POSTERS, PROPAGANDA, AND PERSUASION IN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS AROUND THE WORLD AND THROUGH HISTORY
By Steven A. Seidman G’68. (Peter Lang, 2008. $33.95.) From George Washington to George W. Bush, Seidman traces the impact of campaign posters and shows how technology, advertising, and artistic movements have effected changes in campaign media over the past two centuries, in the U.S. and around the world. Seidman is chair of the Department of Strategic Communication at Ithaca College. BUY THIS BOOK
BLACK PHILOSOPHER, WHITE ACADEMY:
The Career of William Fontaine
By Bruce Kuklick C’63 G’65 Gr’68, faculty. (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. $55.00.) During the tumultuous years of the civil-rights movement, William Fontaine was the only black professor at Penn, and quite possibly in the Ivy League. Although little evidence has been left behind to fill in the gaps of Fontaine’s life and career, Kuklick, the Nichols Professor of American History at Penn, pieces together the story of this unique philosopher during times of great change.
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FINDING THE PLACE OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE LANDSCAPE
By Peter Gisolfi GAr’70 GLA’73. (Images Publishing, 2008. $65.00.) In this handsomely illustrated book, Gisolfi examines 40 projects—from college campuses to private homes and gardens—that his eponymous firm has undertaken. Each one adds weight to his contention that the relationship between a building and its landscape is essential for architectural success.
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SURPRISES AROUND THE BEND:
50 Adventurous Walkers
By Richard A. Hasler G’59. (Augsburg Books, 2008. $14.99.) In 1930 Mohandas Gandhi trekked across India to protest a salt tax on his people. In 1922 poet Robert Frost hiked 200 miles in an effort to “still the mind.” Hasler uses 50 unique stories to show how the simple practice of walking had huge importance in the lives of some of the world’s most celebrated figures.
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TIME OF MY LIFE
By Allison Winn Scotch C’95. (Shaye Areheart Books, 2008. $23.00.) In Scotch’s second novel, Jillian Westfield seems to have the perfect suburban life—successful husband, engaging baby daughter, great house—but as she slogs through motherhood she wonders what would have happened if she hadn’t left her old boyfriend in Manhattan and had stayed in touch with her estranged mother. Suddenly, she wakes up in the middle of her past—and gets a chance to live the life she might have led.
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TRAGICOMIC REDEMPTIONS:
Global Economics and the Early Modern English Stage
By Valerie Forman W’86. (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. $59.95.) As tragicomedies such as Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and Webster’s The Devil’s Law-Case were making their mark on the stage, capitalist concepts of “free trade” and “investment” began to develop with the increase in global trade. In this multi-layered read, Forman—an associate professor of English at the University of Colorado—examines the development of a global economy through the framework of early modern English plays and other historical documents.
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ISLAM: The Religion and the People
By Bernard Lewis and Buntzie Ellis Churchill CW’61. (Wharton School Publishing, 2008. $21.99.) The complex relationship between Islam and the West is explored by Lewis and Churchill, whose new book is both a readable guide to Muslim history and an in-depth look at issues like women’s rights and radical Islam.
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IMAGES OF AMERICA:
Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square
By Robert Morris Skaler Ar’59 and Thomas H. Keels. (Arcadia Publishing, 2008, $19.99.) Through a series of vintage photographs, Skaler (a forensic architect and architectural historian) and Keels explore Rittenhouse Square’s transformation from an isolated district of brickyards and shanties into the elegant home of Philadelphia’s high society.
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HOW THE OTHER HALF HAMPTONS
By Jasmin Rosemberg C’02. (5 Spot, 2008. $13.99.) In her debut novel, Rosemberg offers an insider’s look at summer in the Hamptons, a popular annual ritual among celebrities and wealthy socialites. Beyond the glitz and glamour, however, lies a different world: the Hamptons share house, where scores of 20-somethings engage in endless parties, drunken escapades, and relationship drama.
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SINGING KRISHNA:
Sound Becomes Sight in Paramanand’s Poetry
By A. Whitney Sanford G’91 GR’95. (State University of New York Press, 2008. $65.00.) The poetry of Paramanand, one of India’s greatest medieval poet-saints, has been sung for centuries by devotees of the Hindu deity Krishna. In Singing Krishna, Sanford, assistant professor of religion at the University of Florida, interprets these poems and highlights their historical significance.
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