ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 7621 C&RL News ■ December 2003 N e w P u b l i c a t i o n s George M. Eberhart The Cambridge Historical Dictionary of Dis­ ease, edited by Kenneth F. Kiple (412 pages, June 2003), is a condensation and update of the last section of The Cambridge World His­ tory o f H u m a n Disease (Cambridge, 1993) without the bibliographies and illustrations. The result is a volume that stands well on its own to document the characteristics of l6 l diseases from AIDS to yellow fever and how physicians have diagnosed, treated, and un­ derstood them throughout histoiy. A thorough subject index includes symptoms as well as obsolete or alternate terms like “King’s Evil” and “Hansen’s disease.” $75.00. Cambridge University. ISBN 0-521-80834-0. C it iz e n H o b o : H o w a C e n t u r y o f Homelessness Shaped America, by Todd DePastino (325 pages, O ctober 2003), traces modern homelessness from its roots in the post-Civil War tram p armies through the populist hoboes of the Great Depression to the street people of today. DePastino argues that these manifestations of hobohemia cause enough social consternation that they drive public welfare policy, labor legislation, the p r o m o tio n o f m ass c o n s u m p tio n , an d suburbanization. In any case, this history offers a rare glimpse of the varying cultural images of the homeless as fear-inducing or comic American icons. $32.50. University of Chicago. ISBN 0-226-14378-3. Directory of Ethnic & Multicultural Pub­ lishers, Distributors and Resource Organi­ zations, edited by Vladimir F. Wertsman (107 pages, 5th ed., 2003), provides contact in­ formation for 570 publishers and other ven­ dors that offer multicultural books, periodi­ cals, and media. Most are based in the United States, but companies from other countries are included if they have exhibited at ALA or other professional conferences. David Cohen has provided an introduction and an annotated bibliography of multicultural re­ G e o rg e M. E b e rh a rt is s e n io r e d ito r o f A m e ric a n Libraries, e-m ail: geb e rh art@ ala .o rg sources. $10.00 (plus $5.00 shipping). Pub­ lished by the ALA Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, but dis­ tributed by Center Focus Publishing, 7847 N. Caldwell Ave., Unit D, Niles, IL 60714-3320. The Encyclopedia o f S u rfin g , by Matt W arshaw (774 pages, O cto b er 2003), p ro ­ v id es 1,500 d escrip tio n s o f th e p e o p le , places, techniques, an d culture involved in the sport of surfing, from its Polynesian roots to the Triple Crown contests. Compiled by the former edi­ tor of Surfer maga­ z in e , th e b o o k ’s entries are both fac­ tual and entertain­ in g , e v e n to n o n s u r f e r s , w h o might be surprised to learn that Mark Twain tried surfing (unsuccessfully) in Hawaii in 1866, that Maine has roughly 100 full-time surfers, that Dick D ale’s 1961 single “Let’s Go T rìp p in ’” is co n sid ered the first true surf record, an d th at about 35% o f surfers use a right-foot-forw ard stance ( “goofyfoot”) o n a surfboard. Con­ tains m uch more detail than Trevor Cralle’s equally aw esom e S u r fin ’ary: A D ictionary o f Su rfin g Terms a n d Surfspeak (2d ed., T en S peed, 2001), w h ich d efin es som e 3 ,0 0 0 w o r d s a n d p h r a s e s . $ 4 0 .0 0 . Harcourt. ISBN 0-15-100579-6. First Have S om eth in g to Say, by Walt Crawford (141 pages, June 2003), offers sage advice on successfully writing articles and books for the library profession. Chapters on working with editors, reviewing books, finding your niche, overwriting, and believ­ ing your own stuff are filled with practical tips for getting ideas and research published in library journals, books, electronic news­ letters, and other venues. Crawford also ad­ d re s s e s th e u p s a n d d o w n s o f giv in g speeches at conferences, with or preferably mailto:geberhart@ala.org C&RL News ■ December 2003 / 763 without PowerPoint. $29.00. ALA Editions. ISBN 0-8389-0851-9. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs, by Adrienne Mayor (319 pages, Sep­ tem ber 2003), ex am in es th e use o f b io ­ logical an d chem ical w e a p o n s in an tiq ­ uity, from th e invention o f p o iso n -tip p e d arrow s by the G reeks an d th eir use in the T rojan W ar to th e u s e o f c o m b u s tib le chem icals (n ap h th a an d p etro leu m ) w ith projectiles by th e Romans, Byzantines, and Muslims. Mayor, a fo lk lo rist an d classi­ cist, also tak es a look at p o iso n e d food and w ater supplies, intentional plague co n ­ tam inations, an d th e d ep lo y m en t of v en ­ om ous w ildlife in w arfare, an d she co n ­ clu d es th a t u n s c ru p u lo u s w e a p o n s an d in hum ane tactics are n o t a m o d e rn in v en ­ tion. $27.95. O verlook Press. ISBN 1-58567- 348-X. Historical Dictionary of Saudi Arabia, by John E. Peterson (258 pages, 2nd ed., Sep­ tember 2003), a d d s a n d re v ise s n u m e r­ o u s e n trie s a n d u p d a te s th e c h ro n o lo g y a n d b ib lio g ra p h y in c lu d e d in th e 1993 e d itio n . T h e b o o k d e s c r ib e s p e o p l e , p la ce s, a n d e v e n ts o n th e A rab ian p e n ­ in su la fro m th e al-'U b ay d c u ltu re in th e 4th m illen n iu m th ro u g h th e e n d o f 2002. A p p e n d ic e s in c lu d e g e n e a lo g ie s , th e 1992 “B asic Law ” th a t se rv e s as a c o n ­ s titu tio n , a n d 13 ta b le s o f s o c ia l a n d ec o n o m ic statistics. $75.00. S carecro w . ISBN 0-8108-4677-2. Another new regional Scarecrow title is H istorical D ictionary o f Mesopotamia, by G w endolyn Leick (186 pages, S eptem ber 2003), w hich offers data on the land betw een the Tigris and Euphrates in pre-Islamic times. $65.00. ISBN 0-8108-4649-7. The Jo u rn a l o f th e R u tg e rs U n iv e rsity Lib ra rie s, edited by Robert G. Sewell (vol. 60, 2003), is a special issue o n “T he Book As Art, Literature an d H istory” w ith six ar­ ticles b ased o n lectures given at th e u n i­ versity w ithin the p ast tw o years. Among them are d escriptions o f O tto E ge’s m a n u ­ sc rip t fra g m en t co llectio n , 19th -cen tu ry w om en illustrators, an d th e earliest printed texts in th e w o rld (B uddhist prayers found in 8 th -cen tu ry J a p a n e s e w o o d e n m in ia­ tu re pag o d as). The issue is available as a se p arate m o n o g rap h for $25.00 from the Rutgers University Libraries. Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scrip­ ture and the Faiths We Never Knew, by Bart D. Ehrman (294 pages, September 2003), discusses the widely disparate groups of b e­ lievers w ho com peted for converts during the first four centu­ ries o f Christianity— in particular the Jew- i s h - C h r i s t i a n Ebionites, the anti- Jew ish Marcionites, v a r io u s G n o s tic sects, and the proto­ o r th o d o x t h e o l o ­ gians w ho ultimately p r e v a ile d in th e ir ch o ice o f d o ctrin e and preferred scrip­ tures. Not until the late 4th century did the gospels, acts, and epistles that w e know as the 27 books of the New Testament come into consensus as in­ spired writings; prior to that time, many other texts (some deliberate forgeries) vied for at­ tention. Ehrman examines 47 o f these New Testament apocrypha to discover w hat they reveal about the variety o f early Christian beliefs. $30.00. Oxford University. ISBN 0- 19-514183-0. For those w ithout ready access to the al­ ternative scriptures, Ehrman has provided a com panion volume, Lost Scriptures: Books That D id Not M ake It into the New Testa­ m en t (342 pages, September 2003). $30.00. ISBN 0-19-514182-2. M eteorites, Ice, and Antarctica, by Wil­ liam A. C a ssid y (3 4 9 p a g e s , O c to b e r 2003), gives a firs t-h a n d a c c o u n t o f th e U.S. A n ta r c tic S e a rc h f o r M e te o r ite s p ro je c t, w h ic h C assidy fo u n d e d in 1976. ANSMET h as re trie v e d m o re th a n 11,000 m e te o rite sp e c im e n s fro m th e A ntarctic ice s h e e t, a few o f th e m o rig in a tin g from th e s u r f a c e s o f M ars a n d th e M oon. C assid y d e s c rib e s th e ty p e s o f m e te o r ­ ites fo u n d a n d w h y th e s o u th e rn c o n ti­ n e n t has p ro v e n su c h a fertile field for th e ir d isc o v ery . $30.00. Cam bridge Uni­ versity. ISBN 0-521-25872-3. 764 / C&RL News ■ December 2003 Nazi Propaganda Films: A History and Film o g ra p h y , by Rolf G iesen (287 pages, July 2003), focuses o n nationalist feature films an d fea tu re -len g th d o cu m en ta ries p ro d u ce d in G erm any b etw een 1933 and 1945. P ublished just before the d eath of Leni R ie fe n s ta h l ( 1 9 0 2 -2 0 0 3 )— w h o s e docum entary on the 1934 N uremberg Rally, Trium ph o f the Will, is co n sid ered the p ro ­ totypical Nazi pro p ag an d a film— this book is less a cinem atic analysis than a dissec­ tio n o f th e rad ical social an d p o litical p u rp o ses these films w ere m eant to p ro ­ mote. As H itler’s public relations minister Jo se p h G oebbels p u t it, “The essence of p ro p a g a n d a consists in w in n in g p eo p le over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in th e en d they succum b to it utterly an d can n ev er escape from it.” Of course, it c a n ’t h ap p e n here, can it? A ppendixes include cast and crew lists and a w h o ’s who. $55.00. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1556-8. Operation Cyanide: Why the Bom bing of the USS Liberty Nearly Caused World W ar III, by Peter H ounam (289 pages, Sep­ tem b er 2003), deserves m ore than pass­ ing interest in the light o f n ew allegations in O ctober that Israel did intentionally at­ tack th e intelligence-gathering ship d u r­ ing the Six-Day War in 1967, killing 34 American servicem en an d w o u n d in g 170. At th e tim e an d ev er since, th e official w o rd has b e e n th at it w as a case o f mis­ tak en identity, d esp ite the fact th at a large American flag w as flying an d the attack lasted for 40 m inutes. H ounam claims the attack w as to b e b lam ed o n Egypt, thus bringing th e U nited States into th e w ar on th e side o f Israel w ith a n u clear retalia­ tion against President Nasser. This co n ­ clusion directly controverts the evidence am assed in A. Jay Cristol’s The Liberty I n ­ c id e n t (Brasseys, Ju n e 2002), b u t som e p eo p le—notably form er Secretary o f State D e a n R u sk , r e ti r e d A d m ira l T h o m a s M oorer, retired Captain W ard Boston w ho led the naval investigation into the inci­ dent, an d m any o f th e surviving USS Lib­ erty crew members,— agree. $24.95. Vision, distrib u ted by th e In d e p e n d e n t Publish­ ers G roup. ISBN 1-904132-19-7. ■ Edward Tufte, The Cognitive Style o f PowerPoint N ew essay by Edward Tufte (‘T he Leonardo da Vinci o f D a ta ’ the new YORK times) on how PowerPoint presentation slideware corrupts thought. 28 pages, full color, $7 post­ paid. Order directly from Graphics Press at w w w .edw ardtufte.com , or Graphics Press, P.O. Box 430, Cheshire, C T 06410, or call 800 822-2454. For information about Edward Tufte’s one-day course, ‘Presenting Data and Information’ see w w w .edw ardtufte.com http://www.edwardtufte.com http://www.edwardtufte.com