)

Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. Rabochie tetradi = The Working Notebooks. Ed. Sir Ernest Kholl, S.A. Fomichev. Sankt-Peterburg: Pushkinskii Dom: London: St Petersburg Partnership Consortium, 1995- Location: Olin ++ PG 3354 .P985 1995 Library has vol. 1-6 This unique publication is a joint venture between the scholars of Pushkinskii Dom and The St. Petersburg Partnership Consortium of The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. The first facsimile edition of the manuscripts of Alexander Pushkin marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Russia's greatest poet. It was meticulously prepared over a lengthy period of time. Every effort was made to reproduce the pages of the original as accurately as possible and it will allow scholars to pursue their studies of Pushkin without any restrictions. This edition is all the more valuable and unique since only 500 copies of the work were printed. (Wanda Wawro, wtw3@cornell.edu)

Szymborska, Wislawa. Poems, new and collected, 1957-1997. Translated from the Polish by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh. New York: Harcourt Brace, c1998. Location: Olin, Uris PG 7178 .Z9 A222x 1998 Wislawa Szymborska, winner of the 1996 Nobel prize for literature, is unquestionably one of the greatest living poets of Europe. Her lyrical style can not be confused with any other in contemporary poetry. Szymborska's writing is free of passing literary fashions, while it successfully combines philosophical reflection with delightful playfulness, imagination, irony and humor. She constantly opens fresh themes, elaborates new techniques amazing her readers with originality. Her voice is pitched to transient moods, fleeting impressions as well as deeply felt emotions. This book includes virtually all Wislawa Szymborska's poetic work to date in a masterful translation into English by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh. (Wanda Wawro, wtw3@cornell.edu)

Cerquiglini-Toulet, Jacqueline. The Color of Melancholy: The Uses of Books in The Fourteenth Century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Location: Olin PQ 155 M52 C4713x 1997 The author explores the subject of books and literate culture during the period in which vernacular literature began to displace Latin as the medium of intellectual discourse. Critics say that "it is an original and most needed contribution to the resurgent Medieval Studies and will prove indispensable for any scholar or student of the Medieval period". (Flaminia Cervesi-McCobb, fcm4@cornell.edu)

Bondanella, Peter. Umberto Eco and the Open Text. Semiotics, Fiction, Popular Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Location: Olin PQ 4865 C65 Z58 1997   This text is the first comprehensive study in English of Eco's work. In clear and accessible language, Bondanella considers not only Eco's most famous texts, but also many occasional essays not yet translated into English. Bondanella provides a full bibliography of works by and about Eco. (Flaminia Cervesi-McCobb,fcm4@cornell.edu)

Alexis, Andre. Childhood: A Novel. Toronto: McClelland & Stuart; New York: Holt; 1998. Location: Olin PR 9199.3 A365 C45x 1998 14DAY   Canadian writer Alexis, born in Trinidad, is known for plays for radio and theatre, short stories, and reviews; this is his first novel. The narrator of this lyrical, wry, gentle tale combs through details of his childhood in a small southern Ontario town, searching for memory and self-understanding. Promising first novels such as this one are sought out for Olin's English and American literature collections, within the framework of Olin's collection development policy for English and American literature see<http://latino.lib.cornell.edu/ cdangloamerican.html>. (Sarah How; seh4@cornell.edu)

Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Jewish Problems in Palestine and Europe.Reports of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, confidential files re-Palestine, 1944-1946. 12 reels of microfilm + printed guide. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, 1987. Location: Microfilm: Olin Microforms Dept., Film no. 7043. Printed guide: Olin, Reference, Film guide 7043. The Anglo American Committe of Inquiry was established by the then fledgling United Nations to examine the possibility of a Jewish state in Palestine against the background of the destruction of European Jewry in the Holocaust. The Committee's final report recommended the partition of Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states and formed the basis of the U.N Partition resolution of November 1947 which, in turn, led to the establishment of Israel. In the course of its investigations the Committee amassed a vast amount of documentary material which now constitutes an indispensible primary source for the study of the early history of Israel as well as the aftermath of the Holocaust in Europe. (Yoram Szekely, ybs1@cornell.edu)