ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

Dmitri Shostakovich: A Catalogue, Bibli- ography, and Discography,by Derek C. Hulme (701 pages, 3rd ed., November 2002), offers a comprehensive résumé of the Soviet composer’s output, from his first scherzo in 1919 to his final violin sonata in 1975. For each opus, Hulme supplies the title, form, instrumentation, date of composition, dedication, premiere, ar- rangements, publication dates, duration, record- ings, and bibliographic references. Appendices in- clude a list of doubtful or abandoned works, a chronology, and an interesting essay on how Shostakovich (like Bach) embedded his initials in some of his compositions. $85.00. Scarecrow.

James Dean Died Here,by Chris Epting (310 pages, May 2003), identifies the sites where nearly 600 significant events in American popular cul- ture occurred and pro- vides the address and a photograph for many. Discover the exact location of the Seven Year Itch subway grating, the Hindenberg crash, the Heidi Fleiss brothel, the Apple Computer garage, the Tupak Shakur hit, the Ghostbusters headquarters, the Beach Boys’ “Fun Fun Fun” hamburger stand, the Lone Ranger rods, the Tyson-Holyfield ear fight, and (of course) the James Dean car crash. An interesting curiosity-quencher. $16.95. Santa Monica Press. ISBN 1-891661-31-0.

Jefferson’s Great Gamble,by Charles A. Cerami (309 pages, March 2003), provides an easygoing narrative of how Thomas Jefferson managed to double the size of the United States by purchasing the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803. Cerami highlights Jefferson’s collaboration with Secretary of State James Madison in the political maneuverings that led Napoleon to believe the United States would go to war with France over the port of New Orleans, the effort to persuade Napoleon to sell Louisiana to finance his European battles, and the confluence of individuals and circumstances that resulted in the creation of 13 additional states. $22.95. Sourcebooks. ISBN 1-57071-945-4.

Religions of the World,edited by J. Gordon Melton and Martin Baumann (1,507 pages, 4 vols., September 2002), provides 1,200 essays by more than 200 contributors on global religious beliefs and practices. There are 16 primary essays describing the history and key tenets of such core traditions as Christianity, Islam, Shintoism, and Ethnoreligions. These are supplemented by excellent surveys of the religious situation in 276 countries, complete with maps and statistics on the number of followers in 2000 and projected followers in 2025 and 2050. The remainder of the entries focus on religious groups, from the Aboriginal Cult of Maria Lionza in Venezuela to the Zulu religion. The editors ensure that non-mainstream movements, particularly those involving Western esoteric traditions and Unbelief (atheism, secularism), are well-represented. Addresses, Web sites, and sources are provided for each entry. $385.00. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-223-1.

Remarkable Occurrences: The National Library of Australia’s First 100 Years, 1901-2001,edited by Peter Cochrane (283 pages, April 2001), is a celebration of the growth and diversification of the library’s collections, from its founding in Melbourne as a parliamentary library, through its move to Canberra in 1935, to the launch of its online image database Picture Australia in 2000. The richly illustrated chapters include descriptions of Captain Cook’s original Endeavor journal and the Rex Nan Kivell collection on Pacific exploration, as well as collections of historical artifacts, oral histories, personal papers, photographs, music, and maps. An essential acquisition for Australasian specialists, in case you missed it. $A54.50. National Library of Australia. ISBN 0-642-10730-0.

George M. Eberhart is senior editor of American Libraries, e-mail: geberhart@ala.org

Another title from the National Library is Robert Holden’s Bunyips: Australia’s Folklore of Fear(226 pages, July 2001), a historical and literary history of the native Australian monster the bunyip, containing many unusual illustrations and extracts from folklore and fiction. $A27.23. ISBN 0-642-10732-7.

Sky Static: The Space Debris Crisis,by

Antony Milne (187 pages, November 2002), poses some intriguing questions about the safety of space travel, especially in the light of the space shuttle Columbia accident in February. Although it contains inaccuracies and relies on some unconventional sources, no other book focuses on the vast amount of existing space junk, its potential hazard for astronauts as well as people on the ground, and efforts to guard against it. $49.95. Praeger. ISBN 0-275-97749-8.

Walking with Cavemen,by John Lynch and Louise Barrett (224 pages, April 2003), serves as a companion to the recent series on the evolution of modem humans produced by the Discovery Channel. Unlike the earlier BBC Science documentaries Walking with Dinosaurs-and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, this one does not rely on computer-generated animations to bring our ancestors to life. Instead, the television producers developed realistic makeup and prosthetics that allowed human actors to portray the apelike but upright Australopithecus a farensis; the distinct yet roughly contemporary inhabitants of East Africa, Parauthropus boisei, Homorudoffensis, and Homo habilis; the first known hominid with white eyeballs and rudimentary speech, Homo ergaster; and the robust, cold-adapted Neanderthals, who may have interbred with modem Homo sapiens. All are depicted realistically in this well-illustrated volume that makes a good visual supplement to standard texts on physical anthropology. $35.00. DK Publishing. ISBN 0-7894-7775-1.

When Smoke Ran Like Water,by Devra Davis (316 pages, October 2002), exposes the widespread health hazards caused by lethal environmental pollution and the efforts by industry and the U.S. government to ignore the crisis and confuse the public. Davis is no Internet alarmist— an epidemiologist, she served as a member of the National Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board under President Clinton and is now a senior adviser to the World Health Organization. In this important book, she examines how the true death toll from the infamous London fogs of the 1950s was covered up for 50 years; how the automobile industry adopted pollution standards only after years of delaying, debunking, and dismissing official demands to do so; how business interests aggressively cover up or discredit scientific research into harmful pollutants; and how 20 people died in one day in October 1948 (and thousands in the decade following) from killer fogs generated by zinc works in Davis’s home town of Donora, Pennsylvania. A deadly serious effort that should be read by environmentalists and public-health advocates. $26.00. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-01521-2.

Who’s Who in Black Canada,by Dawn P. Williams (421 pages, December 2002), profiles the achievements of 705 African Canadians who are prominent in 28 different fields, including academia, government, law, literature, medicine, philanthropy, and science. Williams presents their accomplishments in a narrative style, supplemented with a list of honors, publications, and degrees. E-mails and fax numbers are provided, along with each individual’s preferred role models and personal mottos. Entries for French speakers are written in French. Appendices arrange names by province and primary activity. $43.99 U.S. Who’s Who in Black Canada, 3 Massey Square, Unit 1706, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4C 5L5. ISBN 0-9731384-0-8.

Wild Logging,by Bryan Foster (l6l pages, January 2003), offers advice to private owners of forestland in the West on how to develop environmentally sound timber-harvesting methods and management plans for sustainable forest stewardship. Specifically written for owners of smaller woodlots, the text also serves as a practical guide for students taking environmental studies classes. Foster incorporates many of the suggestions he obtained from his interviews with 35 landowners and forestry professionals. $16.00. Mountain Press. ISBN 0-87842-448-2.

A Zora Neale Hurston Companion,by Robert W. Croft (256 pages, December 2002), contains a chronology, bibliography, and hundreds of entries covering the works, characters, themes, motifs, family members, and acquaintances of anthropologist and author Hurston (1891-1960), who specialized in African- American folklore of the South. $74.95. Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-30707-5. ■